Cranberry Nut Bread

Sydney Mike's Note:

The recipe for this moist, dark holiday bread was found in the Taste of Home's Fall Baking Cookbook, 2009.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 25 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 15 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 24

Yield: 2.0 loaves

• 2 ½ cups cranberries , chopped, divided (fresh or frozen)
• 2⁄3; cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons orange zest , minced
• 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup light brown sugar , packed
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 eggs , lightly beaten
• ¾ cup sour cream
• ¼ cup unsalted butter , melted
• 1 cup pecans , chopped

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups of chopped cranberries, sugar & orange zest.
2. Brink to a boil, then reduce heat & cook 6 to 8 minutes or until cranberries are softened.
3. Remove from the heat & stir in the remaining berries before setting them aside.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F & grease two 8-inch loaf pans.
5. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, salt & cloves.
6. In another bowl, combine the eggs, sour cream & butter, then stir this mixture into the dry ingredients until just blended.
7. Fold in the cranberries & pecans, then pour batter into the two prepared loaf pans.
8. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
9. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes on a wire rack before removing the loaves from the pans to cool completely on the wire rack.

Reviews

[Mikekey]

Great bread. Very moist and flavorful. Cooking the berries first helps make it dark and moist. I will double the amount of orange zest next time, though. The spices were perfect. Thanks for this keeper.

[JackieOhNo!]

This was really excellent, and a nice departure from regular cranberry bread. I think cooking the cranberries really deepened their flavor. I halved the recipe to make one loaf and used walnuts instead of pecans. The dark color of the bread coupled with the ruby color of the cranberries really gave this a festive appearance and it was a perfect gift for the holidays. I will be making this again! Thanks for sharing this. Made for PRMR Tag Game.