I have been living in a small town where farming is still a way of life for many people. My sister works for one of the churches, so I've been connected to a lot of people through her. One of my favorite people is Lowell. Lowell has come to my rescue a number of times. He helped me free a bird stuck in the fireplace. He saved my cat's auto-feeder from an entire army of ants. And he brings us produce almost weekly. For a time, I would reward Lowell with a pie. On his last visit, he informed me that his wife, Carol, would prefer I not send him home with any more pies. Apparently, I've been giving Lowell a weight problem. The two of them are too cute.
Back to the produce though.
Now, when I say "produce," I don't mean a piece or two. I mean I could open a veggie stand after Lowell leaves. His last delivery was a giant bag of carrots. I've been debating how I can possibly put them all to use and decided at least a few could go into a carrot bread. While looking through recipe options, it occurred to me that it would be fun to make a couple and compare. And here we are.
Now, on to the main event!
Contestant #1: Carrot Almond Bread (found on Happy Food Healthy Life - www.happyfoodhealthylife.com)
Our first contestant comes from a blog called Happy Food Healthy Life and is adapted from a recipe that blogger got from an issue of Yoga Journal. For the most part, the instructions are exactly as I found them on the blog, but I have changed a few things and made note. Let's start with the ingredients first:
2.5 cups all-purpose flour (I used self-rising because that's what I had on hand.)
1 TB baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
2 cups shredded carrots
3 large eggs
3/4 cup light brown sugar (I only did about 1/2 cup because I tend to use a little less sugar than recipes call for.)
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted (I used butter because I didn't have coconut oil, but I'd recommend using an oil substitute if you're in the same position.)
1/2 cup applesauce
1 TB vanilla
1 cup chopped almonds (The ones I had were slivers.)
1/2 cup milk or soy milk (I used coconut milk-the kind that's a little sweetened.)
Here's what you do with all these lovely items:
1. Preheat the oven to 325 F. Lightly oil or butter two 9-inch loaf pans. (The original recipe said to use one pan, but it was so full that I made an executive decision to split it between two. You do what you want.)
2. In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Then set aside.
3. In a larger bowl, mix the carrots, eggs, sugar, oil, applesauce, and vanilla until well-blended.
4. Fold in the flour until just combined. Then gently stir in the almonds and milk. Pour into the prepared pan.
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| See how full that looks!? So this is before splitting into two pans. |
It's time for the assessment. This bread is definitely tasty. I thought it would be sweeter, and then remembered I used less brown sugar than what was called for. I would follow the recipe next time around. No penalties for that. It tastes healthy, too. This is a plus. The texture is perfect: just moist enough inside with an almost-crunch on the outside. I had my first slice with butter, which was really nice. I put honey on the second piece to see if the sweetness added anything to the taste experience. It was good, but my sugar shyness has left me with a not-sweet bread for this round. Totally still delicious though.
Points out of 10: I'm going to go with 8.
Tune in tomorrow to see Contestant #2: Old-Fashioned Carrot Bread from the blog One Perfect Bite.
