Introduction: Craisin (Cranberry) Bread

About: The name's Alex. I'm currently majoring in Graphic Design at Cal Poly Pomona. When I'm not busy with schoolwork I like to practice hockey, watch some movies, modify my Nerf blasters, play with my Yamaha DTXpre…

My parents found this old recipe card for Apricot Bread in our kitchen. They made that, and it turned out awesome. I'm not a big fan of dried apricots, so I figured I would adapt the recipe for dried cranberries. 

It turned out great, and it's super easy to make. Simply mix all the ingredients together and bake!

Step 1: Gather Ingredients and Supplies


Supplies
  • Two Mixing Bowls
  • Whisk, or Electronic Mixer
  • 5 x 9 Bread Pan
  • Oven (that should be obvious)
  • Various Measuring Cups
Ingredients
  • 2 & 3/4 Cups Flour
  • 1 Cup Sugar
  • 2 TSP Baking Soda
  • 1 TSP Salt
  • 1 TBSP Shortening or Butter
  • 1 Egg
  • 1/3 Cup Cream
  • 1 & 1/2 Cups Cranberry Juice (or substitute)
  • 1 Cup Dried Cranberries (Craisins)
Now is also a good time to go preheat the oven to 350 F.

Step 2: Mix the Dry Ingredients


Here are the ingredients you need to mix together into a bowl:
  • 2 & 3/4 Cups Flour
  • 1 Cup Sugar
  • 2 TSP Baking Soda
  • 1 TSP Salt
Hopefully, you can learn from my mistakes and use a larger bowl than I did, or else your mixing will take some delicate maneuvers. Once you finish mixing together the "dry" ingredients, set that bowl aside.

Step 3: Mix the Other Stuff


For this step we need a separate bowl to mix together the remaining ingredients:
  • 1 Egg
  • 1/3 Cup Cream
  • 1 & 1/2 Cups of Cranberry Juice (or substitute)
  • 1 TBSP Butter (I melted it in the microwave)
Once you have those ingredients together, go grab the first, "dry" ingredients bowl.

Step 4: Final Mixing


Pour the "dry" ingredients into the other bowl and mix or whisk it up until it's a nice smooth consistency. Now, if you'd like to learn another lesson from my mistakes mix in:
  • 1 Cup Dried Cranberries (Craisins)
For some reason, I completely forgot about adding in the cranberries and poured the mix into the baking pan. Either way works, but it seems easier to mix them in when you have a nice large bowl rather than a tiny pan.

Go grab your 5 x 9 Bread Pan and be sure to grease the sides, so the bread can be removed easily. Pour the mix in, and you're ready to go.

Step 5: Bake


The oven should be at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, just in case you missed that earlier.

Baking should take between:
  • 1 hour - 1 hour and 15 minutes
The best way to tell if it is done is to poke it with a toothpick in the center. If the toothpick comes out with batter on it, it needs to bake longer. When the toothpick comes out dry and clean, your bread is done.

Take it out of the oven and let it cool off. To help it cool faster you can remove it from the pan, which is probably still very hot.

Step 6: Voila!


There you have it, Craisin (Cranberry) Bread. Just slice it up about a 1/2 inch thick, spread some butter on it, and enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

I always appreciate questions and comments.