Cranberry Orange Bread

For our New Year's brunch this year, I wanted to serve something sweet to go with Biscuits and Gravy Casserole and Caramelized Ham and Cheese Buns.  I searched my Pinterest boards and found this really delicious cranberry orange bread.

Click here for the original link on the blog Taste and Tell.

Cranberry Orange Bread

Ingredients

2 cups flour

½ cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

grated zest of 1 large orange

⅔ cup fresh orange juice

2 eggs, lightly beaten

⅓ cup vegetable oil

1¼ cups fresh cranberries

½ cup nuts, chopped

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a 9x5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray.

Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. Stir in the orange zest. Make a well in the center and add the orange juice, eggs and vegetable oil. Stir gently, just until almost combined. Fold in the cranberries and nuts, making sure you don’t over mix the batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake in the preheated oven until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes.

Let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Crustless Cranberry Pie

My friend Erin posted this link on Facebook and said how much she loved it.  She's a fellow foodie, so I had to try it.  And it was FABULOUS!

She said she tweaked the recipe a bit, using vanilla extract instead of almond extract.  I did that too, since I like almond but I don't love almond.  I also used nut topping instead of the walnuts, because it's a nice mixture of nuts.  And walnuts can be too bitter for me.

This isn't really a pie, and it's not really a cake.  The best way to describe it is a muffin.  Next time I think I'll sprinkle some sugar on top of the batter, which is a trick another friend taught me years ago when you make homemade muffins.  It makes them taste like they came straight from a bakery.

It is also ridiculously simple.  I will definitely be making this again!

This recipe is from allrecipes.com.  Click here for the original link, which includes lots of reviews and the ways that people have altered the recipe to suittheir own tastes.

Crustless Cranberry Pie

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup white sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups cranberries (I used fresh)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I used nut topping)

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 eggs

1 teaspoon almond extract (I used vanilla)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 9 inch pie pan.

Combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Stir in the cranberries and the walnuts, and toss to coat. Stir in the butter, beaten eggs, and almond extract. If you are using frozen cranberries, the mixture will be very thick. Spread the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 40 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted near the center comes out clean. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.