From Spoon: In the midst of renovating our living room this weekend, naturally I had to find time to bake something. I didn’t feel like running out to the grocery store in my plaster-and-paint-spattered work clothes, so I pulled off my dust mask, rummaged through the cupboards and fridge, and came up with this quick bread.

Ted repairing the old plaster walls

I love baking with cranberries through the winter, so always stockpile a few extra bags in the freezer during the holidays. But dried cranberries or diced dried apricots would work too – the bread will just be a little sweeter. Or, go whole hog and swap out the fruit for chocolate chips (the choice my son said he would have made.) If your cranberries are frozen (and even if they’re not), the food processor makes quick work of chopping them – I took the real lazy way out and threw in my toasted pecans too.

Because I’m trying to get more whole grains into my baking,  I used a combination of all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour and old-fashioned rolled oats – and the result has classic quick-bread crumb with a little extra crunch. If you like a grainier texture, feel free to tinker with the formula, but I wouldn’t use all whole-wheat flour, or the bread will be too dense. The combination of maple syrup and light brown sugar gives it a mild sweetness, needed to balance the tartness of the cranberries. If you do use sweetened dried fruit or chocolate chips, you may want to reduce the amount of maple syrup.

Cranberry-Oat-Pecan Bread

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 egg

1 cup milk (I used low-fat)

1 cup old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

1/4 cup light brown sugar

6 tablespoons butter, melted

1 cup fresh cranberries, chopped (if frozen, don’t thaw them)

1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped

demerara sugar for sprinkling on top, if you like

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a loaf pan. Nut toasting tip: while the oven is heating, put the pecans on a flat baking dish or piece of foil to toast for about 10 minutes (they will be done when you begin to smell them, but be careful not to let them burn).

In a medium bowl, combine the flours, baking soda and powder, salt and cinnamon.

In a large bowl, beat the egg until white and yolk are combined. Stir in the milk, oats, maple syrup, brown sugar and melted butter, mixing just to blend completely. Stir in the cranberries and pecans.

Scrape the batter into the greased loaf pan. Sprinkle the top with demerara sugar if you wish. Bake the bread for 1 hour, or until a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool to room temperature before slicing.

For another good way to use fresh cranberries with whole grains, see our post on Cranberry-Cornmeal Soda Bread from the winter of 2010 here.