I encourage everybody and their mother to try this recipe in the next week. Recently I have made 6 loaves of this to give out as gifts, and I swear to you that every single person I gave this pumpkin bread to got in touch with me to rave about it and tell me how goooooood it is!

I made the first couple of loaves with the addition of pecans. I love nuts in my baked goods, but I learned the hard way, the not everyone does. One of the loaves I made for friends who just got back from their honeymoon. My husband cooked them a meal and I baked them cookies and this loaf of bread so they wouldn’t have to worry about making dinner the weekend they got back from their honeymoon. Our friend Robin, the groom, is a very picky eater, so of course he does not like pecans, but he went through the trouble of picking out the pecans just so he could devour the bread!

I adapted this recipe from All Recipes, where everyone who has made this bread raves about it saying its the BEST they’ve ever made! 3 words from me: Moist, Spicy, Delicious.

Ingredients:

• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup water
• 3 cups white sugar
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves (Optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 cup chopped pecans (Optional)

Sorry Sorry Sorry its been too long since my last post, but…life calls! I had been working an overnight shift, AND planning my wedding. Now with the wedding under our belt, and having just quit the overnight position (Hallelujah!), I’m ready to finally be a newly-wed and bake Bake BAKE!!

That being said, after trying for months to cut bread out of my diet, a few weeks before the wedding, not only was I going through baking withdrawal, but this girl was craving bread! Whole wheat banana bread came to mind as I was craving something wholesome yet sweet and scrumptious!

Having not a ton of time to research, I turned to the king of flour for a recipe I could trust. This recipe came from The King Arthur Flour 200th Anniversary Cookbook. I was so impressed with the flavor of this bread. Jordan and I agreed that the whole wheat added a ton of flavor. We loved the flavor so much that I just picked up another bag of whole wheat flour to experiment with. This straight forward recipe needs no frills, and does not disappoint. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 C. (1 stick) butter, room temperature
• 1 C. sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 C. mashed ripe banana (2 or 3 bananas)
• 1 t. vanilla
• 2 C. King Arthur Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/2 C chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9×5-inch loaf pan; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add the eggs, bananas and vanilla and beat well. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients. At this point, add the chopped nuts if using. Pour this mixture into the prepared 9×5-inch loaf pan and bake for 60 minutes.

Let cool in pan for 10 minutes then take it out and let cool on wire rack.

A classic bread with classic flavor. In this recipe the flavors of zucchini and cinnamon combine to recreate that zucchini bread you always remember from childhood. Sweet and cinnamon-spicy is an irresistible combination perfect for warming up anyone, any time of year.

Ingredients:

• 8 oz zucchini, trimmed
• 1/2 cup canola oil, plus extra for greasing
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for flouring
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup chopped pitted moist-pack prunes (optional)
• 1/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Grease and lightly flour one 8 1/2-by-3 1/2 inch loaf pan or three 6-by-3-inch pans.

Using the large holes of a box grater-shredder or the large-holed shredder blade of a food processor, shred the zucchini. You should have about 1 cup. Set aside.

In a bowl, combine the oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat vigorously with a whisk or with an electric mixer on medium speed until pale and creamy, about 1 minute. Stir in the shredded zucchini until blended.

In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, prunes, and walnuts. Add the flour mixture to the zucchini mixture and stir just until combined. The batter will be stiff. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan(s).

Bake until the bread is firm to the touch and pulls away from the pan sides, 50-60 minutes for a large loaf, 35-40 minutes for small ones. A cake tester inserted into the center of the loaf should come out clean. Let cool in the pan(s) on a rack for 10 minutes. Turn the bread out, place upright on the rack, and let cool completely.

Recipe adapted from tried and true, Williams-Sonoma Collection: Bread (Williams-Sonoma Collection Series)

Slam dunk! It only takes one phrase to sum this bread up. There has to be a thousand banana bread recipes out there and I have to say I’m always trying to top my last banana bread. How can I bring out the flavors even more, how can I make the bread more moist, and how can I get the spices just right? This recipe caught my attention because it is a more fruity banana bread than spicy, if you will.

I was shocked how moist this bread turned out and stayed for the few days it lasted. That was my comment every time I had a piece…”What is making this bread so moist?!” My guess is the coconut. The coconut and touch of almond extract are a mouth watering match for the bananas and bring out the most satisfying flavor.

My fiance Jordan had 3 guy friends in town for the Brewers/Cardinals series this past weekend and that’s exactly when the bread disappeared. As soon as I mentioned to the guys that there was banana bread for breakfast, they all lit up. But when they ate it, they couldn’t get enough! They all loved the coconut addition, and commented how moist it was. My special touch to the bread was the mini chocolate chips that I sprinkled on the top of the loaf once I took it out of the oven. Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup mashed bananas
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup flaked coconut
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

Mix together flour, coconut, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and chopped walnuts.

Break eggs in a mixing bowl, and beat until light and frothy. Add sugar and melted butter or margarine. Beat well. Stir in mashed banana and flavoring. Add flour mixture, and stir just to combine. Spoon into greased 9×5x3 inch loaf pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes on a wire rack, and remove from pan. Allow to cool completely before slicing for the best flavor.

~Adapted from All Recipes. Thanks Carol!

What I decide to bake next is completely dependent on my cravings, which can be fun, but very, very dangerous. Anybody can buy a ready-made box of this quick bread to throw together in 2 minutes for a warm breakfast for company, but honestly, to throw together this recipe from scratch is SO much more rewarding! Did I mention easy? I was totally impressed by the ease and how little time it took to throw together the batter and filling, I promise not more than 10 minutes. It’s so simple, it almost had me thinking the taste wouldn’t be there. So I snuck a lick of the batter on the spatula, and uh-oh….I couldn’t stop!!

The recipe, adapted from a Better Homes and Gardens magazine, calls for the addition of milk. I used buttermilk to make the bread more rich and boy did that ever work! The “cinnamon swirl” is so simple to make and scrumptious.

Doesn’t it always seem to go when baking quick bread, that once the recommended baking time has elapsed, the middle of the bread is still under-done and mushy, but the corners and ends of the bread are very done and darkening quickly. To keep from under-baking the middle of the bread, as well as burning the ends of the bread, follow this trick of mine: After the elapsed recommended baking time, turn the oven off, but keep the bread in the oven while the oven cools…about another 15-20 minutes. This gives the middle of the bread a chance to bake through, and prohibits the edges of the bread from burning. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. After about 15 minutes, move a sharp knife along the sides of the pan to loosen the bread. Remove bread from pan by carefully dumping upside down, and allowing the bread to drop out of the pan, possibly into your hand. Let bread cool completely on wire rack.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk (or buttermilk)
• 1/3 cup cooking oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of a 9×5x3-inch loaf pan. In a small bowl, combine 1/3 cup of the sugar, the nuts, and cinnamon; set aside. In a large bowl, combine the remaining 1 cup sugar, the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a medium bowl, beat egg with a fork; stir in milk and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy).

Pour half of the batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle with half of the cinnamon mixture. Repeat with remaining batter and cinnamon mixture. Draw a wide rubber scraper down through batter and up in a circular motion to marble. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from bread pan. Cool completely on wire rack. For best flavor, wrap and store bread overnight before slicing. (Kat’s side note- Not necessary.)

Makes 1 loaf, or 14 servings.