Cranberry Pineapple Nut Bread

I enjoyed our Banana Nut Bread so much, I wanted to make some more. I didn’t have any bananas (we haven’t been to town for over a week), so I decided to try Cranberry Nut Bread. However, the recipe in my Fannie Farmer Cookbook called for an orange. I didn’t have one of those either. But I did have a 20 oz. can of pineapple chunks.

Here’s the original Fanny Farmer recipe and the changes I made.

Cranberry Pineapple Nut Bread

1 orange ---------\
     replaced with ½ of 20 oz. can pineapple chunks and ¾ cup juice
Boiling water ---/
2 tablespoons melted butter (I used vegetable oil)
1 egg
1 cup sugar
1 cup cranberries chopped (I used reconstituted dried)
½ cup chopped walnuts (I used pecans)
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda

The orange provides rind for jest and juice with the boiling water to total ¾ cup. I substituted a half can of pineapple chunks cut up fine and ¾ cup of the juice for the required liquid. I froze the remaining pineapple and juice.

The night before I reconstituted dried cranberries in a pan with ½ cup boiling water. I simmered them for fifteen minutes, then turned off the heat. I added the cut pineapple and let it cool to refrigerate.


In the morning, I put the batter together. I beat one egg and added the sugar. Once those were blended, I mixed in 2 tablespoons oil and ¾ cup pineapple juice.

I measured the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda, then mixed everything together. Finally, I stirred in the pineapple-cranberry mixture and pecans. It result is a runny batter.



Liberally grease an 8 ½ X 4 ½ loaf pan and pour in the batter. Bake at 325°F for one hour (mine took an additional 10 minutes for a toothpick to come out clean).

When baking is done, loosen the sides and transfer to a rack to cool. Mine stuck on the bottom, so next time I’ll use parchment paper on the bottom to keep it from sticking.



I love Cranberry Orange Nut Bread, but Cranberry Pineapple Nut Bread gives it a run for the money.

I served the warm buttered bread with scrambled eggs and bacon for our breakfast. We even had some of our home grown and homemade salsa to spice things up.

Do you ever alter recipes? What have been some of your successes, or failures? -- Margy