The base for this recipe came from my good friend, Laura. Laura and I went through the teaching credential program together and have been close buddies ever since. She is a rock star and I love spending time with her.
I remember the first time I had this cranberry bread rather vividly. It was the night before our final assignments were due and my laptop DIED on me. I was horrified. I wanted to throw up. I cried. Although I had been saving drafts on my flash drive, I hadn’t updated in a few days. There was no way I was going to tell my professors that I couldn’t turn in my work because my computer crashed. No way in heck was I going to be *that* girl.
So I called Laura, freaking out, and she told me to come over and pick up her laptop. When I got there, she handed it off to me, plus a ziploc bag filled with some of this delicious bread. One all-nighter and three slices of cranberry bread later, I turned in all my assignments on time. Phew!
Orange Cranberry Bread
Ingredients:
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- juice and rind of one orange
- 3/4 cup coconut milk (you can use buttermilk if you’re not worried about dairy)
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1/3 cup coconut oil
- 1 cup fresh cranberries, halved
- 1 cup chopped nuts (optional…Laura hates nuts. She says I like nuts because I am nutty. This is a true observation.)
Directions:
Whisk all dry ingredients together in a medium sized bowl. Set aside. Whisk all wet ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix in dry ingredients plus cranberries and nuts until just combined. Do not overmix.
Spoon batter into a buttered loaf pan. Cover with a towel and let the dough rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.
Bake at 325° for 45 to 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the bread comes out clean.
