Pumpkin Cranberry Bread
It’s not easy being the child of a healthy food blogger. Just ask my kids… Honestly, they get plenty of goodies and I don’t consider myself that hardcore but when the world is constantly offering up treats and you’re the one saying “no” things can become fraught. Esme complains that every kid except her gets a juice box in their school lunch. I doubt that’s true but she is always going to get a stainless steel bottle full of water. Then last week she was bitter that hers was the only lunch box not full of Halloween candy. Again, I really don’t think so. But it wasn’t happening in our home as we offered the kid a new toy for Halloween candy swap and they both went for it.
So when I can come up with something home made, healthy but impressive to include in Esme’s lunch, I’m pretty happy. I’ve been wanting to add to my pretty feeble baking roster and this is it. It’s a really simple recipe and it comes together quickly. I love the way the tart cranberries pop against the creamy sweetness of the pumpkin bread. Think of this as the fall version of your old standby banana bread. The smell that kicks out of the oven as you’re baking this is reason alone to spend the time baking it. And the days I sent a piece wrapped up in Esme’s lunch? No complaints, people, no complaints.
photos by Maya Visnyei
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups wholewheat flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1 cup fresh cranberries (you could use frozen berries, just thaw them first)
Method
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda and spices
In another large bowl, mix the sugar, pumpkin puree, eggs, oil and juice with an electric mixer until they are well combined.
Shake the dry ingredients into the wet in three additions, mixing between each addition.
Once it's combined, stir in the cranberries
Prepare your loaf tin lightly with butter.
Pour the batter in and use a spatula to smooth out the top a bit.
Pop into a hot oven and bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Allow the loaf to cool for about 15 minutes before turning it out onto a rack to cool completely.
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We're Ceri and Laura, a couple of magazine-editors-turned-food-bloggers. Also, we're mothers obsessed with delicious, healthy, family food. We're constantly thinking of ways to make your time (and our own!) in the kitchen easier and more productive, but still nostalgic for the days when dinner was cereal eaten over the kitchen sink.
8 Comments
Kim
November 12, 14:31Just put the pumpkin bread in the oven; anxious to see how it turns out. I noticed that in one of the pictures you show two eggs being mixed in the batter; I don’t see two eggs in the ingredient list. I put them anyway and I guess we’ll see what happens.
Ceri Marsh
November 12, 14:42Oh, my goodness. I’m so sorry about that. Do you know that I almost forgot to add the eggs on set, too? I must have not wanted them in there! But they are. Thanks for your eagle eyes! I’ve fixed it now. And please let me know how it turns out for you. Now I want a slice…
Anne
November 13, 09:02Just so that you know Esme is in good company. My kids are never allowed to take Halloween candy to school – they get it for desert in the evening – one bigger one or two smaller ones. It lasts for months and months. They just know that they are not allowed to dig in and make themselves sick on it. They never ask to do so either.
I was smiling to myself about your juice box dilemma because my two youngest (6 & 10) don’t ask very often because they know they are only allowed one juice a day and they tend to have it with dinner. But my oldest (15) was saying she wanted juice boxes to take to school and was not at all happy when I pointed out that we have a lot of reusable water bottles in the cupboard she could use!
Now I must go and plug in my slow cooker which has the Sweet Potato Chronicles maple baked beans recipe in it! A family favourite in the winter.
Ceri
November 13, 13:06Thanks for your lovely note! I always feel nervous writing posts like this one – it’s not my intention to come off self congratulatory. I make so many mistakes as a parent and I’m really not all that strict about food… in my mind! But I just feel like the world is bombarding our kids with the message that they should be getting treats constantly. So it’s very good to hear from other parents who feel the same way.
And I’m thrilled you’re liking the baked beans! And it reminds me to make that recipe again – I haven’t done it in ages. It’s certainly the season for it.
Thanks for writing – we love hearing from you!
Krissy
November 13, 14:00Could you sue dried cranberries in this recipe too? Do you think it will be just as good?
Susannah
November 13, 15:39Sounds delicious. I love the idea of the tart cranberries in with pumpkin. I’ll have to give it a try this weekend!
Ceri
November 13, 15:47Hi Krissy,
I’ve never made it with dried cranberries. I’m sure it would be good but just different. You get the juiciness that the fresh cranberries give but I think the taste would be close. Let me know if you give it a whirl!
Om Livin
November 14, 20:30Omg, super excited to taste this….just put it in the oven & will be anxiously waiting for the timer to go off!! 😀