Lemon Cranberry Bread

Ingredients:
2 cups PLUS 1/4 cup flour
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup buttermilk
4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon rind
1 cup fresh or unthawed frozen cranberries*
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt


Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Grease and flour or spray with cooking spray with flour one loaf pan. In a medium bowl, combine the zest, 2 cups flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside. Toss cranberries in remaining 1/4 cup flour and set aside. Cream together the butter and sugar. Drop in eggs, one at a time, beating after each one until well combined. Stir in buttermilk and lemon juice. Mix thoroughly. Stir in flour mixture until just combined. Gently stir in the cranberries. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Turn out on a rack to finish cooling. Serve slightly warm.

*I froze the cranberries myself this past winter when they were plentiful and inexpensive.

My thoughts:

I came up with this recipe because I had: a bag of lemons and a carton of buttermilk in the fridge and a bunch of cranberries waiting in the freezer. I also wanted to experiment with making something with lemons and a quick bread recipe that only yields one loaf. Since I live in a household of two, portion size in recipes is always a concern. Our freezer is full of chili and soup that we made gallons of on top of the usual frozen veggies and meat. I just don't have room for loaves of bread as well. This bread was the perfect solution to that. It used up ingredients I had around the house and was so tasty we almost ate the whole loaf in a single sitting. No leftovers and a lovely tart bread. A perfect way to end the weekend.