Cranberry Orange Pecan Bread


Hi everyone, Jess here.  Happy Meatless Monday to you!  I thought this might be a good day to share about another idea for whole wheat pastry flour for those that may still have some sitting in their fridge or freezer.

As a non-baker, I’ve been at a loss for new ideas for what to do with the rest of my pastry flour, and decided to do a little research. While picking up my usual incidentals from the market recently, I decided to peek on the back of a bag of Bob’s Red Mill whole wheat pastry flour in the baking aisle for ideas.  Lo and behold, there was a recipe for a yummy looking bread which called for not only my pastry flour, but also milk, orange, and dried cranberries (of which I still have some from the fall CSA).What a piece of luck!

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 6 tbsp butter, melted
  • 2/3 cup buttermilk (I combine 1 cup milk and 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar and let it stand for a few minutes, as this makes a buttermilk substitute.  I then used 2/3 cup for the recipe.)
  • zest of one large orange
  • 1/3 cup fresh orange juice
  • 1/2 cup pecans (or almonds) chopped and toasted
  • 1 cup dried cranberries
  • shortening (I used beef tallow)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease (or tallow) your bread loaf pan.

Whisk together dry ingredients including pastry flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda and salt.

Whisk together egg, melted butter, buttermilk, orange juice and zest. 

Mix dry and wet ingredients.

Fold in cranberries and nuts.

Pour the prepared ingredients into your bread pan. Bake for 45-55 minutes, until the bread passes the toothpick test. Cool for at least 10 minutes, serve or store.

This bread has a nice crust and is chewy soft on the inside. It’s great with some room temp Amish Roll Butter! Thanks to Bob’s Red Mill for the idea, and to Springdell for the ingredients!   


About Jess

Jess Anderson is the creator of CSA|365 and is passionate about the local food movement. A long time member of Springdell and a busy mother of two, Jess loves keeping her family fed by honest local food.