CRANBERRY LEMON BREAD

I love cranberries. Love them!

But I hardly ever eat them.

Aside from the dried, sweetened variety and the sauce you eat at Thanksgiving, they've been a rare occurrence in my life. I decided that needed to change. So the next time I saw a big bag of fresh cranberries at the grocery store, I grabbed them. Time to experiment.

I tried eating them plain (not good), I made them into a smoothie (okay), and I made a pumpkin cranberry bread (pretty good). Finally, I made a lemon cranberry bread, and that was it.

Like any quick bread, this recipe is super fast and easy. It keeps well for several days, and makes a great breakfast, snack, or dessert. Because of the cranberries, it also seems festive and would make a lovely handmade gift, don't you think? Maybe wrapped up in waxed paper and one of these ribbons?

Cranberry Lemon Bread 
Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients:
1 cup plain greek yogurt
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
2 large eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups picked over fresh or frozen cranberries

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a loaf pan. (8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 3/4 inches)

In a large bowl, beat together the yogurt, sugar, water, eggs, oil, and lemon juice. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and stir until batter is smooth (no need for overkill, though). Fold in cranberries and lemon zest. Pour batter into loaf pan and smooth out the top.

Bake bread in middle of oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. (I would recommend putting a cookie sheet under the pan in case it overflows. It hasn't happened to me, but it came close.) Cool bread in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto rack and cool completely. Stores covered for several days. (Although I doubt it will last that long.)

Do you have any favorite cranberry recipes? I'd love to hear!

I also wanted to say thank you for all the nice things you've said about our new website. We put so much work into it that we've been thrilled with the warm response.

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