Mandarin Orange and Cranberry Muffin Bread

I know, a lot of you are still cleansing and juicing and shunning wheat and sugar. And the cranberry-orange flavour combo is decidedly December.

But after a few weeks of hiatus, cranberry-orange loaves make their way back into coffee shop displays. Or do they? Am I remembering the early days of coffee shop-mania when cranberry-orange loaves, muffins and scones were de rigueur? Perhaps flavours, like green tea and pomegranate and chipotle, become trendy like skinny jeans and Uggs, and then fall from glory.

If this is the case, cranberry-orange loaves were so 1990s. It was always Mike’s first choice, and I haven’t made a loaf for years. And so I did.

Besides, there’s a foot of snow on the ground and baking is the most pleasant way to warm a house. 

Ingredients

2 C. self rising flour
1/2 C. sugar
2 T. butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
1 1/4 C. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 C. fresh whole cranberries
11 oz. can mandarin oranges, drained

Directions

Whisk together the flour and sugar. Add in the melted butter, egg, milk and vanilla extract. Stir well to combine then fold in the cranberries and mandarin oranges. Butter a loaf pan very well and pour the mixture into the pan and spread around to even out. Bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer stick comes out clean. Remove from the pan to a cooling rack.

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