Bread Recipes

Here are a couple of recipes for homemade breads I made last week:

Carrot-Raisin Bread

1 1/2 Cup sifted all purpose flour

1/2 C	sugar
1 tsp	baking powder
1/4 tsp	baking soda
1/2 tsp	salt
1-1/2 tsp	ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp	ground allspice
1	egg, beaten
1/2 C	water
2 Tbsp	vegetable oil
1/2 tsp	vanilla
1-1/2 C	finely shredded carrots
1/4 C	chopped pecans
1/4 C	golden raisins

1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Lightly oil a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan.
2. Stir together dry ingredients in large mixing bowl. Make a well in center of dry mixture.
3. In separate bowl, mix together remaining ingredients; add this mixture all at once to dry ingredients. Stir just enough to moisten and evenly distribute carrots.
4. Turn into prepared pan. Bake for 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
5. Cool 5 minutes in pan. Remove from pan and complete cooling on a wire rack before slicing.

Yield: One loaf--Serving Size: 1/2-inch slice

Each serving provides:

Calories: 99
Total fat: 3 g
Saturated fat: less than 1 g
Cholesterol: 12 mg
Sodium: 97 mg

Review: I really liked this bread. It comes out a bit orange because of the high amount of carrot, but it was good. It has just enough sweetness without being too overly sweet. I will definitely be making this again.


Apricot-Orange Bread

1	(6 oz) package of dried apricots cut into small pieces
2 C	water
2 Tbsp	margarine
1 C	sugar
1	egg, slightly beaten
1 Tbsp	freshly grated orange peel
3-1/2 C	sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 C	nonfat dry milk powder
2 tsp	baking powder
1 tsp	baking soda
1 tsp	salt
1/2 C	orange juice
1/2 C	chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Lightly oil two 9x5-inch loaf pan.
2. Cook apricots in water in a covered medium-size saucepan for 10-15 minutes or until tender but not mushy. Drain; reserve 3/4 cup liquid. Set apricots aside to cool.
3. Cream together margarine and sugar. By hand, beat in egg and orange peel.
4. Sift together flour, dry milk, baking powder, soda, and salt. Add to creamed mixture alternately with reserved apricot liquid and orange juice.
5. Stir apricot pieces and pecans into batter.
6. Turn batter into prepared pans.
7. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until bread springs back when lightly touched in center.
8. Cool 5 minutes in pan. Remove from pan and completely cool on wire rack before slicing.

Yield: 2 loaves--Serving Size: 1/2-inch slice

Each serving provides:

Calories: 97
Total fat: 2 g
Saturated fat: less than 1 g
Cholesterol: 6 mg
Sodium: 113 mg

Review: I thought this bread was ok. It seemed like it was going to be a winner, but I think it's missing some spices - maybe a dash of cinnamon or something. I will make it again because it is a very attractive bread, but I will be adding some ingredients like maybe lemon and lemon zest - and maybe even some raisins or something.

Overall I liked both breads - the carrot raisin bread had a bit more flavor. And, to know me is to know that I really like BOLD flavors in what I eat. The apricot orange bread had mild flavors. Happy Baking!!!