Cranberry-Walnut Quick Bread

The perennial bakery favorite gets a whole-grain makeover.

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups whole-wheat pastry flour or whole-wheat flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup nonfat buttermilk
• ⅔ cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
• 2 cups chopped cranberries, fresh or frozen, thawed
• ½ cup chopped toasted walnuts, plus more for topping if desired

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat pan with cooking spray.
• 2. Whisk whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
• 3. Whisk eggs, buttermilk, brown sugar, butter, oil and vanilla in a medium bowl until well combined.
• 4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, pour in the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Add orange zest, cranberries and walnuts. Stir just to combine; do not overmix. Transfer batter to the prepared pan. Top with additional walnuts, if desired.
• 5. Bake until golden brown and a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, 1 hour 10 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. Let cool for 40 minutes.

Tips

• No buttermilk? You can use buttermilk powder prepared according to package directions. Or make “sour milk,” the ratio is 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar to 1 cup milk; let stand for about 10 minutes before using.
• To make quick work of chopping cranberries, place whole berries in a food processor and pulse a few times until the berries are coarsely chopped.
• For the best flavor, toast nuts and seeds before using in a recipe. To toast seeds, sliced or chopped nuts, place in a small dry skillet and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until fragrant, 2 to 4 minutes. To toast whole nuts, spread in a single layer in a small baking pan and bake in a 350°F oven until golden and fragrant, 5 to 7 minutes, stirring the nuts or shaking the pan once. Transfer to a small bowl or plate to cool. (When toasting hazelnuts, rub the nuts with a clean kitchen towel as soon as they come out of the oven to remove as much of the papery skin as possible.)
• Whole-wheat pastry flour, lower in protein than regular whole-wheat flour, has less gluten-forming potential, making it a better choice for tender baked goods. Store in the freezer.
• Store, individually wrapped, at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
• 1 large loaf (9-by-5-inch pan)