Cranberry Bread

Well I'm on a roll with this comfort food thing. The weather has been a little bit chilly and a little bit rainy, which has enhanced my desire to bake and cook those yummy goodies that make us feel good all over.

Now my scale has not been too friendly to me lately, but I just can't resist the desire to make some homemade sweet bread. After scanning my freezer I found that I still had a bag of cranberries in there. 

I now right now many of you are saying, "OMG! Those have been in your freezer how long and you're going to bake with them?" Well I know I've question that myself, but I did read on another blog that someone else did just the same thing. Their cranberries had been in the freezer for quite some time too and her creation came out just fine.

With that said I decided to make Cranberry Bread! I had been keeping a Taste of Home magazine set aside with a cranberry bread recipe that I wanted to try. This recipe just so happened to be under the Kids in the Kitchen section, so I figure it must be fairly easy to make.

Well after making this tasty little loaf of bread I can attest to the ease of making this yummy bread. This bread is wonderful for those Sunday brunches or for a quick little snack with a glass of milk. 

I did, however tweak this recipe a little bit. I left out the raisins and I had no oranges for the orange peel. I probably would put a splash of orange extract in place of the peel if you have it on hand.The glaze has a wonderful orange flavor and I think with a little orange flavor in the bread would be a nice compliment.

Give this bread a try and I think for those of you that have a college student far away I think you could wrap and ship this with ease.

Cranberry Bread
2 C all-purpose flour
3/4 C sugar
1-1/2 t baking powder
1 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 C cold butter
1 egg
3/4 C orange juice
2 t grated orange peel
1 C chopped fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 C golden raisins

STREUSEL
1/3 C packed brown sugar
3 T all-purpose flour
2 T cold butter

GLAZE
1/2 confectioners sugar
2 t orange juice

In a large bowl, combine the first five ingredients; cut in butter until crumbly. In a small bowl, whisk the egg, orange juice and peel. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in cranberries and raisins. Transfer to a greased 8-in X 4-in loaf pan. 

Combine brown sugar and flour; cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over batter. Bake at 350 for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

For glaze, combine confectioners sugar and orange juice until smooth. Drizzle over bread.