Orange Scented Quick Bread with Cranberries, Pistachios, and Cinnamon Honey Butter

Hey everyone! Most of you have probably moved on from St. Patty's day festivities by now {unless you really tied one on, then you might just be recovering right about now ;)} so I'm a little late to the party, but I hope you all had a great St. Patrick's Day! We had a traditional corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes dinner at my parent's house and I made Irish soda bread. Irish soda bread is so easy to make and tastes so good when made right that it inspired me to come up with an excuse to make it again for Easter weekend coming up in a couple weeks, this time with a couple twists on it like changing up the raisins for cranberries and adding pistachios and orange zest. I made it today just to experiment with it (cuz I'm nerd like that) and it is SO good!

I don't even take my big ol' mixer out for this, I just stir it with a big spoonula. I love that this bread doesn't require yeast and all the time to proof it, and it doesn't need any heavy kneading either - just a couple quick turns on a floured board to shape it up and then it goes right on the pan. That's my kind of bread! The orange zest makes the house smell insanely good while baking, and the addition of the cranberries makes it pretty and sweet. I accidentally bought orange flavored cranberries at Trader Joe's and I'm so glad I did because those things are even better than regular dried cranberries. With a touch of orange flavor and slightly sweeter than regular dried cranberries, it is delicious in this bread. The pistachios add a nice little crunch too but you can leave them out if you're not a nut bread person. This bread isn't too sweet so it's great to serve during Easter brunch with a slice of ham, or slather it with cinnamon honey butter and it's a delicious not-too-sweet treat to have with a hot cup of tea or coffee, which is exactly what I'm doing now as I finish writing this up. Mmmm!

Added 3/20/13: I forgot to add that I did an egg wash on top of this! Right before putting this into the oven, take a beaten egg and brush the top of the dough with it using a silicone pastry brush. You don't have to do this, but it adds a nice brown shiny top. :)

Orange Scented Quick Bread with Cranberries, Pistachios, and Cinnamon Honey Butter
Adapted from Simply Recipes
Printable version
Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients:
4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
4 Tablespoons (1/2 stick) of cold unsalted butter
1 cup dried cranberries (or orange flavored dried cranberries from Trader Joe's)
3/4 cup pistachios, shelled and halved or rough chopped
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
1 large egg
2-3 teaspoons orange zest (I did the zest of one medium orange and it yielded about 2 1/2 tsp)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or silicone mat.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Cut the cold butter into 1/2" chunks and incorporate the butter into the flour by cutting it in with two butter knives, a pastry cutter if you have one, or just working it in with your hands. Here's a quick video that shows you how to cut in butter if you don't know what that means. Add the dried cranberries and pistachios and stir together.

In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, beat the buttermilk, egg, and orange zest together. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir together with a spoonula or wooden spoon until all the ingredients are well combined. Don't overstir. The dough will be pretty sticky at this point.

Flour a cutting board or clean flat surface generously with flour. Turn the dough out onto the floured cutting board. Flour your hands and the top of the dough and lightly knead the dough a couple times to combine, then form into a round loaf. Transfer loaf to cooking sheet. Cut a 1/4" deep X across the top using a serrated knife if you'd like. Sometimes when I do it it is well delineated in the top of bread, and sometimes like in this case, it's not, but it's pretty when it turns out.

Bake for 45-55 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. You'll also know when it's done when the loaf is well browned and it sounds sort of hollow when you tap on it. Don't overbake or it will be dry.

Cool on a baking rack. Slice and serve warm or at room temperature. This is so delicious slathered with honey cinnamon butter (recipe to follow).

Cinnamon Honey Butter

Ingredients:
1 stick (1/2 cup) of unsalted butter, well softened to room temperature
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 Tablespoons honey

In a bowl, combine soft butter, cinnamon, and honey and whip together until well combined. I just use a spoon, but you could do this in a food processor or electric mixer if you'd like.

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