Quick Fruit and Nut Bread

This is the first bread that I made and I am so pleased it turned out to be like the pretty picture in the glossy Food magazine! See!?!





One day, I was browsing through my old issues of the Food magazine and I came across this topic about making Quick Breads. Accordingly, these quick breads are easy to make They rise with the help of baking powder and baking soda and they do not have to undergo the long fermentation process needed when making yeast-based breads. This seems to be the perfect way to make breads for people like me who do not really look forward to kneading doughs, waiting for them to rise, punching down the doughs and all those other long tedious preparations called for by yeast-based breads.

I was also looking forward to filling my house the smell of freshly baked bread from my kitchen! Wouldn't it be nice to surprise hubby when he comes home from work?

Since I was so excited to bake one immediately, I had to make some recipe substitution again and used what i have in my pantry. The original recipe called for walnuts. I substituted with roasted cashew nuts. The original recipe asked for dates, and I only had sultanas.

Does the finished product taste as good as it looks? Well, it tastes like bread! Yummy when eaten warm with a (thin) slab of butter. One thing though, since we did not use yeast, this bread is not as fluffy and soft as pan de sal and other yeast-based breads. But still, it is worth baking your own quick bread since it is quite an easy process, and you will be sure you family will be eating fresh, clean, quality breads free fom preservatives and additives.

2 C all-purpose flour
1/3 C brown sugar
2 t baking powder
3/4 t salt
1/2 t nutmeg or cinnamon, optional ( I used cinnamon)
1 egg
1 C milk
3 T melted butter, cooled
1/2 C Coarsely chopped walnuts ( I substituted Cashew nuts)
1/2 C Dates ( I substituted sultanas raisins)

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8" x 4" or similar size loaf pan. On a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg or cinnamon. Set aside.

2. In a small bowl, beat egg until lemon-colored. Add milk and melted butter. Beat until well-combined.

3. Stir liquid mixture into the flour mixture. Blend until well mixed. Fold in nuts and raisins. Place dough in loaf pan and bake for about 30 minutes or until to is golden.