Hey Chickadees,
Have I ever told you how quick breads and I aren't the best of friends? They just don't like me much. But I like them, so I keep trying to make them. Last winter I made a cranberry bread that was okay, but not great. This year I was determined to make a different, better bread. I found a recipe I liked, made it once at home, and was excited to make it again when I went to California for Thanksgiving.
The cranberry bread, on the other hand, had other plans.
I share with you now how NOT to make Orange Pecan Cranberry Bread over your Thanksgiving break:
Day One:
Begin to think about making the bread. On pre-Thanksgiving last-minute trip to store, pick up extra bag of cranberries, yogurt, oranges, and orange oil. Let your mom pay for all of it. When you get home, let your sister talk you out of making the bread - there's too much other Thanksgiving food.
Day Two:
Eat all that other Thanksgiving food.
Day Three:
Consider making this bread. Realize that the oranges you have will not yield enough orange juice. Call Mama B and ask her to pick up some OJ on her way home (we'll just pretend it's fresh squeezed). Lay down on the couch while waiting for her to come home. When she arrives, thank her from the couch for getting the juice. Fall asleep on couch. Zombie-walk up to bed some time later.
Day Four:
Decide it's time to make this bread once and for all. Begin to gather ingredients. Begin to zest oranges. Realize that the zesting is causing you to sweat. Investigate this. Conclude that the cheese grater you are using to zest the orange is the same cheese grater you've been using since...um...your whole life. Say, "That's it! Zesting an orange should not be this difficult! I'm going to Target for a proper zester!"
Go to Target. Walk directly to the kitchen section. Do not, under any circumstances, take a detour through the clothes section - the bread will certainly never get made if that happens. Purchase zester. Go home and successfully zest oranges.
Begin to mix dry ingredients. Go to the pantry for flour. Scream.
Yes, scream.
Because, Chickadees, there is no flour in the pantry.
Assure all other family members and dogs in the house who came running when you screamed that you are not seriously injured. Take some deep breaths. Double-check the rest of the ingredient list. Thank goodness - everything else besides flour is accounted for.
Drive to the local market. On your way, kidnap your sister who went out for a run and make her come to the market with you - you are in need of moral support. Purchase flour, ideally not at the register where the kid you once cheated on a spelling test with in first grade is the checker. Drive home.
Finally, finally, finish making this bread. Fend off family members from eating it until you've photographed it. Then eat half the loaf yourself. After everything you went through to get this far, you deserve it.
Seriously, Chickadees, making this bread doesn't have to take four days and multiple trips to the store to make. Yes, there is a bit more prep involved than some other quick breads, but with a food processor and a proper zester, it's not that bad. To save more time, buy pre-chopped nuts, high-quality orange juice, and don't bother chopping the cranberries.
And remember - if you do get to the pantry and have no flour, it's okay to scream.
Happy zesting,
Katie
Orange Pecan Cranberry Bread
Adapted from Luna Cafe
2 cups all-purpose
flour
1½ teaspoons baking
powder
½ teaspoon baking
soda
½ teaspoon fine sea
salt
¾ cup plain nonfat
yogurt
¾ cup fresh orange
juice
½ cup unsalted
butter, cool room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, cool
room temperature
½ teaspoon orange
oil or 1 teaspoon orange extract
finely grated zest
of 1 large orange (2-3 tablespoons)
1 cup fresh
cranberries, each cut in half
1 cup lightly
toasted pecans, coarsely chopped
1. Set an oven rack in the
middle of the oven with plenty of room above it and preheat the oven to 350°.
2. Grease and flour a 9x5
loaf pan or spray with flour baking spray (or 3 mini loaf pans).
3. In a medium mixing bowl,
sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
4. In another mixing bowl,
whisk together yogurt and orange juice. Set aside.
5. Cream butter and sugar
until pale and creamy, about 3-5 minutes.
6. Add eggs gradually, beating
continuously to incorporate. Then add orange oil and zest and mix briefly to
incorporate.
7. Using the slowest speed
of the mixer, add flour mixture in three increments, alternating with the
addition of 2 increments of the yogurt-orange juice mixture. The last addition
should be the flour mixture. Do not over mix. Stop the mixer and finish
incorporating the ingredients by folding together with a large spatula.
8. While folding, add the
reserved cranberries and pecans, and incorporate gently and quickly. The batter
should be well combined, but do not over mix or the bread will not be tender.
10. Remove from the oven,
let settle in the pan for 10 minutes, and then gently turn out onto a wire rack
to cool.
Do Ahead If well-wrapped to prevent moisture loss, this bread will
keep at room temperature for a day or two; or longer in the freezer. It
actually improves in texture and taste after a day or so of proper
storage.
Katie’s note: This recipe seems to make more batter than fits in 1 9x5 loaf pan. I doubled this recipe and divided the
batter between 3 9x5 loaf pans. The bread does rise in the oven, so make sure
to fill your pans no more than ¾ full.
