I can usually tell the winter holidays are nigh based on my desire to bake. Not that I don’t enjoy baking, but there’s always the inevitable eating (and over-eating) that occurs with an abundance of baked goods around. With a day-long meeting and a baby shower at church, I decided to provide an outlet for my compulsion while I had an avenue for sharing. My poor KitchenAid mixer has been gathering dust since Joe and I have been eating more of a Paleo diet, so I selected this recipe from the Penzey’s catalog.
In a frenzy of kitchen-purging, I got rid of all but one loaf pan, so I improvised and made one loaf and 12 muffins. The muffins took about 20 minutes to bake. At church, people enjoyed the addition of the cranberries, though I used dry because I couldn’t find fresh that week. I do love pumpkin and the texture of baked goods that include it, and I couldn’t let an opportunity to do some rare baking pass by.
Pumpkin Cranberry Nut Bread
source: Penzey’s
Yields: 24 servings
Ingredients
3 1/2 cups of flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp grated orange rind
3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 15 oz can pure pumpkin puree
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Combine the dry ingredients and set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugars. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each one. Add the vanilla, pumpkin, and dry mixture approximately 1/2 cup at a time, alternating between the pumpkin and dry mixture until all is combined. Stir in the cranberries and nuts. Divide the batter between two 8x4 1/2 inch greased and floured loaf pans and bake at 350-degrees for 55-65 minutes (or 20-25 minutes for muffins).
