I love using fresh cranberries in recipes around the holidays. Cranberry Bread is one of my favorites and is so easy to make. Enjoy!
Holiday Cranberry Bread
3/4 c. orange juice
1/2 c. mayonnaise
2 lg. eggs
1 1/2 t. orange extract
1 T. orange zest, divided
2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. + 2 T. granulated white sugar, divided
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
2 t. ceylon cinnamon
1 1/2 c. fresh cranberries (picked over, washed and dried)
1/2 c. chopped pecans and/or raisins
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare four miniature loaf pans ( 3 x 6″ ) with baking spray or with butter and flour.*
2. In a medium bowl, combine juice, mayonnaise, eggs, extract and 2 t. of the orange zest. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, 1 c. of the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Stir in wet ingredients until uniformly moistened. Fold in cranberries, nuts and/or raisins.
4. Divide batter between prepared loaf pans. Level tops with the back of a spoon.
5. Combine reserved 2 T. of sugar and 1 t. of zest. Sprinkle each loaf with 3/4 t. of orange sugar.** Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the middle of each loaf tests clean. Cool on a wire rack.
* Bread can also be baked in 9 x 5″ pan for 60 – 70 minutes.
** Cinnamon sugar can be used in place of the orange sugar if you are running low on orange zest.
Low-fat Banana Cranberry Bread
Replace mayonnaise with 3/4 c. mashed bananas in the recipe above, and increase the cinnamon to 2 1/2 t. The mayonnaise acts as a tenderizer in the original recipe and so the low-fat version is not quite as cake-like, but it is still very moist and tasty, especially served warm with a dallop of low-fat cream cheese. Yum!
Wow, it looks incredible.
Thank you : )
I’m with Charlie…I’ve got an extra bag of cranberries to use up and this recipe looks ideal to try out this weekend!
Wonderful! I hope that you enjoy it, Karen!
Laurie
Adding it to this weekend’s baking list. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the note, Christine. Have a lovely weekend!
Mmmm – delicious! I love the sound of all those flavours: orange, cranberry, cinnamon … very festive 🙂
Thank you! Happy holidays!
Great recipe, I plan on trying it this weekend.
Thanks for letting me know, Charlie. I hope that you enjoy it!