Sourdough Cranberry-Orange Bread is a Delightful Holiday (or anytime) Treat

Among all the super-sweet and overly rich holiday treats, here's one that's not. In fact it packs a bit of a tang amid the moist, cornmeal laced bread. 

Pair it with a cup of coffee or a stout cup of hot tea and you have a delightful treat that is nourishing but still a bit indulgent. 

An added benefit during the gift-giving time of year is that it makes up to 5 mini-loaves, enough to share with co-workers or neighbors.

Sourdough Cranberry Orange Bread
This recipe also appears at Tasty Kitchen where you can easily print the recipe.

2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
2 oranges (divided, 1/2 orange is used in glaze)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sourdough

Glaze
Juice of 1/2 orange
1 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Rinse cranberries and set aside. Zest both oranges and juice 1 1/2 oranges. Set aside. You should have about 1/3 cup of juice. In a mixing bowl cream together sugar, vegetable oil and eggs.

In a separate bowl mix together dry ingredients, cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt and the orange zest. Add to creamed mixture alternately with sourdough and orange juice. Stir in cranberries. 

Prepare loaf pans by spraying with a cooking oil spray. You could use two regular size loaf pans but I almost always use 4-5 of my mini loaf pans. Fill pans 2/3 full with dough.  Bake large pans for 60 minutes, minis for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned and tested done. Sizes of mini-pans vary so watch closely so you don't overbake. Cool in pan for 5 minutes.

While breads cool stir together glaze.  Remove loaves from pans and place on plate or wire grate. When cool drizzle with glaze. 

Enjoy your bread and share some with a friend. What a lovely way to enjoy a holiday!