Buttermilk Bran Loaf

I found this recipe many years ago in Encore: the Leftover Cookbook, by Betty Jane Wylie. I was pretty dubious about trying it - no oil? no eggs? hellova lotta bran? - but I did, and it turned out to be lovely. She called for raisins. Dried cranberries would be more local. Chocolate chips are what I actually used. For some reason I love the combination of chocolate and bran, and let's face it, there are worse things to eat with chocolate. Better things to eat with bran, maybe, but I prefer to think of it as redeeming my chocolate chip intake.

Actually, that book had a lot of influence on my recipe writing style. She was a very chatty and relaxed author, and made no attempt to imitate the I-am-the-food-scientist-home-economist-expert-you-must-obey-my-every-detailed-command style of recipe writing that was then still pretty prevalent in most cookbooks. Of course if you are going to write about leftovers, it's hard to get too scientific in your demands, but it was a book you could read, and come away feeling like you had had a nice chat with a friend and learned stuff too.

As with other recipes containing extravagant quantities of bran, consumer discretion is advised. Also if you wait until it cools to cut it, your chocolate chips won't smear, unlike mine.

12 servings
1 1/2 hours - 10 minutes work time, if you drag it out


2 cups bran
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup Sucanat or dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup dried cranberries, raisins or chocolate chips
2 cups buttermilk

Mix all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Stir in the buttermilk. Let the batter sit for half an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a standard sized loaf pan.

Scrape the batter evenly into the prepared pan, and bake the loaf for 45 to 50 minutes until it passes the old doneness test with a toothpick.

Let it cool. Slice it up. Eat it with butter and a nice cuppa tea. I'm putting this in because I can't believe the instructions are over already... but they are.