Baking with Baking Powder...Pineapple Date Loaf

This quick bread from   the "Farm Journal Country Cookbook"  is just excellent!  We loved the flavor and texture; moist but firm.  My husband said “not too sweet or rich”.  I used pineapple packed in juice.  The loaf cracked a little, but otherwise it didn’t disappoint.  This recipe will go in my regular baking rotation – it’s a winner any time of the year. It’s just as good with a summer salad as it would be over the holidays.  
                    Pineapple Date Loaf

     ¼      cup  butter -- softened

     ½      cup  sugar

  1          large  egg

     ¼       teaspoon  lemon extract

  8           ounces  crushed pineapple

     ¼       cup  pecans -- chopped

  2 ½       cups  sifted all-purpose flour -- 11 ounces

  2 ½       teaspoons  baking powder

     ¼       teaspoon  baking soda

  1           teaspoon  salt

     ½       cup  dates -- finely chopped

     ¼       cup  water

     ¼       cup  maraschino cherries -- chopped, well drained

(Prepare nuts and fruit.  Drain the pineapple, saving the liquid.)

Cream butter and sugar; add egg and lemon extract.  Add drained pineapple and nuts to creamed mixture.

Sift dry ingredients together.  Add dates and mix well, separating date pieces with your fingers.  Stir dry ingredients into creamed mixture alternately with reserved pineapple juice mixed with 1/4 cup water.  Fold in chopped maraschino cherries.

Pour into a greased 9 x 5 x 3" loaf pan.  (I used large Calphalon 8 x 5" pan).

Bake in preheated oven 375° about 55 minutes.  Cool in pan 10 minutes.  Remove from pan and cool completely.

One 9 x 5" loaf    About 16 slices

Some quick bread hints:

• Only grease the pan 1" up the sides; this prevents hard shoulders. 
• Use parchment as shown, (grease this on the bottom and 1" up the sides too), for easy removal.
• When adding flour and liquid alternately, stir in by hand, 1/3 of the flour, 1/2 of the liquid, 1/3 of the flour, then remaining liquid, then flour.
• Don't overstir, to prevent tunnels.
• Check your loaf with a toothpick 10 minutes before the specified time, pick should come out with only a few crumbs when done.  If not ready, check in 5 minute increments.  This prevents overbaking and a dry loaf.
• Freeze slices in plastic zip bags, they thaw quickly.

Saturday Thoughts...Using My Overripe Bananas

Clockwise, top R:  parchment lined pan, ready for the oven, mixed batter, weighing sugar into bowl with butter, mashed bananas, ripe banana, weighing flour.     
Center top:  Sliced bread (the cutting board with knife says Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread in German), it belonged to our Grandmother.      

An unexpected trip left me with 3 very ripe bananas when I got home after 3 days. I don’t like to eat ripe bananas, so I looked through my files for a recipe that would use all three.

 This is a very simple recipe for banana bread that really lets the banana flavor shine.  I almost thought I forgot to list the nuts in the recipe, but there aren’t any.  Just old-fashioned, inexpensive ingredients.  At 12¢ per slice, compare it to coffee shop quick bread prices! 

It’s moist and dense, not dry and crumbly – a perfect texture.  Don’t slice it until its cool, preferably after wrapping and refrigerating overnight so the flavor develops and it slices easily.  I freeze extra slices with 2 sheets of waxed paper between them so I can quickly thaw them while coffee is making.  Myrna recently bought some 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 inch parchment paper from King Arthur and I bought half of them...should be just the thing for this project.

Be sure your bananas are very ripe so you get that full flavor.  It took 3 to get my cup of mashed bananas.  I used a small 8 x 3” Norpro loaf pan and it was a good size to get square slices.  I’ve never made a Land O Lakes recipe we didn’t like.                    

                            Mom's Banana Bread

     3/4      cup  sugar -- 5.25 ounces

     1/2      cup  Butter -- softened

  2             Large  Eggs

  1             Cup  Bananas -- (2-3 medium, very ripe) mashed (weighs 9 ounces peeled and mashed)

     1/2      teaspoon  vanilla

  1 1/2      cups  all-purpose flour -- 6.75 ounces

     1/2      teaspoon  baking soda

     1/2      teaspoon  salt

     1/4      teaspoon  ground cinnamon

1.      Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 8x4-inch loaf pan, or if desired use parchment and grease the bottom and one inch up the sides of the pan, line with parchment and grease like the pan; set aside.

2.      Combine sugar, butter and eggs in bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Add bananas and vanilla. Beat at low speed until well mixed. Stir in all remaining ingredients by hand.

3.      Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake 60-70 minutes (my loaf only took 55 minutes) or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes; remove from pan. Place onto cooling rack. Cool completely.  

  "Land O Lakes"  

Yield:  "16 servings"

Orange Quick Bread

This recipe is from the Farm Journal Thrifty Cook. It is one of my favorite cookbooks, and I use it frequently. Do wait overnight before slicing quick breads; they slice much easier. This quick bread is delicious; I slice it and freeze the slices, 2 at a time, in sandwich bags, then store the slices in a box in the freezer. If I take them out to thaw, they are ready to serve by the time the coffee is made.
Orange Quick Bread

1 Tablespoon Finely Shredded Orange Peel

1/2 Cup Sugar

1/2 Cup Water

Milk

2 Cups Flour, All-purpose -- sifted

1/2 Cup Sugar

3 Teaspoons Baking Powder

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1 Large Egg -- beaten

1 Tablespoon Butter -- melted

1/2 Cup Pecans -- chopped , 2 oz. (not in original recipe)

Glaze Frosting

3/4 Cup Powdered Sugar

1 Tablespoon Orange Juice

(Buy 1 large orange -- for peel and juice)

• Grease an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2" loaf pan on the bottom and 1" up the sides, line with parchment paper if desired, greasing the parchment paper on the bottom and 1" up the sides too.
• In a small saucepan, simmer orange peel with ½ cup sugar and water until peel is tender and translucent. Pour into a measuring cup and add enough milk to make 1 cup. Let cool in measure.
• Sift together flour, ½ cup sugar, baking powder and salt.
• Combine egg, cooled milk mixture, and melted butter. Add all at once to flour mixture; stir just until mixture is blended, stir in nuts, if used. DO NOT OVERMIX.
• Turn into prepared 8 ½ x 4 ½ x 2 ½" loaf pan. Bake in 350° oven 40 to 50 minutes until pick comes out clean. Let cool on rack 10 minutes. Spoon orange glaze on loaf if desired. Cool and then refrigerate before slicing. Makes 1 loaf.

ORANGE GLAZE: Combine 3/4 cup powdered sugar with 1 tbsp. orange juice and blend until smooth.

Yield: "1 Loaf" About 16 slices

Cooking with Butter...Apple Streusel Bread

Top right: ready for oven, Bottom right, after baking    

This is one of my husband’s favorite breads and I have made it often.   I found it in an earlier edition of Taste of Home, but also in the "Taste of Home Recipe Card Collection 2002".  The recipe first caught my eye because the contributor was June Formanek from Belle Plaine, Iowa. 

This is a good recipe to practice creaming butter and sugar.  Bring your eggs to room temperature too.

Don’t overbake it- check it with a toothpick at 50 minutes.  I line my pan with parchment to make it easier to remove.
You can leave off the streusel, add the cinnamon to the batter, and bake as usual.  Glaze with a little powdered sugar glaze when it's cool.

I make breads like this all year round.  It’s just as good with a summer main-dish salad as it is for a fall breakfast or coffee time anytime.             

Apple Streusel Bread  

     1/2    Cup  Butter -- softened  (1 stick)

  1           Cup  Sugar (7 ounces)

  2           Large  Eggs

  1           Teaspoon  Vanilla Extract

  2           Cups  Flour, All-purpose  (9 ounces)

  1           Teaspoon  Baking Soda

     1/2     Teaspoon  Salt

     1/3    Cup  Buttermilk

  1           Cup  Apple -- chopped and peeled  ( 1 large)

     1/3    Cup  Walnuts – chopped (or pecans)

                        Topping

     1/3    Cup  Flour, All-purpose -- (1 1/2 ounces)

  2           Tablespoons  Sugar

  2           Tablespoons  Brown Sugar -- packed

     1/2     Teaspoon  Cinnamon

  3           Tablespoons Cold Butter

• Let butter soften.  Grease an 8.5" x 4 1/2" pan (or a 9" x 5") on the bottom and 1" up the sides very well.  Don't grease all the way up; this prevents hard "shoulders". If you use parchment, grease it the same way.
• Measure ingredients.  Chop nuts.  Chop apples.  For topping, combine the first four ingredients; cut in butter until crumbly.
• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Fold in apple and nuts. Pour into prepared loaf pan.  Sprinkle topping over batter. Bake at 350° for 55-60 minutes or until bread tests done. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack. 

 Yield:  "1 Loaf” or about 16 slices

Make it Ahead Corn Bread

 This recipe for Sour Cream Corn Bread From The Barefoot Contessa is made in loaf pans and then when cold sliced and toasted. Very good and as Bettie likes her cornbread with crisp edges she liked this. Lyle thought the flavor was excellent and it was convenient to have this made and just toast as many slices as we needed. 

 I sliced the whole loaf and then froze the slices. Just defrost as many slices as you need.  The bread will keep up to four days in the refrigerator or freeze, well wrapped, up to three months. Do however not slice too thin as it will crumble on you. She suggests slicing ½ inch thick and that is what I did after the first slice fell apart.

 Note that it calls for Bob’s Red Mill medium grind cornmeal, the recipe states that it is necessary to use it. As it is easy to find that is what I used. I am guessing that it needs to be a medium grind and not the fine grind that the regular cornmeals are. This can be baked in a 9x13 inch pan at 350°F for 25 minutes instead of the loaf pans.

 Sour Cream Corn Bread

½ pound (2 sticks) butter, melted, plus extra to grease pan

3 cups all purpose flour

1 cup Bob’s Red Mill medium grind yellow cornmeal

½ cup sugar

2 tablespoons baking powder

1 tablespoon kosher salt (this is coarser than table salt)

1 ¼ cups whole milk

¾ cup sour cream

2 large to extra large eggs

 Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and line the bottom of two 81/2 x 41/2 inch x 2 inch bread pans with parchment paper. •

 Whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. In separate bowl, whisk together the milk, sour cream and eggs and then slowly stir in the melted butter. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones and mix them together until combined. Do Not over mix! 

 Pour the batter into the prepared pans. smooth top and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. until a toothpick comes out clean. Place the pans on a rack and cool completely.

 Remove from pans when cool. Slice when ready to eat and toast in toaster.

Or slice and freeze slices until ready to use. Do not try to freeze whole loaf and then have to slice when it is frozen.

 •May bake in 9x13 inch pan greased and lined with parchment paper at 350°F. for 25 minutes  or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the cornbread is browned.

Grape Nuts Bread

Here’s an old recipe that I had never made…Grape Nuts claims it’s one of their top 6 recipes.  Well, I’m going to have to find out what the other 5 are…because this bread is great!  We loved it, and my husband couldn’t believe it was so easy to make with such simple ingredients.  We enjoy it with main dish salads or soups; and it’s also good just buttered for coffee time.  We thought it would make good simple sliced ham or chicken sandwiches too.

I like to make my bread in a longer quick bread pan; a 10” one worked well.  The recipe calls for a 9x5” pan, but it is too big.  I confess, I used store-brand “nutty nuggets”; they worked just fine.  I thought soaking them would turn them into mush, I was wrong.   The flour in this recipe is sifted before measuring, so a cup weighs about 4 ounces, not the usual 4 ½ ounces.  Don’t add too much flour, so it stays moist and delicious, not dry and crumbly.

This is one of my husband's very favorite breads, I like it too; it has a very good flavor.

                            

Grape Nuts Bread

  1 1/3      cups  milk -- scalded

  3             tablespoons  butter or shortening – melted (I melted mine in the hot milk.)

     2/3      cup  Grape-Nuts (2.6 ounces)

  2             cups  sifted flour (8 ounces)

  2 1/2      teaspoons  Baking Powder

  1 1/2      teaspoons  salt

     2/3      cup  sugar  (5 ¼ ounces)

  1             egg -- well beaten

 

Scald milk; add butter and grape nuts and let stand until cool.  Sift flour once, measure, add baking powder, salt, and sugar, and sift again. Add egg to cereal mixture and mix well. Then add flour mixture and stir enough to dampen flour. Turn into an 8 ½ x 4 1/2"inch or a 10 x 4 x 3 inch loaf pan, greased on the bottom and sides and lined with parchment paper greased the same way.  Bake in moderate oven (350°F) 1 hour, or until done. Check the bread with the toothpick test or with an instant-read thermometer (190-200°). 

Wrap in foil and store several hours or overnight in the refrigerator before slicing.

2015 Cost:  $ 1.40 or 7¢ per slice in narrow pan with butter

Adapted from a vintage Grape Nuts advertisement.

Mom's Banana Bread

 This is a very simple recipe for banana bread that really lets the banana flavor shine.  I almost thought I forgot to list the nuts in the recipe, but there aren’t any.  Just old-fashioned, inexpensive ingredients.  At 12¢ per slice, compare it to coffee shop quick bread prices! 

It’s moist and dense, not dry and crumbly – a perfect texture.  Don’t slice it until it's cool, preferably after wrapping and refrigerating overnight so the flavor develops and it slices easily.  I freeze extra slices with 2 sheets of waxed paper between them so I can quickly thaw them while coffee is making.

Be sure your bananas are very ripe so you get that full flavor.  It took 3 to get my cup of mashed bananas.  I used a small 8 x 3” Norpro loaf pan and it was a good size to get square slices.  I’ve never made a Land O Lakes recipe we didn’t like.                    

                            Mom's Banana Bread

     3/4      cup  sugar -- 5.25 ounces

     1/2      cup  Butter -- softened

  2             Large  Eggs

  1             Cup  Bananas -- (2-3 medium, very ripe) mashed

     1/2      teaspoon  vanilla

  1 1/2      cups  all-purpose flour -- 6.75 ounces

     1/2      teaspoon  baking soda

     1/2      teaspoon  salt

     1/4      teaspoon  ground cinnamon

       Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 8x4-inch loaf pan, or if desired use parchment and grease the bottom and one inch up the sides of the pan, line with parchment and grease like the pan; set aside.

    Combine sugar, butter and eggs in bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Add bananas and vanilla. Beat at low speed until well mixed. Stir in all remaining ingredients by hand.

     Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake 60-70 minutes (my loaf only took 55 minutes) or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes; remove from pan. Place onto cooling rack. Cool completely.

  "Land O Lakes"

Yield:  "16 servings"

Per Serving: 153 Calories; 7g Fat (38.0% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 22g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 42mg Cholesterol; 174mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 1/2 Grain (Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Fruit; 1 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Cost 2016:  $1.79 per loaf or 12¢ per slice.

Basic Oats Mix Biscuits, Muffins, Applesauce Bread and Dumplings

Here are the recipes that the “Culinary Institute the Budget Cookbook" gives with their recipe for Basic Oats Mix (I included the recipe at the bottom).  I have made both the muffins and biscuits and found them to be both quick and tasty.
I included the recipes for the bread and dumplings, although I haven’t tried them yet.

Oatmeal Muffins

  2              cups  plus 2 tablespoons Oat Mix  

     1/4       cup  Sugar

  1              cup  Milk

  1              large  Egg -- beaten

FOR MUFFINS: 

Combine oats mix and sugar in a bowl.  Add milk and egg; stir until just blended.

Fill 12 greased 2 1/2" muffin-pan wells 2/3 full.

Bake at 400° about 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Cost:  about 96¢ per dozen or 8¢ per muffin

Oatmeal Biscuits

  2               cups  Oat Mix

     2/3        cup  Cold Milk

FOR BISCUITS: 

Combine oats mix and milk in a bowl; stir with a fork to a soft dough.  Let the dough set in the bowl to absorb some of the liquid into the oats, about 5-10 minutes.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface.  Knead with fingertips 10 times.  Roll out 1/2" thick and cut with a floured 2" cutter.  (Be sure to cut straight down without twisting, to help your biscuits rise and get that characteristic “split”.)

Put on ungreased cookie sheet. 

Bake at 450° 10-12 minutes.

Biscuits cost 54¢ per dozen or 4 1/2¢ per biscuits.

Quick Applesauce Bread

  2 1/4    Cups  Oat Mix

  1           Cup  Sugar

  1           Teaspoon  Cinnamon

  1           Cup  Applesauce -- sweetened

  1           Large  Egg

     1/2    Cup  Milk

     1/2    Cup  Raisins – optional

FOR APPLESAUCE BREAD: 

Combine oats mix, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.  Add applesauce, egg, milk, and raisins; stir until mixed.

Turn batter into a greased and floured 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2" loaf pan.

Bake at 350° for 55 to 60 minutes.

Remove from pan and cool completely on a rack before slicing.  1 loaf

Fluffy Dumplings

  2           Cups  Oat Mix

  1           Cup  Milk

FOR DUMPLINGS:

Thoroughly combine oats mix and milk.  Spoon onto boiling stew. (Try to drop them on the meat or vegetables to keep them from getting too soggy).  

Cook, uncovered, over low heat 10 minutes; cover and cook 10 minutes longer.  10-12 Dumplings.

Basic Oats Mix

  6        Cups  Flour, All-purpose (about 1 pound 11 ounces)

  4        Tablespoons  Baking Powder

  4        Teaspoons  Salt

  1 1/3 Cups  Shortening (about 9.33 ounces)

  2        Cups  Oats -- quick or old fashioned, uncooked (about 6 ounces)

Sift flour, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl.  Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Stir in oats.

Store in a cool, dry place until ready to use.

Makes enough for 4 batches muffins, biscuits, dumplings or applesauce bread.

Cost:  $1.67 per full recipe or 17¢ per cup if you get 9 3/4 cups from the recipe.

Yield:  "9 3/4 Cups"

“Culinary Institute the Budget Cookbook" 1975

Make It Yourself...Herbed Sun-dried Tomato and Cheese Loaf

When I cut this bread, my husband had to have a second slice to “determine what made it so delicious”!  It’s really a quick bread that mixes up easily, and it is even better the second day.  Use whatever cheese you have, I used cheddar, but parmesan would be equally delicious.  I used walnuts, but pecans would also be good.   This is an excellent way to use that last cup of buttermilk.  Serve slices cut in strips and buttered for an appetizer, or serve slices with main-dish salads or soups.              

Herbed Sun-dried Tomato and Cheese Loaf

2          Cups  Flour, All-purpose – about 10 ounces

  1        Tablespoon  Sugar

  1 ½    Teaspoons  Baking Powder

     ½    Teaspoon  Baking Soda

  1        Teaspoon  Salt

  1        Cup  Buttermilk -- 8 ounces

  1        Large  Egg

     ¼    Cup  Butter -- melted

     ½    Cup  Grated Cheese -- divided

     ½    Teaspoon  Italian Seasoning

  2        Tablespoons  Sun-dried Tomato Halves – minced

    ½      Cup Nuts, Chopped

Heat the oven to 350°F. Grease a standard 8 1/2 x 4 1/2" loaf pan on the bottom and 1" up the sides.  Line with parchment paper and grease like the pan.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, Italian Seasoning and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Melt the butter. Whisk it in a separate bowl with the buttermilk and the egg. 

Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients. Gently stir and fold the ingredients until all the flour has been incorporated and a shaggy, wet batter is formed.   Add most of the cheese and the tomatoes gently.  Be careful not to over-mix.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and pat it into the corners. Sprinkle on the remaining cheese.  Bake for 45-50 minutes. When finished a toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean. Let the loaf cool in the pan for 15 minutes before removing and slicing.

Wrap baked loaves tightly in plastic wrap and store at room temperature. Baked loaves can also be wrapped in plastic and aluminum foil and frozen for up to three months.

Słodki Chleb z Orzechami i Kruszonką or Quick Bread with Walnuts and Crumble

From bottom right, counter-clockwise:
Batter, Plain Loaf, Loaf with crumble, Cooling loaf,
Baked loaf with crumble, Baked loaf Plain

This is a quick bread that uses the popular Polish crumble mixture called Kruszonką, a streusel made with powdered sugar instead of brown sugar.  This recipe makes a light, not-too-sweet bread suitable for coffee time.   I also serve it with main dish salads for attractive lunch plates.  It takes a while to bake, but it’s quick and easy to make, no mixer necessary.  I like to make it in a 4” x 10” narrower pan to make smaller, more attractive slices as well.
For a less sweet bread, try it without the vanilla extract or crumble.  That makes a loaf that’s good for chicken salad sandwiches or to serve with soup or salad meals.  I often have a quick bread loaf stored in the freezer in slices with doubled waxed paper between them, so we can quickly thaw slices for company coffee times or meals.  This is a recipe I make often, in either form.

      

Słodki Chleb z Orzechami i Kruszonką or Sweet Bread with Walnuts and Crumble

  9           Ounces  Flour, All-purpose -- 2 cups

  4           Ounces  Sugar -- 1/2 cup

  1 ½       Teaspoons  Baking Powder

     ½       Teaspoon  Baking Soda

  1           Teaspoon  Salt

  8           Ounces  Buttermilk -- 1 cup

  1           Large  Egg

  1          Teaspoon  Vanilla Extract

     ¼       Cup  Butter, melted and cooled

  2          Ounces  Walnuts -- 1/2 cup chopped

                        Crumble

     ½     Cup  Flour

     ¼     Cup Powdered Sugar

  2 ½     Tablespoons  Butter -- softened

1.      Combine the crumble ingredients with a fork, squeeze together to make a soft dough.  Refrigerate until bread batter is in the pan and ready to go in the oven.

2.      Heat the oven to 350°F. Grease the bottom and 1" up the sides of a standard 8 1/2 x 4 1/2" loaf pan.  If desired, line with parchment paper, greased the same way.

3.      Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Melt the butter and let cool slightly. Whisk it in a separate bowl with the buttermilk, vanilla extract and the egg.

4.      Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients. Gently stir and fold the ingredients until all the flour has been incorporated and a shaggy, wet batter is formed. Be careful not to over-mix.

5.      Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and pat it into the corners.

6.      Remove the crumble mixture from the refrigerator and crumble it evenly over the loaf in a mixture of 1/4" to 1/2" crumbles. 

7.      Bake for 40-45 minutes. When finished, the loaf should be domed and golden, and a toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean (about 190-200° on and instant read thermometer). Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing.  Cool to room temperature on a rack.

8.      Wrap baked loaves tightly in plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate overnight before slicing.

9.      Baked loaves can also be wrapped in plastic and aluminum foil and frozen for up to three months, or sliced and packaged with double waxed paper between slices for individual servings and then frozen.

Yield:  "1 Loaf"

Peanut Butter Bread

I found this recipe in the “Reader's Digest Secrets of Better Cooking 1973” that Bonnie let me borrow; her son had picked it up at a sale for her.  The day I made it Bonnie and Don dropped by in the afternoon after it went into the oven.  We debated how good it would be without an egg to “hold it together”…we cut a slice for each of us while it was still warm and it was not crumbly at all.  It was even better after being wrapped and chilled in the refrigerator overnight…easier to cut, and the peanut butter taste was more pronounced.  I like to bake quick breads in a 4” x 12” loaf pan that is only 3” wide at the bottom…it makes smaller slices and bakes a little more quickly.

For good success with quick breads, do chill it before slicing, and only grease your loaf pan on the bottom and 1” up the sides to avoid the “dreaded hard shoulders” and get prettier slices.  I use parchment and grease it the same as the pan, so I can just lift the loaf out.

This is tasty and nutritious, and makes good sandwiches.  Perfect with jelly too!

 Peanut Bread

  3               cups  flour, all-purpose -- 13 ounces

  6          teaspoons  baking powder

  2          teaspoons  salt

  6        tablespoons  sugar

     2/3           cup  instant dry milk -- 2 ounces

     1/2           cup  peanut butter

     3/4           cup  peanuts, dry-roasted unsalted -- no skins, chopped (3 ounces)

  1 1/2           cups  water

Sift flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into a large bowl.  Stir in the skim milk powder, then the peanut butter and peanuts.  Add water and stir just until dough is mixed.

Spoon into a prepared 9 x 5 x 3" loaf pan and smooth the top.  (I used a 4" x 12" pan; greased bottom and sides 1" up from the bottom, lined with parchment greased the same as the pan.)

Bake in a preheated 350° F. oven for about 45 minutes - 1 hour, until bread tests done.  (I covered mine with a piece of parchment after about 20 minutes to keep it from getting too brown.)

Cool before slicing.

2015 Cost:  $2.38 per loaf or 11¢ per slice

Yield:  "1 loaf"

Per Serving: 153 Calories; 6g Fat (32.4% calories from fat); 6g Protein; 21g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 1mg Cholesterol; 375mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Peanut Butter Pumpkin Bread

This bread from the “Best of Country Breads" is surprisingly delicious – my husband really, really liked it.  The recipe contributor said her husband brought the recipe home from the office so she could make it for him – after my husband’s reaction, I can see why.  This is easy to make, and is moist and tasty.   
We enjoy breads like this with main dish salads in the Spring and Summer.  I make several loaves and slice and freeze it so we can enjoy it during those hot days when I don't want to bake.
The recipe can also be made in small loaves for gifts.  After folks try it, they’ll be asking for theirs.                   

Peanut Butter Pumpkin Bread

  3             Cups  Sugar

  15           Ounces  Canned Pumpkin

  4             Large  Eggs

  1             Cup  Salad Oil

     3/4      Cup  Water

     2/3      Cup  Peanut Butter

  3 1/2      Cups  Flour, All-purpose

  2             Teaspoons  Baking Soda

  1 1/2      Teaspoons  Salt

  1             Teaspoon  Cinnamon

  1             Teaspoon  Nutmeg

In mixing bowl; combine the sugar, pumpkin, eggs, oil, water and peanut butter; beat well. 

Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Gradually add to pumpkin mixture; mix well.

Pour into greased 9 x 5 x 3" loaf pans.  Bake at 350° for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Six 5 3/4 x 3 x 2" loaf pans may be used; bake for 40-45 minutes.

This makes a very liquid batter - it took the entire 70 minutes to bake a large loaf.

Yield:  "2 Loaves"

"Tropical" Fruit Bread

Myrna and I rarely use Bisquick, but we found a couple of nice cookbooks from them, and bought some mix to share and to try the recipes this week. 
This is a delicious quick bread with a nice texture– it really should be called “tropical” fruit bread, with banana, pineapple and coconut.    It's quick to prepare, and is an easy make-ahead for coffee time, gifts  or slices cut in fingers or diagonally make a nice addition to a dessert or cookie tray.  I think it would be good with pineapple cream cheese too.              

                               Fruit Bread

     1/3      cup  Sugar

     1/4      cup  Butter -- softened

  2             large  Eggs

     1/2      cup  Banana -- mashed, 1 medium

  8             fluid ounces  Crushed Pineapple in Juice -- well drained

  2             cups  Bisquick® Baking Mix -- 8 ounces

     1/2      cup  Shredded Coconut

     1/2      cup  Nuts -- chopped

Grease bottom of loaf pan, either 9” x 5” x 3” or 8 ½” x 4 ½” x 2 ½ " size.  (I used an 8 ½” pan and lined it with parchment paper, also greased on the bottom; if you only grease the bottom, you won't get hard "shoulders" on your loaf). 

Preheat oven to 350°.

Mix sugar, butter and eggs until blended; stir in banana and pineapple.  Stir in remaining ingredients just until moistened (by hand), spread in pan.

Bake at 50 minutes for 9" loaf, 55 minutes for 8 1/2" loaf or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool 5 minutes.  (Mine, in an 8 ½ “ loaf, tested done with a toothpick at 45 minutes – so check a little ahead of time.)

Remove from pan.  Cool on wire rack.  Cool completely before slicing.  (The bread slices better after being well-wrapped and refrigerated overnight after cooling completely.)

  "Bisquick 60 Years"

  "1 Loaf"    about 16 slices

Per Serving: 154 Calories; 8g Fat (45.6% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 19g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 34mg Cholesterol; 214mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fruit; 1 1/2 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Orange Apricot Quick Bread

  The quick bread I was going to bake from the FanFare Cookbook was similar to one Sue has already posted. So, I decided to try the recipe for Orange-Apricot Bread instead. Now, I am sure the first choice would have been very good, but I am glad I made this recipe instead. It was a little more work, but well worth the time. 

  Do be sure to soak the apricots in the warm water before using. Dried fruit in a bread type recipe will be softer and easier to cut and eat this way.

  I did let the batter set in the pan for the 20 minutes before baking the recipe called for. I am not sure that it made a difference, but it is always a good idea in baking to follow a recipe the first few times you make it. Baking unlike other cooking does not leave much room for improvising. Flavor changes such as the fruit or the orange juice will only change the taste, but changing the amount of the other ingredients or the timing is best left to those chefs who do this and can afford to toss something that doesn’t work.

  As my family is always happy with quick breads this recipe was a winner in our house.  A change from cranberry orange or lemon quick breads. These make great holiday gifts and it is always well to include the recipe with the bread.

Orange - Apricot Bread

1 cup dried apricots  
½ cup fresh orange juice

1 cup sugar 

2 Tablespoons Butter

1 egg

½ cup milk           

2 cups flour              

2 teaspoons baking powder 
¼ teaspoon baking soda              

1 teaspoon salt

¼ cup cold water               
½ cup chopped nuts - 
grated zest of one orange

  Cut apricots in quarters and soak in warm water for 30 minutes; drain well. Cream sugar and butter together. Add egg and milk. Combine the orange juice and ¼ cup water. Sift the dry ingredients together and add alternately with the orange juice.

By hand fold in the apricots and nuts. Pour into 2 lightly greased small loaf pans. Let stand for 20 minutes. Bake at 350° for 50 to 60 minutes, checking at 50 minutes with a toothpick for doneness. Remove from pans and cool on wire rack.

  Wrap with foil or plastic wrap and allow to stand for at least one day before cutting.

Makes 2 small loaves or one regular sized loaf.