Almond Cranberry Bread

HokiesLady's Note:

From Ocean Spray flyer. It has been a many years since I've made this bread but my notes say it is yummy! My notes also say I added a 1/4 cup of chopped almonds to the batter and then used another 1/4 cup of sliced/slivered almonds for the topping. So I've adjusted the original to include this but feel free to leave the chopped almonds out of the batter itself. **Updated 12/7/11 - I've adjusted the bake time for this bread. The original times were definitely too long for this quick bread **

• Total Time: 1 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 15 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 12

Yield: 1.0 loaf

• 2 cups flour
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup 1% low-fat milk
• ½ cup butter , melted
• 2 teaspoons almond extract
• ¼ cup almonds , chopped
• 1 ½ cups fresh cranberries (may use frozen ones too, just do not thaw before use)
• 1 tablespoon sugar (additional)
• ¼ cup almonds (slivered or sliced)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F and grease a 8x4x2" loaf pan.
2. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
3. Combine the egg, milk, butter, and almond extract in a separate bowl.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mixing just until moistened (do not overmix).
5. Stir in chopped almonds and cranberries.
6. Spread batter in loaf pan and then sprinkle with additional 1 tbls. sugar and then the slivered or sliced almonds.
7. Bake for 30 minutes.
8. REDUCE heat to 350F and bake for an additional 20-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
9. Let cool 10-15 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack.

Reviews

[Mikekey]

A nice balance of sweet and tart. I used almonds in and on top, but will skip the ones on top next time, as they just fall off when slicing. The almond extract gives this a nice flavor. The bake time was a little long. I took mine out after 55 minutes, but it would depend on your oven. Mine may run hot.

[islandmystique]

My family loved this recipe. I'm from Puerto Rico, so this was not neccesarily a Christmas recipe, but it was delicious for the summer season and rainy days in the island. I used walnuts the first time, then tried hazelnuts (liked walnuts better!!) Thanks for the recipe :).

[JackieOhNo!]

This was really delightful (and perfect for the season)! I did use the chopped almonds in the batter. The tartness of the cranberries was nicely offset by the almond extract. I will be making this again. Thanks for posting this! Made for Think Pink Fall 2009 Tag Game.