Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

There  is a "cold" front here and I say that lightly since down here that means high in the 70s and down to 50s/60s at night. I was excited to be able to wear jeans for once and not be swealtering. It also meant I sort of felt like fall was coming, but it didn't have that crispness in the air. Taking advantage of this I made my mom's pumpkin cranberry bread. This is a staple in our house in the fall and holiday season, something that she makes for all of the holiday cookie/dessert platters. Luckily, it is really simple and reminds me of home and the holidays. The pumpkin keeps it nice and moist, the cranberries a tiny tang so the bread is not very sweet. A big perk is that it freezes well so you can eat one loaf now and keep the other for a gift, company or just another day.

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread
Makes 2 loaves
Ingredients:
2 slightly beaten eggs
2 cups sugar
½ cup oil (vegetable or canola)
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 ¼ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ginger
1 cup fresh cranberries cut in half or quartered

Directions:
1. Combine eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin, mix well.

2. Combine flour, spices, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.

3. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients. Pour pumpkin mixture into the well, stir just until dry ingredients are moist.

4. Stir in cranberries.

5. Spoon batter into 2 greased & floured 8x3 3/4x 2 1/2 inch aluminum loaf pans. The batter will be thick, I used a measuring cup to scoop and then smooth the batter into the pan with a spatula.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

7. Cool on a wire rack then carefully flip the loaves out of the pans, slice and enjoy!