Cranberry-Nut Quick Bread by Cook’s Illustrated

Baking a loaf of Cranberry-Nut bread is an excellent way to use up any leftover or frozen cranberries you have from the Christmas holidays.  I froze a couple of bags since these tart berries seem to be harder to find after the holidays.  I like to keep a loaf of some type of quick or breakfast bread to enjoy with my morning yogurt or for an afternoon snack with a hot cup of tea.  My man, Dan grabs a slice for his commute to work in the mornings.  Which is your favorite?  Cranberry-Nut, Banana, Zucchini?  I like all of those!

This cranberry-nut loaf is made extra delicious by the addition of grated orange zest and a little juice too.   Fresh or frozen berries both work in this recipe. It’s convenient to whip up this loaf as you simply combine the liquid and dry ingredients separately, then stir them together.

I’m appreciating Cook’s Illustrated’s notes that are scattered throughout my new baking book.  Are you a fan of Cook’s Illustrated?  My only issue here is that I love to bake sweet treats and this book is full of them.  I’ve been perusing the recipes to choose a savory one but I also am thinking hard about their version of Quick Cinnamon buns – heck what’s another walk around the neighborhood or an extra few minutes on the elliptical?

So here’s what CI says about this quick bread recipe.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS This simple bread is often subpar; too heavy, or so overly sweetened that the contrast between the tart berries and what should be a slightly sweet, cake like bread is lost.  We were looking for a crust that was golden brown and evenly thin all the way around and an interior texture that was somewhere between a dense breakfast bread and a light, airy cake.  Taming the puckery tart of the cranberries was one route to delivering an above-average loaf.