A quick & easy bread featuring seasonal ingredients & tastes like the holidays!
Hello from Indiana!
It’s the 22nd of November, which meannssss it’s time for the Recipe Redux post. This month’s theme, “Creative Quick Breads,” has a personal story attached to it.
Growing up in rural Ohio, I was involved in 4-H from elementary school through high school and each year I took at least one cooking project. For those not familiar with 4-H, it’s a youth development & mentoring organization part of the Cooperative Extension System of land-grant universities. Being involved with 4-H certainly helped steer me towards the path of dietetics. I can recall the food pyramid [pre-ChooseMyPlate days] at the front of each project book with a short lesson on food groups and serving sizes, and when it was time for 4-H project judging, we were tested on what we learned from the lessons in addition to whatever we had prepared for judging.
Okay, so now how this is actually all connected to quick breads. When I was 15, I decided to do quick breads for my 4-H project and when it came time for judging before the local fair, I made the Strawberry Bread from the book. I won a blue ribbon that year at the fair! You can see from this picture, the book has been put to good use. I’ve made a couple of tweaks to the recipe over the years to help reduce the fat, but this will always be one of my favorite quick bread recipes. Baking always brings back happy memories…..do you have a favorite baked good or one rich with memories?
Here’s my 4-H project book from that year, and you can probably tell the Strawberry Bread recipe page has seen some spills over the years 🙂
Alas, strawberries are not in season, but ’tis the season for sweet potatoes and pomegranates! I can’t get enough of poms right now. I’ve been throwing them into everything….oatmeal, parfaits, on top of roasted squash, this cocktail, and now this bread. If you buy a whole pomegranate and use the water bath method to de-seed it, just be sure to place them on a paper towel and pat dry before mixing it into the batter.
This bread tastes similar to gingerbread, but not as overpowering, which makes it perfect for the holidays and/or gift-giving! I thought the bread had more flavor after it set for a day, so if you can make it a day ahead of using or giving to a friend, even better!
[bctt tweet=”Give the #holiday gift of baked goods like this Sweet Potato Molasses Bread! #thereciperedux”]
Sweet Potato Molasses Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour sifted
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ginger powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sweet potato puree
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 1/2 tablespoons molasses
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
Instructions
- 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and lightly grease a 9x5 loaf pan [I use butter to coat mine].
- 2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger powder, and salt. Sift together or use a whisk to combine.
- 3. In a separate bowl, combine sweet potato puree with the granulated sugar and the brown sugar. Mix well. Add the Greek yogurt, molasses, and vanilla extract and stir to combine.
- 4. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and mix just until combined. Add pomegranate seeds and stir. Pour the batter into the loaf pan.
- 5. Place pan on middle oven rack and bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before running a knife along the edges and gently flipping bread out of the pan and onto a wire cooling rack. Allow bread to cool completely before slicing.
Nutrition
I like sipping on a cup of Tazo® mint tea while enjoying a slice of this Sweet Potato Molasses bread and an over-easy egg for breakfast. Ahhh…these are wonderful moments.
For more quick bread recipes, click through the gallery below!
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