Cranberry Bread

Normally, the cranberry bread is one of the last to get eaten, but this year I made it a bit differently.  We chopped the cranberries fairly small (used the food chopper from Pampered Chef), and I used coconut oil for the shortening.  It was really the best cranberry bread I have ever had, and even Ornery, who has never liked it before, went for this before the pumpkin or banana bread!

Cranberry Bread

1 cup chopped cranberries

3/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)

1 T grated orange peel (zest)

2 cups all purpose flour (can mix 1/2 and 1/2--white and whole grain)

1 cup sugar

1-1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

2 T shortening (or coconut oil)

3/4 cup orange juice (juice the oranges used for peel)

1 beaten egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour loaf pan or line muffin cups. Prepare cranberries, nuts and orange peel; set aside. Mix dry ingredients; cut in shortening. Stir in juice, egg and orange peel until moist. Fold in cranberries and nuts. Spoon into prepared loaf pan. Bake 60 minutes or until pick inserted in middle comes out clean. Remove loaf after 15 minutes cooling on rack.