Am I the only one who seems short on time from now until January? Not that I am constantly stressed, since I have slowly learned the art of saying “no,” but just plain busy. And I am guessing I am not the only one...
The paradox of this season is that while we’re all more busy, there are more times during the holidays than any other that having something baked, ie, for a dinner party hostess, to share with someone you are visiting, or for a simple holiday gift, is valuable!
Next time you need a fancy baked good, don’t drive to the bakery, make a really delicious, perfectly simple, homemade sweet bread. Now, if you are a baker, and feeling up to the challenge, you can make homemade dough using this very easy book, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day that has transformed the way I think about homemade bread. But if you’re not up for making the dough (which is, true to it’s title, super fast and easy), buy some dough at your local grocer. Pizza or bread dough work for this recipe.
With just a few additions, plain dough goes from yummy to amazing in minutes!
Pumpkin, Apple and Cranberry Sweet Bread
1 pound ball of dough
⅓ cup pumpkin butter (either store bought or made with this recipe)
1 small or medium apple, cored and diced, about ½ cup
¼ cup dried cranberries (or any dried fruit of choice)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Roll out the bread or pizza dough until it measured about 10” by 16” in size.
Spread the pumpkin butter on dough, leaving a border so all the toppings stay inside the bread. Sprinkle the top with the apple and dried cranberries:
Slowly roll up the bread:
And place in a greased 9x5 bread pan, seem sides down:
Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until the bread is slightly browned:
Share with a friend or slice and enjoy!
Life is sweet,
SPC