Cranberry Walnut Bread

I had my monthly vegan baking class today and it was amazing! I had to make 2 batches, one after another, so that I could pull a completed product out of the oven at the same time I was putting the demonstration batch in. One batch was a bread, and the other I used the same recipe to make muffins. It went over really well and I got a lot of positive feedback. The entire building smelled so good (an added bonus). My boss said that even some guy who had walked in off the street said that something smelled really good.

I got the recipe from my farm csa and modified it to take out the eggs and dairy. It went along with the fresh cranberries we got that week. My family were the guinea pigs over christmas.

24 muffins or one 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf.

Ingredients
1/2 cup walnuts (pecans also work well), coarsely chopped
1 cup fresh cranberries (dried works in a pinch but usually adds more sugar to the product), coarsely chopped
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon orange zest
4 tablespoons cold vegan butter, cut into pieces (the smaller its cut, the easier it is to stir later)
1/2 banana
3/4 cup orange juice (fresh or store-bought)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Grease a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

Coarsely chop nuts. Set aside.



In a small bowl, combine the banana with the orange juice and vanilla extract. It really helps to pull or chop the banana into small pieces. Use a whisk to break the banana into very small chunks within the mixture (think diced size) Set aside.


In a large bowl, whisk the flour with the sugar, baking powder,
baking soda, salt, and orange zest. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend it
into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives.
The mixture should look like coarse crumbs.

Mix the wet ingredients into the
dry ingredients well. Stir in the chopped cranberries and nuts.
Pour into the prepared pan or cupcake tray. One thing we discovered today is that an ice cream scoop (not the old fashioned kind) will easily scoop and portion the batter.

Bake for 50 - 60 minutes (for bread), 25-30 minutes (for muffins), or until a
toothpick/utensil inserted into the center of the product comes out clean.
Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.