Clementine Cranberry Bread - A Breakfast You Don't Want To Miss

Some of my friends think cranberry bread should only be served during the holidays. I say, they are missing out big time if they only make this once a year!

This clementine cranberry bread is the tastiest sweet loaf I’ve ever made. It is so delicious, you could easily serve it for dessert; just throw a scoop of ice cream on the side and you’re good to go! This isn’t overly sweet, though, so it makes a perfect breakfast loaf, and some of the sweetness comes from honey instead of sugar. That’s always a good thing, if you ask me!

Ingredients

1 cup craisins, plus 1 tablespoon for decoration

1 ½ cups flour (all-purpose)

¾ cups whole-wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon ginger

½ cup unsalted butter, melted

⅔ cup white sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for decoration

¼ cup honey

1 large egg, room temperature

1 tablespoon clementine zest

⅓ cup clementine juice

⅔ cup buttermilk

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a large 5”x 9” loaf pan on the bottom and 1” up the sides.

Whisk together the flours in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, toss the craisins and 2 tablespoon of the combined flours to coat. Set aside.

To the bowl with the remaining flour, add baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger. Stir to combine.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the sugar, honey and melted butter. Add the egg and clementine zest, beat for at least 3 minutes (high speed) until light and fluffy.

Alternate adding the buttermilk, clementine juice and flour mixture one fourth at a time, until just combined. Using a spatula, fold in the craisins.

Spread the batter into the greased loaf pan, smoothing the top with a spatula. Sprinkle the top with a few craisins and 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40-50 minutes. Half way, lay a sheet of foil on top of the loaf to prevent the top from burning. Start checking for doneness at 40 minutes. The loaf is done when a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool the loaf in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack. Do not slice until the loaf is completely cool or it will crumble.