Cranberry Nut Bread with Citrus

There are a handful of sweetbreads that I regularly make for my friends--banana bread, pumpkin spice bread, and this one, cranberry nut bread.  When scrolling through Elise Bauer's "Bakery" section on Simply Recipes, I was thrilled to see this variation--a cranberry nut bread that calls for citrus and juice.  The first time I saw this recipe, I was lying in bed, thinking about what I wanted to bake that morning (yes, baking urges often come first thing in the morning) and I thought, "My...with a little bit of spice and vanilla extract, that would be clearly delicious!" Below is the resulting hybrid recipe from Simply Recipes & Clearly Delicious.  See Elise's for a basic recipe, and mine for a spice and apple sauce infused item that really is clearly delicious.



Cranberry Nut Bread with Citrus
The original of this recipe comes from Elise Bauer over at Simply Recipes and you can find it here.  However, the below recipe calls for multiple changes--instead of using orange juice (which works FANTASTICALLY), I use a combination of apple sauce and apple juice, whole wheat flour instead of all purpose, and a handful of spices to give it a little oomph.

Ingredients
* 2 cups whole wheat flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 cup granulated sugar
* 1 tablespoon cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 teaspoon almond extract
* 1 teaspoon nutmeg
* 1 teaspoon orange peel, freshly grated, or preserved
* 1 cup chopped cranberries
* 3/4 cup chopped walnuts, or pecans
* 1/2 cup apple sauce
* 1/4 cup apple juice
* 4 tablespoons butter, melted
* 1 egg, beaten

1.) Preheat oven at 350F.  Begin by combining dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and mix to integrate.  Add chopped cranberries and nuts and stir to coat thoroughly with the flour mixture.  Set aside. 
2.) Hookup your Kitchenaid mixer (or other electronic mixture) and add the following ingredients into the metal basin: melted butter, beaten egg, cinnamon, nutmeg, orange peel, sugar, apple sauce, apple juice, and extracts.  Mix on low until fully integrated.
3.) Add dry mixture to wet mixture SLOWLY. Remember Alton Brown's anthem: "Speed Kills" both in baking and other arenas (as I have been told).
4.) Coat a bunt pan with butter and flour and pour batter into pan.  Smooth out thoroughly (as this version yields a rather thick batter) and bake for 30-45 minutes.
5.) Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes.  Enjoy!


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Spiced Nuts

Spiced Nuts.  Doesn't everyone love spiced nuts? No, this is not a "that's what she said" joke, but rather a very tasty, crunchy, candied appetizer.  I made these spiced nuts several weeks ago to compliment the appetizers at Lydia's surprise birthday party, and they were a big hit.  Once you start snacking, you just can't stop!

Plus, the recipe is incredibly easy--melt down your ingredients, stir in your nuts, spread on a cookie sheet, and bake in the oven until crispy and delicious.  And...well, that's what she said.

Spiced Nuts
This recipe is a concoction of my own desire for sugary, salty yummyness.  Although not necessarily peanut brittle (there isn't nearly enough caramel), it does have a candied crunch that sticks to many of the nuts when cooled.  Plus, most of us have these ingredients in our kitchens already, so it's easy, fast, and rather economic to make.

*1 16 oz package of pecans or walnuts
* 1 stick butter, salted
* 2 tablespoons cinnamon
* 1 tablespoon nutmeg
* 1/3 cup sugar

1.) Preheat oven to 350F.  Now, begin by melting the butter in a saucepan.  Stir in sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, and whisk to integrate fully.
2.) Turn off heat and sprinkle in nuts.  Stir to integrate so that nuts are completely coated with sugary buttery mixture.
3.) Spread nuts over a standard, ungreased cookie sheet.
4.) Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the nuts are sizzling in the oven.  Actually, a good rule of thumb is a saying that one of my family friends always says, "The Nose Knows!"  Basically, if you can smell the nuts cooking in your house at around 10 or 15 minutes, they're done.
5.) Remove from oven when the "nose knows" and allow to cool for about five minutes.  You'll want to remove the nuts from the pan and transfer into a serving dish/tupperware while the candied coating is still warm enough to break up fairly easily.  If you let the nuts cool completely, you're gonna have some very dangerous scraping business ahead of you--although some nuts may come off pretty easily, others will be stubborn and literally GLUED to the pan.  This is not only a pain in the butt to detach, but also a great opportunity to lose your nuts...that's right...lose your nuts.  Too much scraping and sticking and before you know it, you'll have nuts flying all over the kitchen.  Unfortunately, since these nuts come in a candy-ish coating, they cannot be salvaged with the five second rule.  Otherwise, you'll have family and friends wondering why your nuts are covered in dog hair.

And on that note, did I mention that nuts in dog hair are not tasty? Also, did I mention that nuts covered in candied cinnamon are clearly delicious? Enjoy!


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Cranberry Sauce

During the holidays, it's really tempting to just buy the cranberry sauce in a can and call it a day. Honestly, I agree because I get it--canned cranberry sauce is delicious! It's so sweet, the perfect gelatin consistency, and the manufacturer's are super considerate by creating the places to cut the sauce with the shape of their can. I'm joking, but I really do appreciate canned cranberry sauce for all of its middle-class glory.

However, what producers of canned cranberry sauce don't tell you is that it's incredibly easy to make your own sauce and even TASTIER than the original canned delight. All you have to do is buy a 12 ounce bag of cranberries, add some sugar and water, and boil it all together until bam, cranberry sauce! Don't believe me? Check out the recipe below.

Cranberry Sauce
The below recipe comes from the back of an Ocean Spray 12 ounce cranberry bag, but you can find other online recipes that are similar instantly.  One that I would suggest is the Cranberry Sauce recipe available at Simply Recipes.  It's very similar to the one below, only minus the spices.  YUM!

Ingredients:
* 12 ounces of cranberries
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 cup water
* cinnamon sticks (optional)
* 1 tablespoon orange peel (optional)
* 1 tablespoon nutmeg/allspice/cloves, or any combination of the three (optional)

1.) Add sugar and water to a large sauce pan and bring to a boil.  While heating up, whisk the ingredients together until the sugar has full dissolved.

2.) Wash and add cranberries to the water/sugar mixture.  Bring water back to a boil and reduce heat to medium for the next 10-15 minutes (or, until all of the cranberries have sufficiently "popped" open).

3.) Now, your cranberry sauce will begin to look like a thicker-jelly-based sauce.  At this point, you can add any number of ingredients because your recipe is almost complete.  I like the addition of basic fall seasonings such as cinnamon (sticks), nutmeg, allspice, orange peel, and/or cloves.  However, these ingredients are not necessary for a tasty sauce--you can leave the sauce by itself and it will certainly taste delicious.  Enjoy!