Good Mood Cranberry Bread

Sometimes you need a nice mini loaf to round out your goody plate...especially if you bought deceptively large give-away platters at the dollar store like I did. I had that need this week, coupled with a cranberry craving, so voila - cranberry bread it is.

I call it Good Mood Cranberry Bread because it just put me in one while making it. Orange is a naturally energizing aromatherapist, and you get it straight from the source when you zest one - go ahead, breathe deeply! Then there's the bright sweet-tart cranberries which are just gorgeous and thrill the taste buds. This bread is just the thing to wake you up on a cold morning or snap you out of a blue winter mood.Good Mood Cranberry Bread
Makes 2 full-size loaves or 6 mini loaves
Bread:
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 T baking powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup cold butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups orange juice
4 tsp grated orange peel (I just zested one large one and called it good)
2 cups chopped fresh or frozen cranberries
3/4 cup golden raisins

Streusel:
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
6 T (1/3 cup plus 1 T) all-purpose flour
4 T (1/4 cup) cold butter

Glaze:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
4 tsp orange juice, or enough to make glazey consistency

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray loaf pans with cooking spray and dust with flour (I like the spray that has flour in it.)

2. In a large bowl combine the first five ingredients; cut butter in until crumbly. In a small bowl, whisk the egg, orange juice, and peel. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in cranberries and raisins. Divide dough between two 8x4-inch loaf pans, or six mini loaf pans.

3. Combine brown sugar and flour for streusel. Cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over batter. Bake for 55-65 minutes (38-45 minutes for minis) or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

4. For glaze, combine confectioners' sugar and orange juice until smooth. Drizzle over bread.Recipe adapted from Taste of Home, Oct/Nov 2009