Cranberry Nut Bread

I've had a hankering to make some kind of quick bread ever since Jen A. brought me an awesome thank you gift for hosting her baby shower--a Le Creuset loaf pan!! Don't I have the most awesome friends ever?! It was entirely too generous of her, but I'm so excited to own it. I had two bags of cranberries in the freezer that I bought around Thanksgiving when they were super cheap. I didn't know why I bought them, I just felt I should since they were cheap. Jen B. was telling me recently that she's been turning to RecipeZaar.com instead of allrecipes.com, so I figured I'd check there for some kind of cranberry bread recipe. This one got good reviews, so I went with it.

Cranberry Nut Bread
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup butter
1 egg
3/4 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon grated orange rind
1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. In large bowl, combine dry ingredients.
2. Cut in butter until crumbly.
3. Beat egg, juice and rind; add to dry ingredients.
4. Mix just until blended.
5. Add cranberries and walnuts.
6. Spoon into greased and floured loaf pan.
7. Bake at 350* for 65 minutes, until pick comes out clean.

*****

I happened to notice there was a cranberry bread recipe on the bag of cranberries that was almost identical to this one, only it called for oil instead of butter. That would have been easier--I hate cutting in butter. It's in the oven now, I'm excited to see how it turns out.

And I think I'm done baking for quite awhile now!

*****

The bread is yummy. I've had two pieces to test it and make sure it's okay. I used pecans instead of walnuts because those are what I had on hand. I think something is weird with my oven because I had to bake this for at least 80 minutes, if not longer. The coffee cake took longer as well too. Hmmm. Good thing I'm not baking any time soon. ;)