Baking Bread is Not-So-Scary

I've always had glorious dreams that one day I would bake all of my bread from scratch and never buy the grocery store stuff. I promised Jeff that way in the future, when I'm a stay-at-home mommy and all, I'll bake bread for our family and our kids will take the homemade stuff to school with their PB&J.

But the thought of waiting until then was just unbearable, and I've somehow managed to find some time in the last couple of weeks to bake a few loaves. I started with the easy-quick-bread-no-yeast-required kind (because OMG yeast breads are intimidating!!).

Spiced Applesauce Bread (because we had a TON of applesauce left over from Jeff's wisdom teeth surgery):

Recipe adapted from here.

1 1/2 cups cinnamon applesauce
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
3 tablespoons milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine the applesauce, sugar, oil, eggs and milk; beat well. Sift in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and salt; stir until smooth. Fold in the pecans. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon (this will give it a nice sweet crust).
3. Bake in preheated oven for 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean.

Honey Oat Quick Bread:

Recipe adapted from here.


1 cup plus 2 tablespoons old-fashioned oats (not the instant kind!)
2 1/3 cups white whole-wheat flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
8 ounces plain yogurt
1 large egg
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup clover honey, or other mild honey
3/4 cup milk 


Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray a 9x5 loaf pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon oats in the pan. Tip the pan back and forth to coat the sides and bottom with oats.

Stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Using a fork, beat the remaining 1 cup oats, yogurt, egg, oil and honey in a medium bowl until well blended. Stir in milk. Gently stir the yogurt mixture into the flour mixture just until thoroughly incorporated but not overmixed (don't overmix or the bread will be tough). Scrape the batter into the pan, spreading evenly to the edges. Sprinkle the remaining 1 tablespoon oats over the top.

Bake the loaf until well browned on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. (It’s normal for the top to crack.) Let stand in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a table knife around and under the loaf to loosen it and turn it out onto the rack. Let cool until barely warm, about 45 minutes.

Stay tuned for my first ever attempt at yeast and rising and such!