Cranberry Orange Bread

My office does 3 days of decadent eating; no way to better celebrate the season than by gluttony, right?  Accounting and customer service serve lunch, sales does breakfast, and managers and design do cocktails and sweets.  My role, as part of the sales team, is breakfast.  There is always an awesome spread of casseroles, bacon, grits, and biscuits.  Knowing my talents lie more in the sugary baked goods department, I decided to bake Cranberry Orange Bread and think it went over well! 


Inspired by a bag of frozen cranberries that have been staring at me since Thanksgiving, I decided to start the new year purge of my freezer early and get baking.  I think the orange zest and orange juice add a nice, bright flavor to this recipe and will definitely keep this recipe for future holiday breakfasts.


Cranberry Orange Bread
Recipe Source: Joy of Baking
Serves 8 - 10 pieces


Ingredients
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon orange zest
4 tablespoons cold butter, cut into pieces
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9 x 5 x 3" loaf pan with cooking spray.


Combine the egg with the orange juice and vanilla extract in a small bowl.  Set aside.


In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and orange zest.  Cut the butter into pieces and blend into the flour mixture in a mixmaster or food processor.  (It should look like coarse crumbs).  Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and stir in the cranberries and nuts.  


Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack for about 10 minutes.  Then remove from loaf pan and let cool completely before slicing.  


Pour the mixture into a