Cranberry Orange Bread

My family doesn't have a well-defined set of Thanksgiving traditions.  Growing up with divorced parents, I often divided my time between two Thanksgiving dinners, having the main meal at one house and dessert at another.  Things always felt briefly desolate as I was shuttled between the two under the cover of early nightfall, but a slice of pie (or three) put an end to that pretty fast.  And I wouldn't have wanted to miss out on spending time with either of my families.  

My mom and I usually had dinner at a friends' house, and didn't have to do much of the cooking.  (I don't think either of us has ever roasted a whole turkey, unless she did a bunch of turkey-roasting before I was born and neglected to tell me about it.)

This is what we always bring: cranberry bread.  Our only definitive tradition, it is a Thanksgiving necessity for me.  Last year my mom brought it to our apartment for the first Thanksgiving that Ben and I hosted.  The year before that, I called her from Chattanooga to get the recipe so it could be my contribution to Ben's family's dinner when I met them all for the first time.  I had a moment of panic when one of his brothers accidentally dropped the finished loaf, just out of the pan, face down on the floor, but we picked it up, brushed it off, and proceeded to eat it with no qualms.  

The recipe we usually use has regular flour, and last year I made Thanksgiving a cheat day so I could enjoy this and other gluten-laden treats.  But this year I wanted to make a paleo version.  And although I haven't had a bite of the original recipe since last Thanksgiving, I'm pretty sure I like this one even better!  It's moist in the middle and crispy around the edges, with the perfect level of sweetness punctuated by tart cranberries and crunchy pecans.

Usually my mom and I make cranberry bread and our hostess, one of my mom's best friends, makes pumpkin bread.  Both of them are served with the regular meal, on little bread plates with their own tiny butter knives.  This bread is sweet enough to be a dessert, but then we might have trouble justifying spreading it with salted butter, which is my favorite way to enjoy it (although a little ghee on top is just as amazing).  It's also nice, in my opinion, to take a bite of something sweet and fluffy (with butter on top) in between mouthfuls of turkey and gravy.

Of course, if you want to serve this with dessert, I totally support you.  Don't let anyone tell you that you shouldn't be buttering your dessert.  If not on Thanksgiving, then when?

Cranberry Orange Bread
Yield: 8-12 servings
Prep time: 10 minutes
Bake time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

1/4 cup cold unsalted butter or ghee, chopped into small pieces, plus more for greasing the pan
2 cups lightly packed almond flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
3/4 cup raw sugar or coconut sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon orange zest
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed orange juice
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon orange extract (optional)*
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 heaping cup fresh cranberries, chopped**
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

*I made my own orange extract several months ago and couldn't resist adding it to this recipe.  You can definitely make this bread without it, but consider making some next time you have some organic oranges and no plan for their rind.  It's really fun to have on hand!

**I use a food processor for this--it's the best way to avoid having rogue cranberries rolling all over your kitchen.  Since it's out already, I also use the food processor to chop the pecans.

Place the pieces of butter or ghee on a plate and put it in the freezer while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.  Preheat the oven to 350 and grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.

Whisk together the almond flour, tapioca flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt in a large bowl.  Add the cold butter or ghee and mix with your fingers, pinching to break the up the butter or ghee into little pieces, until the largest clumps are smaller than a pea.

Beat the orange zest, orange juice, eggs, vanilla, and orange extract (if using) in a two-cup measure.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir.  Add the cranberries and pecans and stir again, until just incorporated.  Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes, until the cake is browned and set on top and a toothpick comes out clean or with just a few tiny crumbs attached.  Cool for five minutes in the pan, and then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

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