Woo-hoo!
It’s the first Friday on the new nom! nom! nom! and do you know what that means? Of course you don’t, it’s the first one! Let it be known across the land that Fridays shall now be known as the day we showcase our Treat of the Week. Huzzah!
I’m not a huge fan of food that masquerades as something that it’s not. For example, “muffins” that have equal proportions of sugar and flour and feature frosting on top. That’s not a muffin, it’s a cupcake! But then the idea of carrot cake for breakfast sneaked up on me… but I just couldn’t.
But it got me thinking… what if I could accomplish the same flavor profile with more health and less sugar? I could have my cake and eat it, too.
Carrot Cake Bread
1 3/4 cups flour (all-purpose or white whole wheat)
3/4 cup quick-cooking or traditional oatmeal, uncooked
1/3 cup organic granulated sugar
2 teas. cinnamon
2 teas. baking powder
1/2 teas. baking soda
1/2 teas. ground ginger
1/4 teas. salt
1/8 teas. nutmeg
1 1/2 cups milk of choice
1/4 cup oil
2 tbsp. applesauce
1/2 teas. vanilla
1 cup shredded carrots
1/3 cup walnuts
1/3 cup raisins
soy cream cheese (optional)
agave (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease a 9×5 loaf pan.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, oats, sugar, spices, baking powder, soda and salt. In a large bowl, combine the milk, oil, applesauce and vanilla. In batches, combine the dry with the wet until almost incorporated. Gently mix in the carrots, raisins and nuts until just mixed. Gently spread the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 1 hour or until loaf is tall and golden and a toothpick comes out of the center of the loaf clean. Let cool in pan, on cooling rack, for 45 minutes before loosening, inverting and allowing to cool on pan rest of the way. Store leftover bread covered at room temperature.
Serve slices warm with a smear of cream cheese and drizzle of agave.
Yields: 10 slices
12 Responses to treat of the week: carrot cake bread
Featured Friends of nom!
It’s here!
This looks so good, I’m bookmarking it so I can make it soon. Also I love the idea of treat of the week!
Everyone needs a treat of the week!
A carrot cake bread – yum! It’s the perfect treat to inaugurate that series.
Thanks, Josiane!
Huzzah is right–yay for Fridays! This looks great
Courtney
How can Fridays get better? I mean, they are Fridays and there are treats!
Oh yeah, I am totally all over this. My boyfriend just told me I needed to start making more bread and while I’m not sure this is what he meant, I doubt he’ll argue. And if he does, I’ll just eat this all myself. I love carrot cake but am so much happier with a less sweetened version! Thanks!
I am a huge carrot cake fan and this really hits the spot! I think you’ll love it, especially because you can eat it more simply and plain or dress it up more to make it more cake-like.
I love your bread recipes! This one really took the (I’m really going there) carrot cake. Took it to a party, and it was well liked, except by the nut-haters. Recently got your book and now am following the new recipes on your blog with baited breath.
Thank you so much Kate!
Ah, those crazy nut-haters… they can be converted, my husband used to be one.
I just took it out the oven. I made a few changes, unbleached bread flour, replaced the oil with applesauce. It was very pretty and colorful, the other replacement was cranraisins. I use what’s in the house. It was good, I added the vegan cream cheese. I am very pleased.
This bread looks great! Going to try it out now – I’ll be sure to post a link to your recipe