Cornmeal-Oatmeal Cranberry-Orange Loaf

"My husband, being a true Texan, loves cornbread almost as much as he loves me. I was not a great cornbread baker, so I bought The Cornbread Gospels by Crescent Dragonwagon to learn how to make his tummy happy, and what a great book that turned out to be. Every form and fashion of cornbread you can imagine, and (almost) all good. This recipe is from that book, and has earned rave reviews everywhere I have taken it. It's beautiful, and the essences of orange and cranberry combined with the crunchiness of stone ground cornmeal sets it apart from other quick breads, and it will leaving you wanting more. I hope you like it as well as we do."
 
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photo by hilaryarden photo by hilaryarden
photo by hilaryarden
photo by averybird photo by averybird
photo by Feisty photo by Feisty
photo by Feisty photo by Feisty
photo by Feisty photo by Feisty
Ready In:
1hr 15mins
Ingredients:
12
Yields:
1 large loaf
Serves:
8-10
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ingredients

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directions

  • Preheat the oven to 350. Coat 1 large, 2 medium, or 3 small loaf pans with oil.
  • Soft the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt into a large bowl.
  • Whisk together the eggs, oil, buttermilk, and orange zest in a second, smaller bowl.
  • In a food processor, pulse the cranberries a few times until they are roughly chopped. Combine the mix-ins--the cranberries, walnuts, and oatmeal--in a third bowl. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the flour mixture over them, and toss well.
  • Quickly combine the flour mixture and the egg mixture, using as few strokes as possible. Gently stir in the mix-ins. The batter should be stiff. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan(s). Bake for 45 to 55 minutes for the large pan, 35 to 50 minutes for the mediums, and 35 to 40 minutes for the smalls. Check two-thirds of the way through the baking period; if the loaves are browning excessively, tent them loosely with foil.
  • Let the baked breads cool for 10 minutes in the pan(s), run a thin knife around the edge of each pan, and turn the loaves out. Let finish cooling on a rack.
  • NOTE: When using cirtrus zest, try your best to get organic fruit, because it is free of the waxes and fungicides that are routinely sprayed on conventionally grown citrus fruit peels.

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Reviews

  1. ABSOLUTELY GREAT CORNBREAD, for sure! As much as I enjoy cornbread AND cranberries, I would never have thought to put them together, but this recipe does an outstanding job of it! I did have to delve into my stash of frozen berries this time around, & now can't wait to make this again when they are in season again! This recipe is efinitely a winner & a keeper! Thanks for sharing it! [Made & reviewed for one of my adoptees in this Spring's Pick A Chef]
     
  2. Absolutely delicious! I did change one thing. I tossed the cranberries walnuts and oatmeal with all of the dried ingredients, and then folded in the wet ingredients. Thanks for posting! Made for I RECOMMEND
     
  3. Really tasty bread! I love Crescent and just bought her new book Bean by Bean. When I saw your recipe came from the Cornbread Gospels I knew I had to try it. Thanks, Feisty [Made for Zaar Alphabet Soup]
     
  4. This is such a nice recipe! I didn't have walnuts or orange rind, so I just added more oats and orange extract instead. I made 12 muffins from the recipe, and so baked them at 300F for about 20mins. I was expecting them to be a little more yellow, but they turned more of a grey on the inside with the cranberry juices. So great though!
     
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Tweaks

  1. This is such a nice recipe! I didn't have walnuts or orange rind, so I just added more oats and orange extract instead. I made 12 muffins from the recipe, and so baked them at 300F for about 20mins. I was expecting them to be a little more yellow, but they turned more of a grey on the inside with the cranberry juices. So great though!
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

I'm a 48 year old newlywed, just married June 7, 2008. We have 15 and 17 year old boys who are very grateful for my cooking abilities! We live in a small lake community about an hour outside of Dallas, and wouldn't trade Country Life for anything. I'm an accountant for a large commercial real estate firm in downtown Dallas, but on the weekends we travel all over the state and participate in the CASI (Chili Appreciation Society International) chili cookoffs and raise money for charity. It's a great way for us to do something together, and we've met tons of fun people. <img src="http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j166/ZaarNicksMom/PACsticker-Adopted.jpg">
 
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