Mom's Cranberry Bread Recipe

Growing up my mom would make Cranberry Bread every year. It is delicious and we all looked forward to it every fall and winter. It is traditionally made during the holidays but I like any excuse to make it. A whole bag of cranberries have been sitting in the freezer waiting to be turned into bread and today was the day. I thought I'd share the recipe with you in case any of you would like to make some for your family.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups orange juice
1 cup real mayonnaise
4 eggs
5 cups flour
2 cup sugar (plus a little for sprinkling)
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chopped walnuts
4 tsp orange zest (plus a little for sprinkling)
3 to 4 cups halved cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 3 loaf pans and sprinkle with sugar.

Mix orange juice, mayo, and eggs. Then add flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and orange zest. Blend just until moist. Over mixing will make your bread a little dense. Fold in the nuts, and cranberries.

Pour into your prepared loaf pans. Sprinkle with sugar and orange zest and gently pat down. Bake for 55-65 minutes or until done. Let the loaves cool for 10 minutes then remove from pans and let finish cooling on wire racks. Store in an airtight container.

Tips:

- You can make them without the walnuts. It is still yummy. I occasionally make it nut-free so my daughter can take some to school or if I just don't have walnuts handy.

- You can half the recipe and make one large loaf. Just increase the baking time slightly. You may need to cover with foil the last 15 minutes so the top doesn't burn.

- After completely cool wrap 2 of the loaves tightly in a couple layers of plastic wrap and freeze them. Simply set a frozen loaf on the counter before you go to bed and you will have a nice breakfast ready to go in the morning.

- My favorite way to eat cranberry bread is toasted with butter. Serve it with fresh fruit and milk or coffee for breakfast. Or slice off a thick piece for a quick and satisfying afternoon snack.