Category: Quick Breads

Hearty Harvest Autumn Bread

Amanda Jane2 Comments

The perfect blend of banana bread, zucchini bread, and carrot cake; a simple taste of fall in a slice of bread!

It’s finally beginning to feel like fall! The weather is getting colder, days are getting shorter, the holiday season is here! Have you ever thought about combining your favorite fall flavors? My Hearty Harvest Autumn Bread is the perfect blend of banana bread, zucchini bread, and carrot cake. The loaf is super airy, moist, and delicious. The flavors all compliment each other very well, and the cinnamon pulls all the flavors together perfectly! This bread will be a crowd favorite!

Shout out to my non-pumpkin lovers because this recipe is perfect for you. My family is a big apple and banana-loving family, so our normal go to’s are my Dad’s Apple Pecan Crumb Bread or my Brunching Banana Muffins. I wanted to try something different this fall, but it’s so hard to find recipes without apples or pumpkins! This bread was the perfect idea from Shelly at Cookies and Cups!

This bread is so simple to make, anyone can do it! The recipe will make 2 loaves, or you can make one loaf and 6 muffins. I personally like to make the one loaf and 6 muffins so I could share the muffins with my neighbors and share the loaf with my family. However, you can choose which combination works best for you. I wouldn’t suggest combining everything into one loaf, though, because the batter will rise over and out of the pan.

Begin by preparing your 9×5 loaf pan(s) and/or cupcake tins. Grease the loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment paper, leaving an overhang over the sides for easy removal, and line the cupcake tins with cupcake liners. To begin, I like to mash my banana and shred my zucchini and carrot to set aside. Then, in a large bowl combine the sugar, oil, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and baking powder until just combined. Next, fold in the flour, mashed banana, shredded zucchini and carrot, and chopped pecans until just combined. Make sure to not over mix the batter or the loaf will be tough and dry. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan(s) and/or cupcake liners. Bake the cupcakes for 20-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Bake the loaf for 45-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Keep an eye on the loaf during baking and cover with foil if the top becomes too dark to preserve the beautiful golden brown top.

This loaf can be served warm or at room temperature, for breakfast, or for dessert! Store in an air-tight, sealed container and enjoy! I would love to see your Hearty Harvest Autumn Bread creation! Tag me on Instagram @beyondbakingwithamandajane and use the #beyondbakingwithamandajane with your pictures!

Hearty Harvest Autumn Bread

  • Servings: 2 loaves or 1 loaf and 6 muffins
  • Rating: ★★★★★
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Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup banana, mashed (about 1 medium size banana)
  • 1 cup zucchini, shredded (about 1 medium size zucchini)
  • 1/2 cup carrot, shredded (about 1 medium size carrot)
  • 1 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup chopped pecans

Directions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F and grease 2-9×5 loaf pans and line with parchment paper leaving excess hanging over the edge (or grease and line 1 loaf pan and line 6 muffin tins).
  2. Mash the banana and shred the zucchini and carrot. Set aside.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the sugar, oil, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and baking powder until combined.
  4. Fold in the flour, banana, zucchini, carrot, and chopped pecans until just combined, being careful not to over mix.
  5. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake loaves for 45-60 minutes (if the top begins to brown too much, finish baking with a piece of foil covering the bread), and bake the muffins for 20-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs. Let cool on a wire rack.

Taste tested by friends and family with love.

Quick and Easy Irish Soda Bread

Amanda Jane4 Comments

Soft, hearty, and moist Irish Soda Bread with the perfect sweet and crunchy crust.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! This year St. Patrick’s Day is going to be a little different with the pandemic, but that can’t stop me from eating my special Irish Soda Bread! I do have to admit that Irish Soda Bread is a year-round bread for me though, I just love it so much! I can literally eat a whole loaf on my own in a single sitting!

Growing up, my mom used to get Irish Soda Bread from a bunch of different places near our house around St. Patty’s. I’ve always been super picky with my Irish Soda Breads. No store bought or any bakery had the Irish Soda Bread that I really really loved. If I had to choose, my favorite was from Shoprite, but it had to be freshly made or the crust wouldn’t have that characteristic crunch to it. Some loaves were too dry, some used caraway seeds, and some were flavorless. And more importantly, they all had raisins, and I am not a huge fan of them. I would sit down at the counter, unwittingly preparing myself to eat the whole loaf, but I would spend more time picking out every single raisin than actually eating the bread (which is a good and bad thing)! I knew I could make a better loaf, plus, I could choose if I wanted to add raisins or not!

Irish soda bread is traditionally made with four ingredients: flour, salt, baking soda, and sour milk (what we know as buttermilk). Traditional yeast was not always available, so when baking soda was introduced in Ireland, they used this to make their bread. The combination of baking soda and buttermilk creates little air bubbles in the oven which will enable the bread to rise. It is important to have the buttermilk in this recipe as its acidic properties will enable the baking soda to do its job as a leavener.

After years of trying to create the perfect recipe, I have finally got it down, and it finally satisfies all the criteria I have for the perfect Irish Soda Bread. It is flavorful, moist, hearty, and has an amazing sweet crunch to the crust. It is also a huge hit with my family especially as an appetizer at our family gathering (before COVID-19, of course). This recipe is super easy to make too! There’s nothing not to love about it! The most important thing to remember while making the bread is to not over mix. If you over mix by even just a little, the bread will be dry and tough.

Begin by mixing all of the dry ingredients together. Using a pastry blender or two sharp knives, cut in a stick of cold butter into the dry ingredients until very small pieces of butter are evenly distributed throughout. This will make the bread have a flakier crust and texture. Next, add in the raisins, if desired, and for my chocolate lovers, you can add chocolate chips instead! Mix until well combined. Then, whisk the buttermilk and eggs together in a small bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the rest of the ingredients. Mix with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms and everything is just combined. Do not over mix! Divide the dough in two, and place each half into two-8-inch greased cake pans. Using a sharp knife, cut a 1/4-inch deep cross across the top of each loaf. Sprinkle with a little granulated sugar for a sweet crunchy crust. Bake until golden for 60 minutes.

This bread also freezes very well. Once completely cooled, cut the bread into desired size. Wrap well with aluminum foil, and place in a large zip lock bag to freeze. Now, whenever you want a warm and delicious slice of Irish Soda Bread, you can always toast one up! I love to bring back a loaf (of two) from home to freeze when I am at college because warm Irish Soda Bread is the best late-night studying snack there is. I would make a loaf with raisins to leave at home for my family to enjoy, and I would bring the plain loaf back to school with me. It’s the best of both worlds!

I would love to see you make my favorite and delicious Irish Soda Bread! Tag me in your pictures on Instagram @beyondbakingwithamandajane and use the #beyondbakingwithamandajane! I can’t wait to see your creations!

Quick and Easy Irish Soda Bread

  • Rating: ★★★★★
  • Print

Ingredients

  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup butter, cold
  • 1 1/4 cup buttermilk
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup raisins (optional)
  • 1 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease 2-8in cake pans.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  3. Cut in cold butter until small pieces with a pastry blender, or two sharp knives.
  4. Add raisins or chocolate chips, if desired.
  5. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk and eggs. Add to the dry ingredients, and mix with wooden spoon until just combined.
  6. Divide the dough in two. Using a sharp knife, cut a 1/4-inch cross across the top of the dough balls. Sprinkle sugar on top.
  7. Bake for 1 hour. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.

Taste tested with love by friends and family.