CHERRY - NUT BREAD

 The first time I saw the cookbook by Charla Lawhon called Heartland Baking, from the Jerre Anne Cafeteria *And Other Home-Cooked Favorites Friend Janice and I were at an estate sale in St. Joseph. They wanted more for it than I wanted to pay, so I didn’t buy it.  I think it was the next week when we were at another estate sale that I saw the cookbook again. I reminded Janice that I didn’t get it because they had priced it so high. I don’t like to pay over $2.00. If I did, you can be assured I would not have the collection that I have. Anyway, this time they were selling it for $2 so I bought it.

At the previous sale, the ladies said the cookbook  was from a local restaurant in St. Joe that had closed. The food, they said, was excellent. We were really disappointed to hear that they were no longer in business. Inside the cookbook you can read all about it and its start in 1930. The cookbook was published in 1991. I was surprised at its popularity when I Googled it.

I haven’t really taken the time to study the recipes, but I did make this marvelous Cherry-Nut Bread before Christmas. I made two loaves to give away - actually I planned to eat one and give the other one away. I liked it so much, I talked myself out of giving it away. It’s that good. 

If you want to print just the recipe, click HERE.

CHERRY-NUT BREAD

¾    cup sugar

¼    cup butter, softened (½ stick)

¼    cup margarine, softened (I just used a whole stick of butter)

2      eggs

1      teaspoon vanilla extract

2     cups sifted flour (sift first, then measure)

½   teaspoon salt

1      teaspoon baking soda

⅔   cup buttermilk

1      cup drained, rinsed, and chopped maraschino cherries

¾   cup chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 4” x 7” loaf pans and flour them lightly. Set aside. (I know I prepared a lot of pans. I wasn't sure how many I needed.)

Prepare the cherries and set them aside until you need to add them to the recipe.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the sugar, butter, and margarine together.

Add the eggs, one at a time,

beating well after each addition.

Add the vanilla and beat well.

Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda. (Remember when a recipe calls for a certain amount of sifted flour, that means that you sift some flour and

then measure what you need.)

Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture,

alternating with the buttermilk. Be sure to start and end with the dry ingredients. (I do 3 times dry and twice with the liquid.)

Fold in the chopped cherries (make sure there’s no excess juice) and nuts.

Divide the batter evenly between the pans, filling them about three-quarters full, and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Let the loaves cool in the pans for 10 minutes then

turn them out onto the racks to finish cooling.

So pretty when you slice it and tastes even better.