Apple Cranberry Walnut Bread - The Foodie Days of Christmas

This is not your grandmama's fruit cake. This is a delicious, fragrant fruit bread absolutely bursting with sweet apples, tart cranberries, and rich walnuts. When I was a child, and all the way through high school, every year when Winter Break rolled around my mother and I would make several mini loaves of fruit bread to give as gifts to my teachers. This fruit bread makes a fabulous breakfast toasted in the oven and spread with cream cheese or as a perfect mid-afternoon snack sliced plain with hot tea. It's a wonderful treat to bring to friends who may be hosting you for the holidays or to serve at a holiday brunch.

Apple Cranberry Walnut Bread
Adapted from Martha Stewart's Cranberry Bread
2 cups AP flour
1 cup + 1 Tbs packed brown sugar
4 Tbs unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup milk
1 large egg
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1.5 cups chopped apple, divided
6 oz fresh cranberries
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1.5 cup toasted, chopped walnuts, divided
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350º F. Butter and flour a 9x5" loaf pan and set aside.

Whisk together wet ingredients plus one cup of brown sugar (the extra tablespoon will be used at the end) until well incorporated. Sift dry ingredients into wet and mix until just combined. Add one cup of the chopped apples, the fresh and dried cranberries, and one cup of toasted walnuts. Combine and pour into prepared pan.

Toss together the remaining half cup each of apple and walnut plus the teaspoon of cinnamon and tablespoon of brown sugar. Layer over top of loaf.

Bake until cooked through - approximately an hour and 15 minutes. Let cool slightly before turning out from the pan. With so many yummy bits packed throughout this fruit bread can get a bit crumbly. This is normal - it's still completely delicious.

Enjoy!

Check out all the Foodie Days of Christmas recipes and follow on Twitter with #foodieChristmas:
Orange-Cinnamon Candied Almonds
Chocolate Peppermint Pinwheels
Fruit & Nut Bark
M&M Peppermint Bark - a Family Sunday Recipe
Apple Cranberry Walnut Bread
Sugar Cookies from Cooking Light
Gingerbread Snowflakes
Gingerbread Layer Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting