Old-Fashioned Carrot Bread

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This is a lovely old-fashioned tea cake. It has its roots in the kitchens of Eastern Europe, and those of you who grew up in ethnic neighborhoods probably enjoyed a variant of this sweet bread when you were a child. While its rough appearance leaves much to be desired, I wanted to share this simple recipe with those of you who need such loaves for morning meetings or afternoon teas. Its taste will more than make up for its homely appearance, and the ease with which it comes together almost guarantees it a spot in your repertoire. The loaf can be made with a bowl and wooden spoon and the only other equipment you will need is a box grater to shred the carrots. The bread is moist and dense and keeps exceptionally well. If you want to make it a bit more fancy, raisins and shredded coconut can also be added to the batter. I do hope you'll give the bread a try. Here is how it is made.

Old-Fashioned Carrot Bread...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of the Chicago Tribune

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup nuts, chopped
1 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 cups carrot, grated
3 eggs

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.
1) Whisk flour, soda, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in center of flour mixture.
2) Add nuts, oil, vanilla, sugar, carrots and eggs. Mix well.
3) Scrape into prepared loaf pan. Let stand 30 minutes before baking.
4. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes. Coll in pan for 15 minutes. Turn bread out of pan and continue cooling om a wire rack. Yield: 8 servings.

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Pie-Spiced Apple Cookies

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...These moist and chewy cookies are hard to resist if you enjoy apple pie. They are packed with fruit and nuts and flavored with the same spices as America's favorite pie. They are wonderfully fragrant and even smell like apple pie as they bake. The recipe first appeared on the blog The Naptime Chef and it has also been featured on food52. I'm not sure the cookies will be a favorite of the cookie-jar set, but if you enjoy an adult biscuit with your coffee or tea, these are definitely worth trying. The cookies are delicious and simple to make, but I suspect you'll need to bake them for a few minutes longer than is suggested in the recipe. My cookies needed a full 15 minutes to set and brown. You might also want to cutback on the amount of cloves used in the recipe. I used the full amount for my first batch of cookies and thought it was a bit overpowering. I cut the measure in half for the next batch and was much happier with the results. I  also added mace and ginger to the dry ingredients to bolster the reduced quantity of cloves.  I suspect that a commercial pie spice mixture would also work well here. This is a homely cookie that makes no pretense to be something it is not, but I can promise you that its flavor will trump its gnarly appearance. I hope you'll give the recipe a try. Here's how the cookies are made.

Pie-Spiced Apple Cookies...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Katie Sanford as featured on The Naptime Chef and food52

Ingredients:
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup shortening
1-1/3 cups dark brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup whole milk
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup unpeeled apple, finely chopped

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie or sheet cake pans with parchment paper.
2) Place raisins in a small saucepan. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
3) Combine shortening and brown sugar in bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat until fully combined. Beat in egg and milk. sugar until full combined. Add egg and milk and mix ingredients well.
4) Whisk flour, soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt together in another bowl. With mixer on low speed, slowly add dry ingredients, scraping bowl necessary, until everything is fully combined.
5) Stir chopped apple, raisins and walnuts into batter with a wooden spoon.
6) Drop cookies by rounded teaspoonfuls about 2-inches apart onto cookie sheets. Press tops of cookies down slightly with two fingers to flatten slightly.
7) Bake for 12-14 minutes or until cookies hold their shape and edges are slightly browned. Yield: 3 dozen cookies.

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Two Years Ago Today: Glazed Boston Cream Cake

Three Years Ago Today: Zucchini Cornbread

Orange Glazed Banana Nut Bread

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I love it when voyages of discovery in the kitchen lead me to something that is new, different and delicious. With the little ones here, I've had to deal with an amazing number of bananas at various stages of brown and nasty decay. As you've probably guessed, I've made an assortment of muffins, cakes and bread to prevent them from becoming fodder for the compost pile. Now, I'll grant you that there is nothing new about banana bread, but the orange and nut glaze that tops this one takes it out of the "same ole, same ole" category and puts it in a league of its very own. This simple confection, actually more like a cake than a bread, takes all of 15 minutes to prepare, and I promise those of you who try the recipe will consider it time well spent. The glaze, which would work well with pound cake or other plain quick breads, is a stunner, pure and simple. Not only did it have my socks going up and down, my kitchen assistant, a certain four year old who will leave here with my heart in his hands, had those hands full with a fat slice of the cake he got to glaze when he gave the ultimate review. "Deeelicious". I also got a kiss. Now I don't often get kisses for my banana bread and I must say it was a lovely reward. I suggest you give this one a try. Here's the recipe.

Orange Glazed Banana Nut Bread...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Beverly Sprague

Ingredients:
Bread
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 package (8-oz.) cream cheese, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1-1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 4 medium)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans, divided
Glaze
1 cup confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon grated orange peel

Directions:
1) Grease two 8-in.x 4-in. loaf pans. Line bottom of pans with parchment paper; grease paper. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2) Cream butter, cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in bananas and vanilla.
3) Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in another bowl; gradually add to creamed mixture. Fold in reserved 1 cup pecans.
4) Scrape batter into prepared pans. Sprinkle with remaining nuts. Bake for 1 to 1-1/4 hours or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.
5) In a small bowl, whisk glaze ingredients; drizzle over loaves. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Yield: 2 loaves (12 slices each).







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Peanut Butter Banana Bread - Sweet and Savory Tooth
Almost Vegan Banana Bread - Deelicious Sweets
Ultimate Banana Bread - Good Times and Good Food