Cranberry Quick Bread with Raisins and Hazelnuts

Ok, I promise this is the last time I'm going to extol the cranberry, at least for a little while, but let me give you one more fun tidbit about these little berries before I launch into the recipe itself.  How do you know if a cranberry is good?  Bounce it on your kitchen counter - fresh cranberries bounce!  And are adorable doing so.  Anyway, make this breakfast bread for your family to enjoy over the Thanksgiving holiday.  Or, serve it with some homemade vegan cottage cheese and fruit salad as I did tonight; it makes the perfect light supper or lunch before tomorrow's big feast.  Either way, I won't be posting tomorrow, so enjoy a wonderful cruelty-free Thanksgiving!

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup vegan sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup apple juice
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 teaspoon grated orange rind
• 1 Ener-G egg
• 1 and 1/3 cups chopped fresh cranberries
• 1/3 cup golden raisins
• 1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts
• Cooking spray

1. Lightly spoon both flours into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife.  Combine the flours in a large bowl with the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; make a well in the center of the mixture and set aside.

2. In a separate bowl, combine the apple juice, canola oil, orange rind, and Ener-G egg.  Add to the flour mixture and stir just until moist, then fold in the cranberries, raisins, and hazelnuts.  Don't worry if your batter gets stained a bit pink from the cranberries; it won't be noticeable once the batter darkens while baking.

3. Spoon the batter into a 9x5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray, and bake at 350 degrees for about 48 to 50 minutes, until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack before removing from the pan and cooling completely on a wire rack.

Nutrition Info:
16 servings (1 slice), Calories 162 

Tasting Notes:
I absolutely loved the fresh cranberries in here, as opposed to dried cranberries.  If you can imagine cranberry juice cocktail turned into a bread, that's kind of what this bread tasted like - yum! The hazelnut was another, nicely unexpected flavor, since most breads like this I've baked in the past use walnuts. That said, if you have walnuts on hand - or just prefer them - feel free to swap out for the hazelnuts.

Rating:
3.5