Orange Cranberry Walnut Bread

I have had a lifelong love affair with fruit breads ever since tasting my Grammie's luscious banana bread as a child and helping my Mom make fruit breads as gifts every Christmas. This orange cranberry walnut bread is a fabulous breakfast or snack bread. The orange scent permeates the sweet, crisp exterior while the inside remains tender and moist with bursts of tart, fresh cranberries and rich toasted walnuts; It is so flavorful that adding butter or cream cheese to a slice really is gilding the lily.

Orange Cranberry Walnut Bread
Adapted from Martha Stewart's Cranberry Bread
2 cups AP flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
4 Tbs unsalted butter, melted
zest of 1 orange
2 TBS fresh orange juice
3/4 cup milk
1 large egg
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
6 oz fresh cranberries
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup toasted walnuts

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

Whisk together wet ingredients plus brown sugar until well incorporated. Sift dry ingredients into wet and mix until just combined. Add orange zest, the fresh and dried cranberries, and toasted walnuts. Combine and pour into prepared pan.

Bake until cooked through - approximately 45 minutes to an hour. Let cool slightly before turning out from the pan. Wait until cool to slice. This bread can also be wrapped tightly in aluminum foil, then plastic and frozen for up to two months.

Enjoy!