This is a nice recipe to have on hand when you're responsible for providing meeting sweets and treats. The recipe can be made with a bowl and wooden spoon if need be, and while it comes together quickly, I've found that the flavor of the bread vastly improves if it is made the day before you plan to serve it. The original recipe, which can be found here, was developed by Susan Reid for Bon Appetit magazine and the cranberries make it a perfect quick bread to serve at this time of year. The addition of cornmeal adds a nice, slightly grainy texture to the bread and gives the crust wonderful color. This is one of those recipes that will neither make nor break your reputation as a cook. It is a filler. The bread is easy to make and it's nice to have a loaf for those unplanned eventualities that seem to occur at this time of year. Here's how it is made.

Maple Flavored Cranberry and Cornmeal Quick Bread

Ingredients:

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1 cup white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour

1 cup medium-grind whole grain cornmeal or regular cornmeal

1/2 cup sugar

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1-1/4 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon maple extract

3/4 cup chopped pecans plus 10 pecan halves for garnish

3/4 cup dried cranberries (about 4 ounces)

Directions:

1) Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 5 x 3-inch metal loaf pan with nonstick spray.

2) Whisk both flours, cornmeal, sugar, salt, and baking powder in large bowl. Whisk buttermilk, melted butter, maple syrup, eggs, and extract in medium bowl. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture, stirring to blend. Fold in chopped pecans and cranberries. Spoon batter into pan. Arrange pecan halves in row down center of batter.

3) Bake bread until top is golden brown and paring knife inserted into center of bread comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Tent bread loosely with foil if browning too quickly. Cool in pan on rack 20 minutes. Turn out onto rack; cool. Yield 1 loaf.

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