Cranberry-Pecan Bread is so moist and delicious, it’s one of my favorite treats with a nice warm cup of herbal tea!
It also makes a beautiful gift-n-a-jar recipe for Christmas, or any time you need a thoughtful homemade gift. You can find my special Cranberry Christmas Bread recipe with free downloadable instructions at The Better Mom.
Soaking Grains is Easy, Nutritious & Delicious!
Soaking your whole grain flour helps to break down the hard-to-digest components in whole grain, while at the same time unlocking important nutrients. For more about the health benefits of soaking grains, check out “Soaking Grains for Optimal Nutrition.”
Once soaking time is complete, add remaining ingredients and combine. The dough is quite thick, so it will take some effort to combine – think of it as a good upper body workout!
Ingredients
- 1 cup organic whole spelt flour
- 1/2 cup organic rolled oats (not quick-cook)
- 1/4 cup Rapadura (or sucanat)
- 1/2 cup organic cultured buttermilk (or plain whole milk kefir)
- 1/4 cup filtered water
- 2 tbsp butter, melted
- 2 tbsp pure organic maple syrup
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup chopped crispy pecans
Instructions
- Add above ingredients to a large ceramic (or glass) mixing bowl and thoroughly combine. Cover the bowl and place it in a warm area of your kitchen for 12-24 hours. Get ready for something delicious tomorrow!
- Once soaking time is completed, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add melted butter to the batter and using a large wire whisk, fold the butter into the batter by pressing it in and turning over the batter with the whisk, just until the butter is incorporated.
- Then, add maple syrup, egg, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Thoroughly combine by pressing the ingredients into the batter, folding it over and mixing. The soaking process yields a very thick batter and will take some effort to combine. Don’t worry, your patience and effort in mixing will be richly rewarded!
- Then, fold in the cranberries and pecans.
- Place the batter into a well-oiled loaf pan. (Coconut oil works great in keeping bread from sticking to the pan, but you can also use olive oil.)
- Bake for approximately 30 minutes, until bread is a rich brown color and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes. Then, using a knife, gently loosen the bread from the sides of the loaf pan and place a large plate over the top and invert it to turn bread out upside down onto the plate. Allow to cool a few more minutes, then simply use your hands to gently lift the bread and turn it right side up onto the plate before slicing. Enjoy!
Can you use fresh or frozen cranberries?
Hi, Teresa. I bet fresh or thawed frozen cranberries would be delicious. Since I used dried cranberries to develop this particular recipe, you’d just need to watch the extra moisture that occurs from frozen fruit. So if using frozen cranberries, just thaw them in a colander so any extra juices run out and aren’t added in the batter. You could catch the juices in bowl and either use them in place of some of the liquid in the recipe (it may dye the bread a bit), or save the juices for another use. You just don’t want too much extra moisture in the batter since this was developed using dried fruit. Hopefully I’m making sense. 🙂 Blessings, Kelly
Awesome…I’m going to give it a try in the next week or so…I’ll let you know how it goes…thanks!
That would be great! Thanks, Teresa! 🙂