Three Tips for Making Quick Bread Recipes - It Is Fast Becoming an Addiction for a Good Reason

Once you have discovered the wonderful world of trying quick bread recipes, it is likely that you will become addicted to finding more recipes to try.

 Favorite quick bread recipes that you can try include delicious banana bread, apple and walnut bread, mixed berry bread or a pumpkin bread. Or have a go at making some tasty savory recipes like carrot bread or zucchini bread, or a mixed health loaf with fruits and nuts.

 Quick bread, as the word conjures up, refers to bread, both savory and sweet that can be made quickly with minimal fuss. They also vary in texture from having a muffin texture to a crunchier more biscuit like texture.

 The method that I enjoy best when making breads is the muffin method. This is a straightforward approach that allows you to mix ingredients quickly all together with minimal fuss in the kitchen.

 Although making bread is relatively simple and straightforward, there are a few things to watch out for which could make the difference between making a scrumptious one that is a success and one that is mediocre. 

Here are three tips to help you make quick bread successfully:

 Tip No 1 - Whatever you do, Don't Over mix! 

 Over mixing can create several problems, one of which is a tough texture. The other common problem is that over mixing can create tunneling in your bread, due to excessive tightening of the gluten in the mixture. 

Tip No 2 - Substitute Ingredients for the Healthy Conscious 

 Try to substitute ingredients to create a healthy and tasting product. For example, substitute butter with oil. Use dried fruits over fattening ingredients like chocolate, or use less of the fattening ingredients. It will still taste just as healthy, but with fewer calories. 

Tip No 3 - Make Your Own Leaving Agent - It's A Breeze 

 These quick breads use different leavening agents such as baking powder. To avoid having to run to the shops whilst in the midst of cooking your favorite quick bread, have a plentiful supply of baking soda and cream of tartar on hand. Make sure to mix these two ingredients in the right portions to create the perfect leavening agent. The correct portion is to mix two teaspoon of cream of tartar with one teaspoon of baking soda. This will make the equivalent of one tablespoon of baking powder.

 Hope that you have enjoyed these three simple bread making tips for making quick breads at home. It's a definite plus to add quick bread making to your repertoire of cooking skills. Not only that, you can quickly make quick breads as a delicious snack for the whole family to enjoy. BRENDA KING writes all about all things related to bread making at her website Bread Making Tips.

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Chocolate Bread Recipes - Chocolate Buns

There are not too many easy, chocolate bread recipes made in the traditional way with yeast and not with baking powder. If you have an electric mixer with a dough hook, you will have no problems with this recipe. 

Ingredients for this chocolate recipe:

•  1/4 Teaspoonful of salt 

• 2 Envelopes of instant yeast 

• 1/4 Teaspoonful of extract cinnamon 

• 1/2 Cup of Cocoa 

• 4 Cups of flour 

• 1/3 Cup of sugar 

• 2 Tablespoonfuls of butter 

• 1 Egg 

• 1 Cup of very hot milk

•  1/2 Cup of warm water (or as much as is needed to get a dough that can be handled easily)

•  1 Cup of currents 

Method for this chocolate recipe: 

1. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl

2. Melt the butter.

3. Beat the egg.

4. Mix the butter, egg, milk and water to form a soft dough that can be easily handled.

5. Knead the dough for about 1 minute.

6.  Turn onto molding board, roll into a square about an inch in thickness and sprinkle on one-half cup of the currants.

7. Fold the sides to meet the center and then the bottom and top ends to center.

8. Fold as at first, using another one-half cup currants.

9. Cover the bowl with cling wrap and leave in a hot place to rise until it has doubled in size.

10. Knock the dough down.

11. Shape the dough into the required shape for your buns, place them on a greased baking tray, cover and let them rise again until doubled in size.

 12. Pre-heat the oven to 350oF

13. Bake fifteen to twenty minutes.

14.  As you take them from oven, brush the tops of your buns with the white of one egg beaten with one-half cup confectioners' sugar.

15.  Let them stand five minutes.

 16. Now they are ready to serve.

If you want chocolate bread and not buns, you can bake it in a bread pan but you will have to lower the heat to about 325oF after 15 minutes and you will have to bake it for about 1 hour.

 If you feel uncomfortable about the raw egg white, mix the confectioner's sugar with a very small amount of water and use as directed. For the typical rum and raisins flavor you can also add 2 table spoons of rum or 1 teaspoons of rum flavoring. These buns are best served fresh from the oven and they make an ideal treat for a weekend brunch.

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Very Simple Banana Bread Recipe

We all love bananas right? They are a popular and highly nutritious fruit that can be found in pretty much every country around the world. They are the second most exported fruit across the globe after tomatoes, if you can really class them as a fruit in the conventional style. There are hardly any calories in a banana to worry about and they taste delicious, but eating them on their own all the time can get a little boring, even for the biggest banana fans out there.

 With this in mind I thought that I would share a very quick and easy banana bread recipe that I picked up over the weekend when staying with some friends. Trust me you do not need to be a Gordan Ramsay in the kitchen to be able to make this, and I would like to make the point that if I can make it, then anyone can! 

Ingredients for my very simple banana bread recipe 

 So first things first, I am going to list here the ingredients that you are going to need for this very simple banana bread recipe. These are all things that you will likely have in the kitchen, if not they are all easily located at any local store or supermarket.

 * 4 bananas, the riper (or browner) the better

 * 1/3 cup of butter * 1 egg

 * 1 teaspoon of vanilla

 * 1/3 cup of raisins

 * 1 teaspoon of baking soda

 * Sprinkling of salt

 * 3/4 cup of sugar

 * 1 and a half cups of flour


 Utensils needed 


 * Oven * Wooden spoon

 * Cup (to measure your ingredients)

 * A teaspoon

 * A large bowl

 * Fork

 * 4*8 deep loaf pan

 * Cooling rack

 You don't have to include the raisins if you don't like them or don't have any in the kitchen, they are just an additional ingredient that I used to make my easy banana bread recipe that little bit more tasty.

 How to make banana bread 

 So you have all of your ingredients in front of you, now it is time for a very brief explanation to highlight just how easy this banana bread recipe actually is. In fact it should not take you any more than five minutes to prepare the banana bread before popping it in the over for approximately one hour.

 1. Before you get your hands on the ingredients, put the oven on at 175 decrees C, or 350 degrees F, this is to ensure that is has preheated by the time you pop your banana bread mix in it to cook.

 2. Peel the bananas and put them in the bowl and proceed to mash them up with the fork.

 3. Grab your wooden spoon and mix the butter into mashed up banana in the bowl.

 4. Next add the egg and continue to mix, before then adding the raisins, sugar and vanilla, continuing to mix.

 5. While you are still mixing add the salt and the baking soda.

 6. Next add the flour and mix some more.

 7. Butter the pan before pouring/scooping the mixture into it.

 8.Place in the oven for an hour.

 9. Remove from the oven and place on cooling rack 10. Enjoy!


 As you can see this simple banana bread recipe can be achieved in

10 quick and easy steps, by anyone no matter what their level of expertise in the kitchen.


 Calories in banana bread

 If you are somebody who is watching their weight and counting the calories then the number of calories in banana bread may be of interest to you. It is difficult to put an exact number on each slice but I would say that there are approximately 220-240 calories in each slice of banana bread.

 I can also add though that there are various nutritional benefits you can obtain from eating banana bread, with the exact nutrients that it contains listed below:

 * Potassium

 * Iron

 * Calcium

 * Sodium

 * Vitamin A

 * Vitamin C

 * Protein

 I hope that you have found my simple banana bread recipe useful and that you will be giving it a go at home yourself.

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Easy Bread Pudding Recipe - Strawberries and Cream Bread Pudding Recipe

You will love the flavors of this delicious bread pudding featuring fresh strawberries, strawberry preserves and cream. It's very easy to make and great to eat for breakfast or dessert.

2 tablespoons butter, melted

7 slices day old bread, torn into small pieces

3/4 cup fresh strawberries, chopped

3 eggs

1 1/4 cup milk

3/4 cup light cream

1/4 cup strawberry preserves

3/4 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan, using the melted butter.

Place bread cubes into the prepared pie plate.

In a bowl, toss the chopped strawberries and bread together and place into the baking dish.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs, milk, cream, strawberry preserves, sugar and vanilla until frothy. Pour mixture over bread cubes and lightly press down, using a spatula, until bread has absorbed the milk mixture.

Bake 40 to 45 minutes, or until knife inserted in middle comes out clean.

=> Easy Bread Pudding Recipe: Pineapple Bread Pudding Recipe

Here's a different way to utilize the sweet, tropical flavor of pineapple. Try it and you'll be pleasantly surprised.

10 slices white bread

3/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

5 eggs

1 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple, drained

1/4 cup dried raisins

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Whipped cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Grease a 2-1/2 quart baking dish.

Place the bread on a baking sheet. Bake for 4 minutes; turn over and bake another 4 minutes, or until bread turns a very light brown color. Cut the toasted bread into 1-inch cubes. Toss bread cubes into the melted butter; set aside.

In a bowl, beat the eggs until thick and lemon colored. Add the pineapple, raisins, sugar and vanilla; mix completely. Fold in the toasted bread cubes. Pour mixture into baking dish. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30- to 35 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Serve warm with whipped cream.

=> Free Bread Pudding Recipe: Coconut Bread Pudding Recipe

This bread pudding is for those who love the taste of coconut. Day old French bread is drenched in coconut milk, coconut flakes, sugar and spices. You can add a little pineapple to create the ultimate pina colada bread pudding.

2 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup confectioners' sugar

1 cup white sugar

4 eggs

1 egg yolk

2 (14 oz.) cans coconut milk

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons coconut extract

1 1/2 cups flaked coconut, divided

1/2 cup fresh coconut

1 loaf French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Butter a 9x13-inch baking dish and dust with confectioners' sugar.

In a large bowl, combine the sugar, eggs, egg yolk, coconut milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and coconut extract; mix until smooth. Sir in 1 cup of the flaked coconut.

Fold in the bread cubes and mix thoroughly. Pour into prepared baking dish. Set aside for 30 minutes.

Bake on top of a cookie sheet for 25 minutes. Sprinkle the top with the remaining 1/2 cup of flaked coconut. Continue baking for 25 to 30 minutes, or until knife inserted in middle comes out clean.

=> Free Bread Pudding Recipe: Meatball Bread Pudding Recipe

Now for something a little different. Here is a bread pudding recipe that you can make as a main meal for dinner. It features tasty meatballs, tomatoes, spices and two kinds of cheeses. It's a delicious addition to your dinner menu.

1 pound ground beef

3/4 cup chopped onion

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/4 cup red wine

1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes, drained

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon sea salt

3 eggs

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/3 cup half and half cream

8 slices day old bread, cubed

1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth

1/4 cup Romano cheese, grated

1/4 cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Set aside a 2-quart casserole dish.

Crumble the ground beef into a large skillet and cook over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic; cook and stir until beef is evenly browned. Drain off the excess fat.

Stir in the red wine, tomatoes, oregano, red pepper and sea salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 20 minutes.

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown sugar and half and half cream. Place the bread cubes into the casserole dish. Pour in the egg mixture and chicken stock. Mix in the ground beef mixture. Mix well until bread cubes are completely saturated. Sprinkle half of the Romano and Mozzarella cheese on top.

Bake for 40 minutes, or until the top is a golden brown color and the center is set. Sprinkle remaining cheeses on top and serve.

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