Cranberry Nut Bread

picture taken moments before i burned my mouth on a too hot cranberry.
it must be the power of deliciousness.
oh, that you could smell this.
and yes. it was worth it.

Well, I hadn't gotten around to making this for Thanksgiving, but that didn't mean I suddenly didn't have the bag of cranberries in my fridge. Which meant that today, when I realized just how very cold it was and how toasty the kitchen was capable of being, I opted to bake this delicious treat.

My mother used to make very nearly this same recipe at Thanksgiving and Christmas when I was small. I remember the several foil throw-away loaf pans, sorting through the cranberries to make sure that they were all good, and thinking about how strangely hollow this fruit was. I had the same hollow-fruit-thought this afternoon, in my jeans and hoodie and knit boots, even while wondering just how hard it was to find a freakin' grater in my house.

Pretty hard, we don't have one.

Still. We have a loaf pan that I found at a nearby local thrift store for a dollar and we had all the ingredients that I'd planned on using. I was strangely nervous waiting for my bread to cook, but in the end it was even better than I'd hoped. We stood around the kitchen, eating thick pieces still hot from the oven, buttered and amazing. This was exactly what I'd needed.

Super Delicious Cranberry Nut Bread

- two cups flour
- one cup sugar
- one and a half teaspoon baking powder
- one teaspoon salt
- the juice of one tangerine (nothing says fantastic like fresh juice!) (you may wish to use two, if you'd like more of the flavor. you may not need the half and half then.)
- three to four tablespoons half and half (or milk or cream, what you have about is fine)
- one tablespoon grated tangerine peel (ooooh, I do adore zest)
- two tablespoons oil (I used canola)
- two blended eggs
- one and a half cups fresh cranberries (if using frozen, do not thaw them, I know that sounds odd)
- one half cup chopped walnuts (or other nut)

Preheat your oven to 350F.

Mix the dry ingredients and then, in a different dish (mine was a mug! oh, the shame I ought to feel...) mix the juice, the zest, the oil, and the egg. Add and blend with the dry mixture and then add the cranberries and nuts. Add three tablespoons half and half and then see if you need more. Your dough ought to be thick and sticky, but it shouldn't be too sticky and ought to have some give involved. It's bread dough!

Pour (place, move, dance, whichever) into a greased and floured bread pan and bake for about an hour. I'd start checking on it at fifty minutes. The top will be browned a bit and knife will come out clean. Or, you know, only marred by hot delicious cranberry.

Clearly, this recipe cane be changed. You can add chocolate or a different nut or a different juice, you could make it vegan probably pretty easily.

Enjoy!