I thought I remembered a recipe for Cranberry Walnut bread in my Julia Child - Dorie Greenspan book, so I ran and grabbed it. Turns out it's Cranberry-Walnut Pumpkin Loaves. This recipe takes two days to prepare, so plan ahead and don't plan on being in a hurry. It's good for a rainy weekend. Cranberry-Walnut Pumpkin Loaves From Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan Makes 3 small loaves 2 2/3 to 3 cups bread flour 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons tepid water (80 - 90 degrees F.) 2 teaspoons active dry yeast 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature 1/3 cup sugar 8 ounces (1 cup) pureed cooked pumpkin or butternut squash, fresh or canned solid packed (see Note) 1 large egg, at room temperature 3/4 cup walnut pieces, toasted 1 cup plump golden or dark raisins 2/3 cup cranberries (if frozen, thaw and pat dry) Mixing and Kneading: Whisk 2 2/3 cups of the flour, the cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together in a large bowl just to mix; set aside until needed. Pour the water into a small bowl, sprinkle in he yeast, and whish to blend. Allow the yeast to rest until it's creamy, about 5 minutes. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar at medium speed until creamy. Add the pumpkin and egg and beat until blended. Don't be concerned if the mixture looks curdled; it will come together when you add the dry ingredients. Set the mixer speed to low and add the yeast, then begin to add the dry ingredients, about 1/2 cup at a time. As soon as the mixture starts to form a dough that comes together, scrape the paddle clean and switch to the dough hook. If your dough does not come together (it might be because your pumpkin puree was liquidy), add a few more tablespoons of flour. Mix and knead the dough on medium-low speed for 10 to 15 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl and the hook now and then with a rubber spatula. At the start, the mixture will look more like a batter than a dough, but as you continue to work, it will develop into a soft, very sticky dough that will just ball up on the hook. (This dough develops much the way a brioche does.) With the machine on low speed, add the walnuts and raisins, mixing only until incorporated, about 1 minute. Add the cranberries and mix as little as possible to avoid crushing them. (Inevitably, some cranberries will pop and stain a patch of dough red; think of this as charming, and proceed.) First Rise: Scrape the dough into a lightly buttered large bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and set aside at room temperature to rise until nearly doubled in bulk, about 2 hours. Chilling the dough: When the dough has doubled, fold it over on itself a couple of times to deflate it, wrap it tightly in plastic, and refrigerate overnight. Shaping the dough: At least 6 hours before you want to begin baking, remove the dough from the refrigerator. Leave the dough, covered in its bowl, until it reaches at least 64 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. (This will take as long as 3 to 4 hours - don't rush it.) If you don't have an instant-read thermometer, look for the dough to be slightly cool and just a little spongy. Lightly butter three 5 3/4 x 3 1/4 x 2-inch loaf pans. Working on a lightly floured surface, divide the dough into thirds and pat each piece of dough into a 5 x 7-inch rectangle; keep a short end facing you. Starting at the top of eacch rectangle, roll up the dough toward you and seal the seam by pressing it with your fingertips. Seal the ends, then place each roll, seam side down, in a prepared pan. Second rise: Cover the pans lightly with a kitchen towel and allow to rise at room temperature for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until the dough has nearly doubled - it will rise to just above the rim of the pans. Baking the bread: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake theloaves for about 30 minutes, or until deeply golden. Remove the pans to a cooling rack; after a 5-minute rest, turn the breads out of their pans and allow them to cool to room temperature on the rack. Storing: The breads can be kept at room temperature for a day or two or frozen, wrapped airtight, for up to 1 month. Thaw, still wrapped, at room temperature. Note: To use fresh pumpkin or butternut squash, split the squash, remove the seeds, and place, cut side down, on a baking sheet. Roast in a preheated 350 degree F. oven for about 1 hour, or until meltingly tender. Scoop the softened pulp out of the shell and cool completely. One pound of squash yields about 12 ounces of cooked pulp. Sally

Hi Guys, Just found this forum. The following is for a nut loaf but I often make them into muffins. Enjoy Jan. Nut Roast INGREDIENTS 500 gms blitzed Hazel nuts (if these are not available you can use other nuts but not peanuts) 100 gms raw cashews Wholemeal bread crumbs - same VOLUME as blitzed nuts crumbs 2 Large onions 2 Large peppers 200 gms mushrooms  optional 1 teaspoon mixed herbs (or equal amount of basil and marjoram  can use fresh) 1 tin chopped tomatoes 1 egg 1 vegetable stock cube Seasoning METHOD Mix all the dry ingredients (non machine) Add the Cashews first splitting them into halves (I usually canÂt be bothered and just place them in a clean tea towel and tap them with a rolling pin) Then mix in the following - mixing each in before the next ingredient Sauté chopped onions and sliced peppers - add If using mushrooms cut small  fry in margarine separately until shrunk and intense flavour add these with any oil remaining (donÂt use too much oil initially) Drain little tomato juice and warm this up and dissolve the stock cube  add Mix in remainder of tomatoes (well chopped) Add egg Add mixed herbs Season well with salt and pepper If this mixture is very dry open another tin of tomatoes and add a little at a time until the mixture is just wet  donÂt over wet! Put the mixture into greased ceramic loaf tin and bake in a moderate oven 180 degrees. Place low down in the oven and for the first half of the cooking time cover with aluminium foil to stop top burning. Total cooking time approx 1 hour but check after 50 mins  when lightly pressed down it should give a little. If cooking in advance to requirement slightly under cook so that it can be reheated without it drying out too much. Another option is to use a muffin tray but remember to heap in the mixture as the mix will not rise at all! They freeze very well and are great for lunch boxes! I have a friend who now uses my recipe and sometimes adds some curry power for a change! Enjoy Jan

Here's my favorite recipe, and my notes: Date Nut Bread from “KA 1948” on Chowhound, posted around October 2009. Posted by KA 1948, who wrote: "The best date-nut bread I ever had was made by the old Van de Kamp bakery. Unfortunately, that old chain died and sold their name to a company that doesn't make the same recipe. After many trials, I came up with the following recipe that comes very close to the original. It’s heavy, moist, with a mild date flavor and a shiny sweet gloss that forms naturally as the loaf cools. I hope you like it." Notes: I made this on Feb. 16, 2018. The batter looked lovely and tasted really good! I toasted the walnuts, and I did add the molasses to the blender because I only had light brown sugar. I put foil around the edges of the glass baking pan to avoid the edges drying out or burning. After 25 minutes in the 325• oven, I turned the loaf a quarter of a turn and continued baking for 30 minutes. EDITED TO ADD: Then baked for an additional 20 minutes, then another 15 minutes, then 10 minutes and it still was NOT done. PROBLEMS: It took a LONG time to bake, over 1 hr 40 minutes at 325 degrees, and it STILL WAS NOT DONE—when it was finally done, it really was delicious! Recipe 4 oz pitted dates 1 C boiling water 1 C packed dark brown sugar (Note: If using light brown sugar, add 1/4 C molasses) 4 T butter 1 egg, beaten, with 1 tsp vanilla 1/2 tsp salt 1 & 1/3 C flour—measured then sifted 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 C walnuts (Note: Toast for 10 – 12 mins in 350 degree oven, then cool & chop) Boil water and put in blender. Add the dates and process to chop or grind on low. If you are NOT using dark brown sugar, add the molasses now. Set aside. In a pan over low heat, heat the butter/brown sugar and stir until melted—you’ll still be able to feel the sugar granules and that’s fine. Remove from heat. Cool for about 15 minutes. Even though the butter/brown sugar mix may be cooler after 15 minutes, just in case, *temper* the egg with the melted butter/brown sugar mix. Then, fully incorporate the egg/vanilla into the pan that heated the butter/brown sugar. The pan will become your mixing bowl. Add the walnut pieces to the pan with the butter/brown sugar/egg/vanilla mixture and stir. Add the flour, baking powder and salt to the pan, and mix until the batter looks smooth and incorporated. Pour into a greased & floured (and parchment) 8 x 4 glass loaf pan and bake 50 to 60 minutes at 325• Note: My glass loaf pan was about 8.5 inches. Test with toothpick in the middle – it should come out clean. Remove from oven and tent with foil for at least one hour before slicing. OPT: Before baking, cover the bottom and sides of the glass baking loaf pan with foil in order to prevent the sides of the loaf from burning before the insides are completely done.

The recipe I like calls for 6 oz. of cranberries, so about 1 1/2 cups-ish. Halving the berries just seems to go quickly but chopping them is fine, too. Linnea, this recipe’s likely denser than the one you’re using…but good! Cranberry Nut Bread (Cook’s Illustrated) 1/3 cup fresh orange juice 1 T. grated orange zest 2/3 cup buttermilk 6 T. butter, melted 1 large egg, beaten lightly 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup granulated sugar 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. baking powder 1/4 tsp. baking soda 1 1/2 cups cranberries (about 6 ounces), coarsely chopped 1/2 cup toasted pecans, coarsely chopped 1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. 2. Grease bottom of 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Stir together orange juice, zest, buttermilk, butter, and egg in small bowl. Whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in large bowl. Stir liquid ingredients into dry with rubber spatula until just moistened. Gently stir in cranberries and pecans. Do not overmix. 3. Scrape batter into loaf pan and spread with rubber spatula into corners of pan. Bake 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees; continue to bake until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean, about 45 minutes longer. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool at least 1 hour before serving.