Cranberry Bread with Pecans

Fresh cranberries are very deceiving.  They are a beautiful bright red color & wonderfully fragrant.  However, one bite of a fresh cranberry will pucker your mouth right up.  When mixed with some sugar, flour & buttermilk, those tart little cranberries can bake up into a delicious loaf.

The buttermilk is the key to this tender quick bread, along with the orange zest, & the toasted pecans add a nice crunch on top.

Cranberry Nut Bread
recipe from Baking Illustrated


1/3 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1 tablespoon orange zest
2/3 cup buttermilk
6 tablespoons butter, melted & cooled
1 egg, beaten
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup toasted pecans

Mix flour, sugar, baking power, baking soda, & salt in a large bowl and set aside.  Combine orange zest, juice, buttermilk, butter, egg, and vanilla in a small bowl.  Add dry ingredients to wet and mix with spatula just until moistened.  Add cranberries & pecans* being careful not to over mix.  Pour into a greased 9x5 pan.  Bake at 375 for 20 minutes, then lower oven temperature to 350 and bake for another 45 minutes.  Cool on wire rack 10 minutes, then remove from pan.

*I did not mix the pecans into the batter, but sprinkled them on top of the loaf before baking.