Apple Bread with Pecans and Dried Cranberries

I've been without an oven for a couple weeks.  The oven just wouldn't heat up - one day it worked, and the next it didn't.  I thought the bake element had gone out (like I would really know why my oven won't heat up), but it was more serious. The oven needed a new control board, and then it took a while to get it fixed because they had to order the new part, and then the guy who came to put it in couldn't get the oven out of the wall.  And it was the wrong part.  So, they re-ordered the part, and two guys came to put it in yesterday. It took a bit, but they finally figured how to slide the oven out of the wall/cabinet enough to put the part in.  And now my oven works!

Of course, I had to test it, so I made this apple bread.  Yep, the oven works again!!!!!!

Apple Bread
from The Best of Mennonite Fellowship Meals

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups chopped apples
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup unbleached flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

1. Cream butter and sugar together; add eggs.  Mix well and add apples and vanilla.
2. Mix dry ingredients and stir in.
3. Stir in pecans and dried cranberries
4. Pour batter into a well-greased loaf pan.
5. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Turn pan on side to cool on wire rack.

The original recipe did not call for whole wheat flour, so you can make this with all white flour- but why would you want to?  The whole wheat just gives it some extra substance and flavor.   I also used pecans instead of the walnuts called for and added the dried cranberries at the last, just because.  They are so good in this!  Oh, and I reduced the sugar from 1 cup down to 3/4 cup with part of it being brown sugar, for the flavor.

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