One Frugal Foodie Returns with Honey-Kissed Quick Bread
After a 6-month sabbatical to work on the second edition of my dairy-free book, I am happy to return to blogging. And yes, the book is completed and arriving very soon, tomorrow in fact. Go Dairy Free: The Guide & Cookbook will make its official debut this week (it is available to order on Amazon too), but for now, a recipe! My grandmother returned last week from a two-week bus trip that took her, my aunt, and my uncle through New York, New England, Ontario, Quebec, and Pennsylvania (many Paul Revere-inspired photos to view). Thoughtful as she is, she returned with a bag full of goodies just for me, including a cookbook she thought I would enjoy, Taste of Autumn from Gooseberry Patch. To thank her for this gift, I baked up a loaf of the Honey Quick Bread, with a few simple changes of course …
Taste of Autumn is far from dairy-free, but the simple and comfort food recipes are quite easy to convert. In addition to swapping out the buttermilk for my homemade dairy-free version, I also reduced the oil, upped the cinnamon, and used some whole wheat pastry flour. The recipe also said to grease and flour the loaf pan, but I opted to grease and “sugar” it. The resultant loaf seemed absolutely perfect in texture and moisture.
I changed the name to “Honey-Kissed” rather than Honey … though it contains a good dose of the sweet stuff this bread is just lightly sweet in nature. It actually makes excellent toast, slathered with almond or peanut butter or drizzled with just a bit more honey, or a slightly indulgent PB & J (my husband’s favorite format). For a vegan or low glycemic alternative, light agave nectar should work equally well substituted 1:1 for the honey.
Honey-Kissed Quick Bread
Recipe adapted from Taste of Autumn
2½ Cups Flour (I used 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour + 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour)
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
½ Teaspoon Salt
½ Teaspoon Cinnamon
1/3 Cup Oil
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice or Vinegar + Enough Plain or Unsweetened Milk Alternative (I used almond) to make 1½ Cups
½ Cup Honey (or Agave Nectar)
Grease and flour or sugar a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Combine the wet ingredients and add them to the dry. Stir together until fairly well combined, but do not overmix, some small lumps are okay. Let it sit and rest for 20 minutes, and preheat your oven to 375ºF. Bake for approximately 40 minutes, or until firm to the touch, and a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Yields 1 9×5-inch loaf of bread
Frugal Recipe Tips:
Oil – Since you are baking the oil, there is no need to splurge on expensive versions that may actually burn at higher temperatures. I use grapeseed oil, which is a good neutral tasting oil, but feel free to use your favorite baking oil.
Honey – This is one item that I truly have to shop around for. I do recommend purchasing local honey whenever possible as it tends to have health benefits that are specific to your area (due to the fact that it is produced from the pollen of local plants). Wild is also best whenever possible. I watch the sales, and purchase in larger quantities whenever it looks like a good price, as honey works very well in baking and other recipes, and is a less expensive liquid sweetener than agave or maple syrup. In my local area, I found the best prices/quality at Fresh & Easy, but I also recently picked up a sizable jug (48 oz) at Whole Foods for just $8.99 (plus I had a $10 off $50 coupon I used in that shopping trip – Whole Foods with coupons – who would have ever thought!).
6 thoughts on “One Frugal Foodie Returns with Honey-Kissed Quick Bread”
ALISA!!!! YOU’RE BACK!!!!! I’VE BEEN WORRIED ABOUT YA!!!!
Glad to see you back at your blog, and I cannot wait to see the book!
I love Gooseberry Patch. I order lots of Christmas presents from them. Scott got me a One-Pot Meals cookbook from them that I’m really enjoying.
Welcome Back! We’re having a comfort food recipe contest and would love to have you enter one of your favorite recipes! Recipes can be submitted to http://marxfood.com
I’ve been checking back here for about 5 months. I’m so excited to see you posting again AND to check out your book!
Thanks ladies!
candiemango ~ So sorry to have kept you waiting so long! The book is now available, it will be officially announced in a few days, but you can now get it here …. http://www.godairyfree.org/Go-Dairy-Free-Guidebook.html. Amazon should have stock in about a week.
That bread looks delicious! I will definitely give it a try! It is great to have you back. I can’t wait to check out the book too!
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