Dried cranberries, widely available today, fleck the texture of this bread. If you use fresh berries that were frozen, be sure they are at room temperature because frozen berries affect the baking time. Toast the walnuts while preheating the oven.
Recipe information
Yield
makes one 9 1/2 × 5 1/2-inch loaf or three 5 3/4 × 3 1/2-inch loaves
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Position the oven racks so that they are evenly spaced and one rack is in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to convection bake at 325°F for a 9 1/2 × 5 1/2-inch loaf, or 350°F for 5 3/4 × 3 1/2-inch loaves. Spread the nuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven as it preheats for 5 to 8 minutes or until fragrant. Cool them. Grease and flour one large or three small loaf pans.
Step 2
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the melted butter, egg, orange zest, orange juice and buttermilk mixture, cranberries, and toasted walnuts all at once and stir with a wooden spoon, just until the dry ingredients are moistened.
Step 3
Pour the batter into one large or three small loaf pans. Bake in the center of the oven for 50 to 55 minutes for the large loaf, 35 to 45 minutes for small loaves, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean and dry. Remove the bread from the oven and let it stand in the pan for 5 minutes; loosen the edges with a knife, and turn the bread out of the pan to finish cooling on a wire rack.
