Here's my thought process: zucchini bread is delicious. So why wouldn't beet bread be equally delicious?
I scoured the interweb for some beet quickbread recipes, but to my surprise, could not find any. So I took a zucchini bread recipe from epicurious and ran with it. I still can't get over how beautifully color-saturated the batter was, and how all that color dissipated after being cooked. But nonetheless, the bread was delicious! (pictured above with a basic cream cheese-lemon spread, the slightest bit sweetened).
Recipe
Adapted from Epicurious.com's Sweet Potato and Zucchini Bread:
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cups sugar (1.5 would have been better)
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups grated beets (raw)
- 1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
Preheat oven to 350.
Mix together all the dry ingredients (flour through salt) in medium bowl; mix together all the wet ingredients (sugar through vanilla) in a large bowl, then add the beets, then the dry ingredients and then the walnuts.
I cooked them in mini loaves, so it only took 40 minutes. If you're making a big loaf, count up to 80 minutes of bake time (or until a toothpick comes out clean).
As noted in the recipe, next time I'll use a bit more sugar (I cut the amount in 1/2 from the recipe I was following) and I think I might try using zucchini along with the beets because i think it would be pretty... And i have to play around with the spices a bit more... any recommendations are welcome!
Oh so many questions come to mind, but first I want to say that bread looks gorgeous. Now, to the questions: One, what kind of pan is that? Two, when you work with beats, how do you avoid them staining everything? Three, how do you like to roast them?
ReplyDeleteFor my long overdue response:
ReplyDelete1) It's a mini loaf pan! It's great for baked goods distribution to friends...
2) The quick answer- use the grating feature on a cuisinart. Now, I don't have a cuisinart, so I try to just grate directly into the bowl or something- and then wash my hands thoroughly
3) Just as with carrot cake, the beets are added to the batter raw!
Thanks; looks good. I'm gonna bake a batch tomorrow. I was surprised too that not much came up searching for beet quick bread. By the way, the beets lose their bright red color when they interact with baking soda and/or powder. To keep the brightness, I guess you'd have to do a yeasted bread.
ReplyDeleteThis recipe in the NY Times for Beet Cupcakes might be worth looking at: http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/10/now-baking-beyond-red-velvet-cake/
ReplyDeleteI am late getting to this party, but wanted to weigh in. Because we had an excellent crop of beets in the garden this year, I needed to find ways to cook them. This recipe came up in a search for “beet bread” (I am a big fan of fruit/vegetable quick breads). The first time I made it, I followed the recipe exactly (1.5 c sugar) and baked four small loaves. It was excellent! I made a second batch for my grandchildren taking many liberties - GF flour, 1.5 c sugar, subbed applesauce for part of the oil, used grated beets/zucchini/carrot/green apple and craisins (4 c total), no nuts and baked them in big silicone muffin cups for 45 minutes. Kids loved them! Healthy breakfast food. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
ReplyDelete