Golden Breakfast Bread

Golden Breakfast Bread

The first time I tried this bread I fell in love. It is a twist on a classic lemon loaf and it is refined sugar free! It has classic hints of lemon and orange, sweet pineapple, golden raisins, and warm spices that’ll have you wondering why you never thought of this before.

Preparation time: 30 hours
Baking time: 1.25 hours
Yields: 1 loaf
Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup avocado oil or melted coconut oil

• 1/2 cup agave, maple syrup, or honey (agave is most cost effective)

• 2 eggs

• splash of vanilla

• zest of one orange and one lemon

• juice of one orange (use the one you zested! should yield about 1/4 cup)

• 1 can (8 oz.) crushed pineapple, with liquid strained out (check that there is no added sugar!)

• 2 cups shredded carrots

• 3/4 cup Unbleached All Purpose Flour; properly measured!

• 1 cup Whole Wheat Flour; properly measured!

• .5 tsp baking powder

• 1.5 tsp baking soda

• 1 tsp kosher or sea salt

• spices to taste: cinnamon, ginger, clove, nutmeg, cardamom (use your tastes! I like to do anywhere from 1/8 tsp to 1 tsp of each)

• 1/2 cup golden raisins

• 1/4 cup roughly chopped pecans

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. In a medium bowl, whisk the oil, agave, eggs, and vanilla.
2. To the bowl with the wet ingredients, add the orange and lemon zest, orange juice, shredded carrots, and can of pineapple and stir until combined.
3. To a separate large bowl, add all of the dry ingredients besides the raisins and pecans. Give it a good stir.
4. To the large bowl with the dry ingredients, add all of the wet ingredients.

5. Fold these mixtures together gently with a spatula/scraper. Overmixing the dough will make a tough and stodgy bread. Only mix until the flour is halfway mixed. Go onto step 6.

6. Add in the raisins and the pecans and gently mix until combined.
7. Pour the batter into a greased pan and bake the bread for 35 minutes.

8. After 35 minutes, put a piece of foil on top of the bread to prevent to top from browning too much.

9. Bake for about 35 more minutes, or until a skewer or knife can be inserted and come out clean. The baking process should take about an hour total, possibly an hour and 15 minutes depending on your oven.

10. Let cool in the pan before cutting and serving. Enjoy with a bit of butter and an extra sprinkle of cinnamon!

Notes:

You can easily substitute the white flour for whole wheat to make a fully whole wheat batter. I think the mix of the two lends a more traditional bread texture.

Try subbing the raisins for chopped dried figs, dried cranberries, or apricots!