This quick bread recipe is our family’s favorite, hands down. It is super moist, very flavorful, and well, it kind of tastes like cake. It definitely tastes like a treat, even if you cut down the sugar in the recipe.
Speaking of cutting down the sugar – I’ve been really focusing on chopping sugar quantities in most of my recipes. I’ve found that the recipes still tastes great, and my family is definitely benefiting from not eating so much of the sweet stuff. All that to say, a few week’s ago I edited the {Healthy} Make-Ahead Meals and Snacks eBook (where you’ll find the recipe for this bread) to cut the sugar down significantly. If you purchased this book before April, your version likely calls for 1 1/2 cups of sucanat. Yikes. Do that if you must, but I think you’ll find that cutting it in half (or more) still turns out a great product.
For the Freezer Cooking Challenge today, find some time to make a double recipe of Poppy Seed Bread with Orange Glaze (recipe in {Healthy} Make-Ahead Meals and Snacks eBook). Doubling the recipe will turn out four loaves. Once they have completely cooled, you can set aside a loaf (or two, if you are my family) for tomorrow’s breakfast, then wrap and freeze the others for another day. I typically just place them in freezer bags, push all the air out, and seal. Be sure to label your bags.
When you’re ready to serve your frozen loaves, simply get it out of the freezer the night before you plan to serve it and let it thaw on the countertop. In the morning, you can slice and eat!
This bread is wonderful with scrambled or fried eggs and a fruit such as apples, bananas, applesauce, or berries.
I can’t wait for you to try this bread!
hi Laura..i feel like you are talking straight to me today!!i often make breads(banana, pumpkin, etc.).for my fam, (7 kids, hubby and myself)i often feel it is alot of sugar, but was “afraid”to try it with less…now i am going to try!!thanks for all you do!!
Is this recipe also in your book in print that you have for sale? I’ve been meaning to buy it….
No, I didn’t figure this recipe out until after I printed my cookbook. :)
have you ever tried freezing the batter like you do with muffins? I love freezing the muffin batter and baking them fresh. I have never been a fan of freezing bread because the texture is usually a bit off after thawing it.
I haven’t tried freezing quick breads. I would imagine it would work though. :)
Do you know what size loaf pans you use? I bought some 8 inch ones from amazon and they arrived yesterday. They seem so small for baking breads but most of my bread recipes recommend that size.
I believe mine are 9×5 – but 8 inch pans will work fine for this recipe.
One more question. Can this be made with whole wheat flour instead of pastry flour? I don’t have any of that on hand. Thanks!!
Yes, I’ve used it before when I didn’t have any soft wheat for pastry flour. It makes a more dense loaf, and we prefer it made with pastry flour, but regular wheat flour will still work. :)
Do you recommend cutting the sugar in your chocolate chip cookie / bar cookie recipe?
I made it yesterday with the last of the white sugar, the last of brown sugar and the last of the honey. (Yes, it was one of those days and the cookies were a good thing.) I don’t know how much sweetener I ended up with because I just scraped the last of the honey out of the jar. They came out fine though!
Laura recommends cutting the sugar in half.