Monday, January 12, 2015

Cranberry Orange Cinnamon Bread

Yum

My grocery store had fresh cranberries for a $1 a bag now that the holidays are over.  I love a good deal so I bought a couple of bags and popped one into the freezer and the other was sitting in the fridge waiting for me to come up with a recipe to use it up.   So this weekend,  I decided to make a cranberry bread with what I had on hand in my fridge and pantry before the kids and hubby woke up.  

They loved waking up to the smell of this baking and I loved how pretty it looked when it came out of the oven.  Now I wanted to use most of the bag of cranberries so I made a big batch--enough for two 9x5 pans, but you can easily cut the recipe by half. 

The bread is not overly sweet and I love the tart little kick the cranberries give.  The orange flavor is subtle, but I didn't mind because I wanted the cranberries to be the star of this bread.  Next time I think I will add a little orange zest to see how more orange flavor will  change the taste of the recipe.   The bread is really moist because of the sour cream and the marmalade.  You can eat it just as it is, but it's really perfect with a glass of cold milk or a cup of coffee. 



Ingredients:

Dry ingredients
4 cups all purpose flour (sifted)
2 Tbs baking powder
1 Tbs baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter (1 stick) softened
1 cup white granulated sugar (add 1/4 cup more sugar for sweeter bread)
2 large eggs
2 cups sour cream (full fat or low fat)
1/2 cup milk (full fat or low fat)
1 Tbs cinnamon (I used Sri Lankan powdered cinnamon)
2 tsp vanilla

Add-ins
2 heaping cups fresh cranberries (cut in half)
1/2 cup orange marmalade
1-2 tsp orange zest (optional)
 
 Directions:
Cream the butter and sugar for a a few minutes.  Then add the eggs one at a time until well incorporated.  Next add the sour cream, cinnamon, vanilla, milk and mix until well combined.

Add the sifted dry ingredients to the mixer and combine (on low/stir) - do not over mix.   Note:  I like to sift my flour then measure it out so I have an aerated flour instead of a packed flour into the recipe.     Finally add the cut cranberries and orange marmalade.  If you want more orange flavor you can add 1-2 tsp of orange zest too.

Combine all ingredients well until batter forms, I only mixed on medium speed for about a minute.   Spray or grease two 9x5 loaf pans and fill them 3/4 from the top.  You can take some additional cut cranberries to top the loaves for a nice presentation. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.  Allow loaves to sit for 5-10 minutes to cool down slightly before slicing.   Enjoy.







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