Since I knew the bridal party would have to wake up super early for wedding hair and makeup on Saturday morning, I wanted to bring a few baked goods with me to make the early morning wakeup call a little sweeter. I ended up bringing three different baked goods so I will be sharing those recipes over the next three days.
First up on the list is this delicious orange cranberry banana bread. I wanted to pick versatile, universally loved sweets since I wasn’t sure of everyone’s preferences. Banana bread always seems to be a crowd favorite (except for my father who can’t stand “rotten” bananas–the mere sight of them makes him gag). I decided to add a fun twist to the regular banana bread by mixing in some orange juice and zest as well as some cranberries. I thought they would add a little brightness and cheer to the morning.
Little did I know that O.J. would be such a funny phrase that morning. While the girls and I were getting our makeup and hair done, the wedding planner for T’s wedding dropped in to check on everyone. She was incredibly sweet and attentive but very insistent on getting T to eat something (rightfully so, no one wants to see a passed out bride). After hearing that T had some breakfast but not lunch, she insisted on bringing up some O.J. for T to drink to help keep up her potassium, and reduce her odds of passing out at the altar. The next few times the wedding planner checked in she checked on the O.J. glass to see T’s progress. I kept joking that we needed to pour some down the sink before the planner came back. Maybe we just should have told her that T ate some of this bread, it had O.J. in it after all 
Ingredients:
- 2 bananas, mashed
- 1/4 cup vegan margarine
- 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 2 flax eggs (2 tablespoons ground flaxseed whisked together with 6 tablespoons warm water)
- 1/2 cup soy yogurt
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup dry cranberries
Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, whisk brown sugar, margarine, and yogurt together.
Then add in orange zest and orange juice and whisk.
Next whisk in flax eggs.
In a medium bowl, mix together dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda).
Add your dry ingredients to your wet ingredients and stir until combined.
Fold in mashed bananas and dried cranberries.
Prepare a large loaf pan with non-stick spray or parchment paper. Pour in bread mixture and place in oven.
Allow to bake for 60 minutes, or until you can remove a toothpick from the center of the loaf cleanly.
Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes. Then remove bread from pan and allow it to cool completely on a cooling rack.
Slice and enjoy.
If you ask me, this bread is the perfect replacement for a glass of O.J.
