This Cranberry Orange Bread is full of bright flavors

This Cranberry Orange Bread is full of bright flavors

Cranberry and orange go SO well together, and that i especially like to use them during the winter holidays. 

My mom loves the 2 together, and making a bread with them was on my list this year! This Cranberry Orange Bread gets dangerously on the brink of a cake, but oh well!


I use fresh cranberries during this bread because they provide the bread moisture and tartness, but you'll use dried cranberries also . It also makes a tremendous Cranberry Orange Bread Pudding if you don’t eat it all first!


The easiest thanks to zest citrus is with a micro plane. you'll get a micro plane online here! i exploit it ALL the time so it's definitely worth having within the kitchen. you'll zest citrus and finely grate things like chocolate or cheese with it. 

The fruit juice really brings the citrus flavor to the bread. Fresh juice is best (from the orange you zested!) but bottled could work also .

Putting the bread together only takes a couple of minutes, as most of the time needed is within the oven or with cooling. It's SO DIFFICULT expecting it to chill , because it makes the house smell amazing, but it's needed! Cooled bread means it'll slice more easily with fewer crumbling.
I hope you enjoy making this bread for your friends, family, and yourself! It makes an excellent homemade holiday present, if you'll bring yourself to offer it away!

• Prep Time : 10 minutes
• Cook Time : 1 hour
• Total Time : 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon leaven
• 1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 2/3 cup buttermilk (see note)
• 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
• 1/3 cup fruit juice fresh is best
• 1 large egg
• 1 Tablespoon orange peel (from 1 medium orange)
• 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375F with the rack within the middle position.
2. Generously coat a 9x5 bread loaf pan with nonstick spray.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, leaven , and bicarbonate of soda .
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, melted butter, fruit juice , egg, and orange peel .
5. Roughly chop the cranberries if larger berries.
6. Add the milk mixture and cranberries to the flour mixture. Gently fold together until just incorporated. don't over-mix.
7. Scoop the batter into the bread pan and smooth the surface with a spatula.
8. Bake at 375F until golden brown for about 1 hour. The bread is completed when a toothpick inserted within the center comes out with just a couple of crumbs.
9. Remove from oven. Let the bread rest within the pan for 10 minutes then remove from pan and let cool on wire rack until completely cool.

Notes

You can get a micro plane for zesting, finely grating chocolate and cheese, and more here!
It is best to let the bread completely cool before slicing into it, which can help prevent it from crumbling.

You can use bottled fruit juice , but fresh is best.