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The clouds part, and a chorus of angles sing as a picture of this Vegan Cranberry Pistachio Loaf appears. 🎶 “Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhh” 🎶

Too dramatic? NEVER!

But seriously, does this or doesn’t this loaf look heavenly. It does. It really does. Pour me some coffee and serve me a slice of this cake and you just found my happy place. The cake is moist, sweet, and I love how every now and then you get a tart taste of cranberry or a crunch of pistachio.

Not a fan of all that icing? It’s totally fantastic without and still looks just as pretty as a picture. …well it is a picture, so… you get it. I am loving how the cranberries and pistachios make this loaf so festive! Perfect to serve Christmas morning or during the holiday season.

Now for story time: Find a comfortable seat. Ready?

I became friends with Andrew from One Ingredient Chef, when I unsubscribed from his blog newsletter. Let me explain. I decided to follow all of my favourite people on Bloglovin’ because as a blogger, I get A LOT of email, and I thought it would be easier to keep track of my favourite blogs this way. I didn’t want Andrew to get offended so I sent him an email explaining and it turns out we became good buds and started sending music videos back and forth to each other. (I like reggae, he likes dance).

Then one fine email day, we thought it might be fun to do something where we could collaborate on some awesome vegan ideas, and so we came up with something we like to call the Vegan Mystery Box Challenge!

“What is this mysterious challenge”, you ask?

Andrew and I selected 3 mystery ingredients, and then we challenged vegan (or mostly vegan) bloggers from across the web to create a recipe using these three ingredients! Everyone posts their recipes at the same time, and share each others recipes with our readers to see what everyone came up with! How fun is that, right!? It’s very fun.

We were so excited when so many people signed up, and I was even more excited when I saw how different each and every recipe turned out.

So what were the three mystery ingredients? Cranberries, pistachios, and coconut milk! (Yeah, we went for the holiday colours). The recipe I came up with was this Vegan Cranberry Pistachio Loaf.

Check out all of these amazing recipes from the first ever Vegan Mystery Box Challenge:

Magic Fruit Cake Bars with White Chocolate Drizzle by One Ingredient Chef

Cranberry Cheesecake & Pistachio Stuffed Vegan French Toast by Connoisseurus Veg

Pistachio Crusted Cranberry Cashew Coconut Cheese by Lemon and Coconut

Cranberry Pistachio and Mango Salad by Veggies Save the Day

Cranberry Cointreau Coconut Ice Cream with Candied Pistachios by Vegan Yack Attack

Cranberry Pistachio Donuts by Two City Vegans (Casey)

Cranberry Pistachio Gingersnap Truffles by Two City Vegans (Alix)

Warm Barley Bowl with Roasted Brussels, Sweet Potatoes and a Coconut Curry Dressing by Taste Space

Whole Wheat Cranberry Pistachio Vegan Biscotti by Veggie Inspired Journey

Coconut Pistachio Cashew Cheese Panini with Cranberry Jam by Peppers and Peaches

Toasted Pistachio Rice Pudding with Candied Cranberries by The Lazy Vegan Baker

Pistachio and Cranberry Cream Sandwich Cookies by Love Me Feed Me

Vegan Meringue Nests with Cranberry Coconut Whip and Crushed Pistachios by The Viet Vegan

Vegan Coconut Quinoa Salad by Beets Not Meats

Cranberry Orange & Pistachio Muffins With Vanilla Cream by A Virtual Vegan

Gourmet Lazy Cabbage Rolls by Choose to Cook

Sweet Potato Coconut Curry with Cranberries and Pistachios by The Tofu Diaries

Lebanese Semolina Pudding (Layali Lubnan) by Lands and Flavors

Vegan Chocolate Cranberry Cake by The Seasonal Diet

Jolly Bollywood Holiday Curry by Sexie Veggies

Are you not blown away by that list!? I am seriously so impressed at how many people participated AND how many creative recipes everyone came up with. It just shows that you can take the same 3 ingredients and have endless ways to prepare them! So much fun.

Let me know in the comments if you love this challenge, and if you think Andrew and I should start working on round two! If you’re a vegan blogger and would to join in on the fun, sign up for the next Vegan Mystery Box Challenge. Follow the Vegan Mystery Box Challenge on social media with #VMBC

Once you are done drooling over all of the recipes, we return to my cranberry pistachio loaf cake, and I’ll show you how to make this heavenly cake.

Whisk together all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Whisk together all the wet ingredients in a medium bowl.

Pour the wet into the dry, and stir until just combined. Add in the cranberries and pistachios and mix in. Be careful not to over mix.

Pour the batter into a lightly greased loaf pan, then sprinkle some more cranberries and pistachios down the center of the batter. Bake for around 1 hour until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

If you wish to make the icing, mix together all the icing ingredients, then drizzle over the completely cooked cake.

5 from 9 votes Print Vegan Cranberry & Pistachio Loaf Prep Time 10 mins Cook Time 1 hr Total Time 1 hr 10 mins Easy to make and a perfect morning treat with coffee or tea. Looks very festive for the holiday season and Christmas, but delicious any time of year. Course: Dessert Cuisine: American, Canadian Servings : 1 loaf (about 12 slices) Calories : 285 kcal Author : Sam Turnbull • It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken Ingredients Dry ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt Wet ingredients: 1 1/4 cup full-fat coconut milk

1/2 cup light oil (such as canola or vegetable oil)

2 tablespoons orange or lemon zest

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract For the fruit & nuts: 1 cup fresh or thawed frozen cranberries (plus 1/4 cup for topping)

1/3 cup shelled pistachios (plus 1 tablespoon for topping) For the Icing: 1 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons full-fat coconut milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract US Customary - Metric Instructions To make the loaf: Preheat the oven to 375F (190C). Lightly grease a loaf pan and set aside. In a large bowl whisk together all of the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl whisk together all of the wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add in 1 cup of cranberries, and 1/3 cup pistachios into the batter, and stir until they are just mixed in. Don't over mix your batter. Pour into the prepared pan, then sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of cranberries, and 1 tablespoon of pistachios down the center of the batter. Bake for about 55 to 65 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. To make the icing: Mix all of the icing ingredients together. When the cake is completely cool, drizzle the icing over the cake. Nutrition Calories: 285 kcal Did you make this recipe? Tag @itdoesnttastelikechicken on Instagram and hashtag #itdoesnttastelikechicken.

Bon Appetegan!

Sam.