Cranberry Oat Bread

This bread has turned into one of my family's favorites!  It's healthy (low sugar, low fat, and whole grain)- but it doesn't taste healthy, know what I mean?  It's flavorful, hearty, and moist.  We love it with dried cranberries and pecans, but you could certainly swap those out for other ingredients if you'd like. 

In other news, I've been enjoying this summer with my kids & husband.  Since we finished our homeschooling year last month, we have: celebrated my oldest son's 8th birthday, done a lot of yard work/projects, gone swimming several times, and celebrated mine & my husband's 10th wedding anniversary!  We left the kids with the grandparents for 2 days and took a weekend trip to Victoria, BC.  It was great to get time away!  This is us eating lunch at a nice little pub.  It was fun not having to worry about if they had a kid's meal! :)

Cranberry Oat Bread
Printable version here

3/4 cup quick cooking oats
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose)
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup dried cranberries (or other small dried fruit)
1/4 cup chopped pecans, optional

1. Combine the oats and buttermilk in a medium-sized bowl.  Stir to mix well, and set aside (only until it's needed in the next step- if you wait too long, too much of the liquid will have been absorbed).

2. Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl, and stir to mix well.  Add the buttermilk mixture and vanilla, and stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened.  Fold in the fruit and nuts.

3. Coat an 8x4 inch loaf pan with cooking spray.  Spread the batter in the pan, and bake at 325º for 40-42 minutes, or just until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. (Alternately, you can turn this into 12 muffins, baked at 350º for 18 minutes.)

4. Remove the bread from the oven, and let sit for 10 minutes.  Turn the loaf onto a wire rack, and cool before slicing.  Serving suggestion- this bread is great toasted and spread with cream cheese.

Recipe source: adapted from "Secrets of Fat-Free Cooking"

Why I love it? It's lowfat, hearty (but not dense), and flavorful!  I just love this bread with cream cheese.  It keeps fairly well, and I have also frozen it for later.  Like most quick breads, it freezes and thaws wonderfully!