Cranberry Coconut Bread

All right, Mother Nature. Can we please get back to spring? Pretty, pretty please? With a cherry on top? The weather this weekend was so gorgeous and beautiful and fantastical. Like what end of April is SUPPOSED to be. I feel like we've totally earned a warm and lovely spring with the winter that we had (I love how I say "we." I wasn't even here for the worst of winter -- I was off in Madrid enjoying blue skies and warm sunshine. But, shhhh.) ANYWAY. We're back to like the beginning of March now with the raw wind and rain and it's so not cool, Mother Nature. Not cool at all.

Anyway, I digress. Onto the bigger and better things -- this cranberry coconut bread!!
Okay, so this bread might not be the prettiest looking bread ever, but oh man. It is DELICIOUS. I would have photographed more slices, but by the time I got around to photographing the bread, I may or may not have already eaten like the entire loaf. This bread all started with a purchase-on-a-whim from the grocery store. Langer's had a cranberry coconut juice, which I had never seen before and sounded quite intriguing, so into the cart it went. Unfortunately, actually drinking the juice was not as intriguing. It was, well, kind of odd. So, I needed to figure out what to do with an entire bottle of cranberry coconut juice. I love baking quick breads and thought about orange juice bread. Why not just swap out the orange juice for the cranberry coconut juice? Throw in some cranberries that were sitting in the freezer, add some shredded coconut, and bam! The cranberry coconut bread was born. The tangy-ness of the cranberries pairs so super well with the sweet flavor of the coconut. It's a little tropical from the coconut and a little New England-y from the cranberries. And the juice helps prevent the bread from getting too dry. SO GOOD. I think I need to make some more, like, right now.

PS - You want to know what is the most amazing baking tool for gluten free baking?? This bread loaf pan from King Arthur Flour made specifically for gluten free baking. It's taller and narrower than your standard loaf pan which is super helpful for gluten free baking. I use it ALL. THE. TIME. I discovered this little gem when I visited my mom's cousin last fall. She works at King Arthur Flour, so naturally we had to stop in and do a little shopping. While we were ooh-ing and ahh-ing over King Arthur's abundance of baking pans, she pointed out this bread loaf pan. Genius. AND I got to use her discount. Score!

Now, onto the recipe!

CRANBERRY COCONUT BREAD

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 50 - 60 minutes Yield: 1 9x4-inch loaf


INGREDIENTS

1 large egg
3/4 cup cranberry coconut juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose gluten free flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 Tablespoons cold Earth Balance spread, cut into pieces
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 cup of shredded coconut, plus more for sprinkling on top



DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease a 9x4-inch loaf pan (or 9x5 works just fine) with shortening (I like to use Spectrum's Natural's Organic All Vegetable Shortening).

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, xanthan gum, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the Earth Balance to the dry mixture, blending the ingredients together with your fingers until the Earth Balance is well incorporated.

In a small bowl, whisk the egg with the cranberry coconut juice and vanilla extract.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and then stir in the cranberries and shredded coconut. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and sprinkle the top with extra shredded coconut.

Bake the bread for 50 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let the bread cool for 10 minutes, then dig in and enjoy!


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