By Megan Groh

Hy-Vee Dietitian

Tis the holiday season and with that brings all of the delicious holiday food. I’m especially excited this holiday season as it will be my first time hosting Thanksgiving dinner.

I love food, which makes entertaining friends and family with food all the more enjoyable. I have planned a perfect traditional Thanksgiving menu. You can’t beat the classics and one menu item my dinner table won’t go without is cranberries.

There’s no doubt that cranberries have exceptional health benefits—but the benefits may be different than what you think. Here’s a breakdown of the latest findings on cranberries, along with tips for including more cranberries in your diet.

Cancer Prevention: If you’ve heard cranberries referred to as a superfood, it’s because they have a higher antioxidant capacity than strawberries, spinach, broccoli, raspberries, and cherries. Coupled with high amounts of anti-inflammatory nutrients, these powerful berries are strong contenders for the prevention of certain cancers, including breast, colon, brain, oral, ovarian, prostate, and esophageal cancer.

Bone Health: One of the lesser known characteristics of cranberries is the nutrient composition that makes them good for your bones. In addition to antioxidants, cranberries contain vitamin C, manganese, and vitamin K—all of which support bone health.

Heart Health: Like other red fruits and vegetables, the phytochemicals that give cranberries a ruby color can help reduce blood pressure and lessen the risk of heart disease.

In the Kitchen: Cranberries are not only a low-calorie, high-fiber fruit packed with antioxidants, but they add an incredible tang to sauces, baked goods, and salads. Here’s how to shop, store, and cook with this seasonal power berry.

In the Store: Fresh cranberries are sold bagged in Hy-Vee produce departments from October through December. Look for firm berries with a smooth, shiny, dark red color.

Stock Up: When fresh cranberries go on sale, fill your cart. You can freeze unopened bags of cranberries for about a year. That means you can make fresh cranberry bread and muffins year-round.

Orange-glazed cranberry streusel bread

Serves 16

A simple streusel topping is what sets this cranberry bread apart from the others.

Streusel

•¼ cup Hy-Vee all-purpose flour

•2 tablespoons Hy-Vee sugar

•½ teaspoon Hy-Vee ground cinnamon

•¼ teaspoon Hy-Vee ground nutmeg

•3 tablespoons chilled Hy-Vee butter

Bread

•2 cups Hy-Vee all-purpose flour

•1 cup Hy-Vee sugar

•1 teaspoon Hy-Vee baking powder

•½ teaspoon Hy-Vee salt

•1 Hy-Vee large egg, lightly beaten

•1 cup Hy-Vee skim milk

•¼ cup Hy-Vee canola oil

•1 tablespoon orange zest

•1 teaspoon Hy-Vee vanilla extract

•2 cups fresh, chopped cranberries

Glaze

•1 cup Hy-Vee powdered sugar

•1 to 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

What to do

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom and ½ inch up sides of a 9×5-inch metal loaf pan; set aside. To make the streusel, in a medium bowl combine flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs; set aside.

2. For bread batter, in a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in center of the flour mixture; set aside. In a medium bowl, combine egg, milk, oil, orange zest and vanilla. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Fold in cranberries. Spoon batter into prepared pan, spreading evenly. Sprinkle streusel topping over batter. Bake for 60 to 65 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove bread from pan. Cool completely on wire rack. Wrap and store overnight.

3. After cooling and storing bread overnight, mix glaze. For glaze, in a small bowl combine powdered sugar and orange juice. Spread glaze over bread.

Nutrition Facts per serving: 220 calories, 6g fat, 2g saturated fat, 120mg sodium, 38g carbohydrates, 1g fiber, 23g sugar, 3g protein

For more cranberry recipes, visit Hy-Vee.com.