Like many people, I love a good loaf of homemade bread. A sourdough loaf started from scratch or a hand kneaded focaccia are well worth the time and effort, but I like bread that doesn’t take a lot of time and energy to make. This homemade quick bread fits the bill perfectly.
What Is Quick Bread?
Quick bread is any bread that is made from a leavening agent such as baking powder, as opposed to yeast or sourdough starter. This type of bread makes a batter rather than a dough because of the ratio of wet to dry ingredients.
For an explanation of the differences between batter and dough, and where to use them, read this article from kitchenstories.com
Mix it together, pour into the pan and bake. It doesn’t get much quicker than that.
Variations On Quick Bread Ingredients.
Starting with a batter means that you can customize the bread to your liking. Here are some simple ways to switch this recipe up.
- Swap out the blueberries for any other berries. Strawberries work well here.
- Pumpkin puree in place of fruit makes a delicious fall bread.
- For beer bread, remove the vanilla. Replace the milk with beer, however you may need more than 3/4 cup of beer.
- Leave out the vanilla and the fruit. Replace with 1 teaspoon of garlic powder and 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese.
- Use 3 mashed, ripe bananas for the fruit. Add 1/2 cup chopped nuts for banana nut bread.
How To Make Quick Bread
Preheat oven to 400°
Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
Combine the wet ingredients in a separate bowl.
Mix the wet ingredients into the dry until combined.
Stir in fruit.
Pour batter into a greased 9×5 loaf pan.
Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes.
Cool before slicing.
Ways To Serve Quick Bread
- Cut into slices and smear with butter.
- Serve with brunch alongside a jar of homemade Fruit Preserves.
- Instead of baking in a loaf pan, pour batter into individual muffin tins for blueberry muffins.
- Make a savory version such as the garlic cheddar and cut into cubes, because everyone loves croutons.
Summer Blueberry Quick Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups Flour Pastry or All Purpose
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 tbsp + 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 2 Eggs beaten
- 3/4 cup Whole Milk
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 stick + 1 tbsp Unsalted Butter melted
- 1 cup Seasonal fruit of choice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°
- Sift together dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients.
- Add wet to dry and mix until just combined.
- Gently stir in fruit.
- Pour batter into a greased 9×5 loaf pan.
- Bake until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes.
- Allow to cool before slicing.