Cranberry-Orange Bread with Nuts

Cranberry Bog

By Cat, Feb 2008 (photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons)

See also: 1. Breads & Rolls Menu; 2. CranberryKeeping Cake

Cranberry bread adds a festive flair to any holiday table, but I like to make it any time of the year that I can get good quality fresh cranberries (you could use frozen, too).  You could also use fresh blueberries or huckleberries instead of the cranberries, for a summer treat.

I have two cranberry bread recipes. This one is a nice complex of flavors, not too sweet (unless you opt to add more sugar); I provide two versions: standard version and pre-soaked flour version, which is more healthful.

The other is an old Danish recipe, Cranberry Keeping Cake, which is very rich, sweet and can be kept a long time in storage.

Cranberry-Orange Bread with Nuts

This recipe is adapted from the Betty Crocker Cookbook.  The original recipe called for 2 cups all-purpose flour, which I modify to use mostly whole grain (or sprouted grain) flour.  The original also called for ¾ cup sugar, which I modify to use Rapadura sugar or maple syrup and stevia.

If you cannot find, or choose not to use coconut or almond flour, substitute with unbleached white flour and omit ¼ cup milk.

If using blueberries or huckleberries instead of cranberries, consider using lemon zest & juice instead of orange zest/juice.

Do not use aluminum pans; because of the acidic nature of this batter, it will leach toxic aluminum into the batter.  Also, do not use non-stick pans; not only is the coating toxic, but also you don’t want the sides of the pans to be slick.  I prefer to use either glass or tinned steel pans. This recipe can also be made as muffins, but the baking time is less.

If you use sprouted spelt or whole spelt flour, you may need more flour (or less orange juice) in the recipe. If the batter is too thin, add more flour 1 Tbsp at a time. Alternately, start with ½ cup orange juice; if batter is too thick, and more juice 1 Tbsp at a time, up to 4 Tbsp. See Spelt vs Wheat in Baked Goods for more about their differences.

I can no longer get sprouted flour; see below for a soaked-flour version.

Ingredients & Equipment:

• 1 – 2 oranges
• ½ – ¾ cup Rapadura sugar (or ¼ tsp powdered stevia extract and 2 Tbsp Grade-B maple syrup added to orange juice)
• 1 cup cranberries, chopped
• ½ cup chopped pecans  (or chopped and pre-soaked pecans)
• ¼ cup unbleached white flour
• 1 ½ cups sprouted grain or whole wheat pastry flour or whole spelt flour
• ¼ cup coconut or almond flour
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• ¾ tsp unrefined sea salt
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ cup butter or coconut oil, softened but not melted
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup milk
• Equipment:
• 2 small mixing bowls
• large mixing bowl
• whisk and fork
• 1 loaf pan, either 8.5 x 4.5 x 2.5″ or 9 x 5 x 3″;  or two mini loaf pans (4.5 x 2.75 x 2″); or 12 muffin tins.  Do not use aluminum pans.

Method

1. If you want to use presoaked pecans, chop them and presoak overnight before proceeding with recipe.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease bottom only of loaf pan(s) with butter or coconut oil.  If making muffins, line with paper muffin cups.
3. Scrub orange(s) with a mild soap; dry.  Grate 1 Tbsp orange zest; squeeze ¾ cup juice.  (If you don’t get enough juice, add water to make ¾ cup; save leftover pith and pulp for adding to a smoothie).  Stir stevia and maple syrup (if using) into the orange juice; let sit while you proceed.
4. Chop the cranberries & nuts; dredge with ¼ cup unbleached white flour in a small bowl.
5. Measure remaining flours, baking powder, soda and salt into sifter, then sift into large bowl.
6. Using a fork, stir in the butter/coconut oil until crumbly (or mix with egg in next step).
7. Lightly beat egg with sugar (if using) in a small bowl.  Whisk in orange zest, and milk, then stir this mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Stir in orange juice (or OJ, stevia, maple syrup mixture), and nut dredge.
8. Spread in pan; bake in preheated oven about 75 minutes if using smaller pan, or 55 – 65 minutes if using larger pan, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If using two mini pans, they will take less time to bake; check for doneness after 35 minutes.  If using muffin pans, check for doneness after 25 minutes.
9. Cool 5 minutes on a rack.  Loosen sides of loaf from pan, then remove the loaf from the pan.  Cool completely before slicing.

Adaptation: Cranberry-Orange Bread with presoaked nuts and soaked spelt flour

NOTE: the coconut flour is added on the second day to absorb the extra orange juice needed to presoak the flour and nuts. it also adds fiber to the final product.

Because testing the non-soaked version revealed it didn’t rise much, I increased baking soda to ¾ tsp when testing this version.

Ingredients & Equipment:

• Presoak:
• 1 – 2 oranges
• ½ cup chopped pecans
• 1 ½ cups whole spelt flour (if use whole wheat pastry flour, you will need to reduce the amount of coconut flour to 2 Tbsp
• Next Day:
• 1 cup cranberries, chopped
• ¼ cup unbleached white flour (wheat or spelt)
• ¼ cup coconut flour (or 2 Tbsp if you used whole wheat flour for presoak instead of spelt)
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• ¾ tsp unrefined sea salt
• ¾ tsp baking soda (increased from ½ tsp, based on testing)
• 1 egg
• ½ – ¾ cup Rapadura sugar (or ¼ tsp powdered stevia extract and 2 Tbsp Grade-B maple syrup)
• ¼ cup milk
• ¼ cup butter or coconut oil, softened but not melted
• Equipment:
• large mixing bowl
• waxed paper
• wooden spoon
• 2 small mixing bowls
• whisk and fork
• 1 loaf pan, either 8.5 x 4.5 x 2.5″ or 9 x 5 x 3″;  or two mini loaf pans (4.5 x 2.75 x 2″); or 12 muffin tins.  Do not use aluminum pans.

Method

1. Pre-soak flour & nuts: Scrub orange(s) with a mild soap, rinse and dry.  Grate 1 Tbsp orange zest; squeeze ¾ cup juice.  If you don’t get enough juice, add warm water to make ¾ cup. (Save leftover pith and pulp for adding to a smoothie).
2. Measure whole spelt flour into large mixing bowl.  Chop pecans and add to flour. Stir in orange juice until well blended and forms a ball.
3. Press a sheet of waxed paper against the flour mixture, so that the entire surface is covered.  Let sit on counter 12 hours or overnight.  When you pull off the paper in the morning, scrape any batter stuck to the paper back into the bowl.
4. Batter: Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease bottom only of loaf pan(s) with butter or coconut oil.  If making muffins, line with paper muffin cups.
5. Chop cranberries; place in a small bowl.
6. Measure white and coconut flours, baking powder, soda and salt into sifter, then sift over berry-nut mixture.  Stir to mix.
7. Stir stevia into maple syrup (if using).
8. Lightly beat egg and sugar (if using) in a small bowl.  Whisk in maple syrup/stevia mixture, orange zest, and milk.  Beat in the butter or coconut oil.  Then stir this mixture into the soaked flour mixture just until blended. Stir in cranberry and nut dredge.
9. Bake: Spread in pan; bake in preheated oven about 75 minutes if using smaller pan, or 55 – 65 minutes if using larger pan, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If using two mini pans, they will take less time to bake; check for doneness after 35 minutes.  If using muffin pans, check for doneness after 25 minutes.
10. Cool 5 minutes on a rack.  Loosen sides of loaf from pan, then remove the loaf from the pan.  Cool completely before slicing.

Assembly or Serving Suggestions

• Slice about ⅜ – ½ inch thick.  Spread with butter or cream cheese.
• To warm for serving, stack slices and wrap in foil, sealing edges of the foil.  Place in warm oven for 5 to 10 minutes.  Unwrap foil and serve.
• Dip bread, both sides, in a mixture of egg and cream or milk, and cook in hot buttered skillet for an excellent french toast.

Testing

Testing Standard (first) version 12/19/09. Made as written, using whole spelt flour instead of wheat flour. It took 2 large oranges to make the required amount of juice and zest. I mixed the coconut oil with the egg mixture, rather than working into the sifted flour mix. Used one 9×5 bread pan (steel). Baked about 75 minutes. Result: didn’t rise a lot, only about ¾”, and top was flat rather than rounded; perhaps need a bit more leavening (baking soda, since dough is fairly acidic). But texture is nice and taste is good. Not too sweet, and the cranberries are still a bit tart. If more sweetness is wanted, use ⅜ – ½ tsp stevia (or ¾ – 1 cup Rapadura sugar equivalent); mix with OJ and chopped cranberries and let rest while sift flour (instead of dredging cranberries with nuts). Or add ¼cup Rapadura sugar to the egg mix, in addition to the stevia.

Testing pre-soak version, 12/21-22/10: Soaked mix of 1¼ cup whole spelt, 2 Tbsp ea. whole oat and barley flours in ¾ cup OJ and 1 Tbsp zest overnight. This is a soft mix – doesn’t form a ball well, but is thus easier to mix in the egg mix the next day. Used 3/4 tsp baking soda (instead of ½ tsp) to see if will rise better. Batter is airy and fluffy. Used one 9×5 bread pan (steel). Baked about 70 minutes. Result: Rose about ¾ inch, evenly across top (not rounded). Could have baked a few minutes more (some doughy spots around the berries), but not bad. A bit too crumbly; not sure why. Good flavor. I don’t think the extra baking soda caused any problems, although perhaps if it hadn’t risen so much, it might have not been crumbly.

References:

1. Betty Crocker’s Cookbook, Eighth Printing 1989; see Beloved Cookbooks for more info.