I am a dirty, dirty liar.

This was a recipe that I had attempted to write several months back.  And failed.   I think it was the pumpkin bread recipes that threw me for a loop.  Most other quickbreads follow the same general recipe, but canned pumpkin throws things off a little.  Anyway, I don't believe I've ever seen a universal quickbread recipe, which is silly, because there ought to be one.  Somewhere.

This really should be tested a dozen times before going in the cookbook, but that's just not going to happen.

This evening's apple bread came out a bit (burp) gooey.  But oh so good.

Banana Bread, Apple Bread, Zucchini Bread, etc.

“Quick bread” is a fluffy sort of bread or cake that uses baking powder or baking soda to quickly make the batter “rise” or puff up as it cooks, as opposed to the yeast in regular bread, which takes a much longer time to generate the gas that makes the bread rise. Banana bread, apple cake, and zucchini bread are just a few of the quick breads that all follow the same basic recipe. These breads can be eaten as a dessert, or for breakfast.

This makes enough to fill one 8 x 4 inch loaf pan. These are the “dry” ingredients:

1 ¼ cup whole wheat flour

½ tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon, or any other Pumpkin Pie spice (1.05)

These are the “wet” ingredients:

1 egg

1 cup brown or white sugar

1/3 cup oil or melted butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 ½ cup chopped, grated, or mashed fruit

Optional ingredients:

½ cup of chopped nuts or chopped dried fruit

If making banana bread, squishy over-ripe bananas are ideal – bananas that are so brown nobody would eat them. You can save such bananas in the freezer until you have time to cook banana bread. Apples can be peeled and diced into small pieces, or, more conveniently, can be grated, skin and all, just like zucchini. You can also use this recipe to make pumpkin bread, using fresh, grated pumpkin. Or, use ½ of a 15-ounce can of pumpkin. Other unusual fruits or vegetables may work as well. Try an interesting combination, such as pineapple and beet!

Start by preheating the oven to 325 degrees. Rub butter or oil inside of the loaf pan, and then sprinkle the greased surface with flour.

In a mixing bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients, mixing thoroughly. In another bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Then pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture, and stir just until the batter is almost free of dry lumps. Then stop mixing! The finished product will not be as good if you stir too much.

Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake it at once. The bread will need to cook for about 70 minutes. Stick a sharp knife (or toothpick) into the bread to see if it is done: the knife will come out clean when the inside of the bread is fully cooked.