Liven Up Your Leftovers With This Cranberry Sauce Bread Recipe (+ Vegan Option)
Wondering what to do with the leftover cranberry sauce from your Thanksgiving feast? Give it new life with this easy — and delicious — quick bread recipe.
If your fridge looks anything like mine, two days post-Thanksgiving and it’s still filled to the brim with the spoils of an abundant holiday feast. Pies, veggies, fruit…a little of everything lines the shelves and stocks the drawers, a tangible reason to give thanks long after the official day has passed. To me, leftovers are an extra reward for putting your time in at the stove, and the holidays have a way of rewarding us tenfold. But…perhaps you’re getting a bit tired of enjoying each dish as-is and looking for a creative way to repurpose that gorgeous bowl of crimson cranberry sauce? As we’ve already discussed, cranberry sauce is pretty glorious on it’s own — especially the homemade variety — but, if you’re in the market for leftover recipes, this cranberry sauce quick bread is a winner. Versatile enough to function as dessert, an afternoon snack, breakfast, or anything in between depending on what you slather it with, this cranberry sauce bread is wholesome, not too sweet and easily made vegan. Baking something warm and nourishing is the perfect way to celebrate the start of the holidays, so why not round up the simple ingredients that make up this hearty loaf and make your Saturday morning just a little bit sweeter?
Cranberry Sauce Bread
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups cranberry sauce
1/2 cup full-fat Greek yogurt or apple sauce
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg or flax egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp orange zest + a squeeze of fresh orange juice
1/2 cup unbleached flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of sea salt
Dash each of ginger, cardamom, nutmeg
Optional: handful of chopped pecans, sunflower seeds to top
1. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees F. Using butter or coconut oil, grease bottom and sides of a medium-sized loaf pan.
2. Optional but recommended: cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom of the loaf pan and place the parchment inside. This will help keep the bread from sticking to the pan.
3. In a large bowl, mix together 1 cup of the cranberry sauce, yogurt, coconut sugar, molasses, egg, and vanilla until fully combined.
4. In a separate bowl, sift together the flours, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and spices.
5. Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet, mixing until just combined. Fold in the pecans, if using.
6. Pour half of the mix into the loaf pan. Dot the top with 1/2 of the remaining cranberry sauce. Pour the remaining mix into the loaf pan, and use the remaining cranberry sauce to dot the top of the bread mixture. Sprinkle sunflower seeds over top, if using.
7. Pop the bread into the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, but still moist. Remove from the oven and cool for at least 5 minutes before serving.
To remove the bread from the loaf pan: Place a clean kitchen towel over the loaf and turn the whole thing upside-down. With the upside-down loaf resting on the counter, give the bottom and sides of the pan a strong rap and gently shimmy to loosen loaf. If it sticks, don’t force it — you can use a butter knife or serving wedge to persuade it from the pan. Remove the parchment and turn upright onto a cutting board.
Serve warm and/or oven-toasted and spread with whatever sparks inspiration — raw honey, almond butter, plain yogurt sprinkled with fresh fruit, an earnest slab of organic grass fed butter — or just eat it plain and with good intention.
+ What’s your favorite way of using leftovers?
More seasonal recipes from BLDG 25
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