Sunday, October 24, 2010

Orange Cranberry Bread


Cranberries symbolize the arrival of fall and the approach of the holiday season which is seemingly sneaking up on me.  As a young girl I was never very fond of the jiggly "stuff" that came out of the can in a sort of gigantic bullet shape - except on a leftover turkey sandwich.  However, the discovery of a new world of cranberry delights has opened my eyes and reined me in as a cranberry fan with freshly made sauces and relishes, muffins, cakes and breads.  With the ability to purchase the berries in a dried form, cranberries aren't just for Thanksgiving anymore!

Slightly sweet Orange Cranberry Bread marries the citrus/tart flavors in a bread that easily comes together with the touch of a button in the trusty bread machine.  Bright with orange juice and orange peel this bread is a perfect blend of fall flavors, but it's fresh, light tastes feature themselves just as nicely on your spring Easter table.

Toasted with a smear of butter the bread is a pure delight.  Soaked in an egg batter with cinnamon and topped with pure maple syrup the bread becomes decadent!  Liv and her brother both asked for seconds this morning as they gobbled their Orange Cranberry French Toast with weekend gusto.





Orange Cranberry Bread

1 1/4 cup orange juice (room temp)
1 Tbs butter
1 tsp salt
3 1/4 cups bread flour 
1 1/2 Tbs sugar or honey
1 tsp orange zest
2 tsp yeast
3/4 cup dried cranberries

Program machine for a 2 pound loaf on the light crust setting.

Add ingredients (except the cranberries) into your machine in the  order recommended by your manufacturer.  Add the cranberries at the machines recommended "addition" time.

The bread will brown easily and would do will on a sandwich setting if your machine has it.  I don't have a sweet bread setting, but this might work well also due to the high sugar content.  

Alternatively the bread will come out wonderfully mixed either by hand or in a stand mixer and baked in the oven.  However I have always used my machine and do not have a recommended oven baking temperature.

18 comments:

  1. Okay - I now need to find by bread machine that is hidden in the corner of my pantry. It looks amazing and love that you made french toast - perfect!!

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  2. I always make an orange, cranberry, and nut quick bread for Christmas, since I don't have a bread machine. Your French toast looks amazing.

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  3. We packed up our bread machine we hadn't used it in so long. But we do love orange bread French toast so this is tempting!

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  4. The bread looks amazing!! I love fresh cranberries and canned ones can creep me out! Thanks for posting, looks great!

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  5. I'm a huge cranberry fan and use them most of the time when a recipe calls for raisins. Your bread looks delicious and turning it into french toast makes it irresistible. Awesome job!

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  6. This bread must taste amazing! What a great combination of flavors! Thank you for your kind words and your support during this PFB challenge. I really appreciate it!

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  7. I was so excited to see that this was a yeast bread, but that French toast got me drooling. What a wonderful breakfast that would be!!!

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  8. i don't have a bread machine and never thought of getting one, your loaf looks so great, love the cranberries through the white-yellowish bread

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  9. I'm a big fan of cranberries--juice, sauce, craisins, and even the jiggly stuff in the can! haha They go perfectly with oranges. This bread looks so good and I love it even more as french toast!

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  10. That french toast looks heavenly!

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  11. I am jealous. Another one beautiful recipe with cranberries which unfortunately I cannot make because we do not have cranberries in Greece. It looks awesome though.

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  12. wow, this looks fab- I am drooling looking at the pics! Yum :P

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  13. that is a fantastic bread! really gorgeous!

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  14. Beautiful loaf. Love the flavors.

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  15. This was great. I didn't have bread flour so used White Whole Wheat flour. I made a swirl with the cranberries, cinnamon and some sugar. Baked in the regular oven 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. It is wonderful!

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  16. I bet that French toast was amazing. I'm catching a theme here...I'm guessing that breakfast is really important to you guys, huh. You come up with the most amazing pancakes and things like this.

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  17. First bread baked on Mayer bread maker. I have chosen sweet bread n light crust mode. Taste n good great, thx for the awesome recipe! 😀

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    Replies
    1. You're welcome!! I'm so glad you told us it worked. I haven't made this bread in forever... but you have me inspired!

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