Friday, July 24, 2009

Fresh Raspberry Quick Bread

After the explosion of fresh, fragrant, utterly perfect strawberries last month, I had nearly (but not quite, of course) exhausted myself of eating them. But now that raspberries are the crop du jour, I find myself replacing the strawberries in my diet with these berries, and the result is just as lovely and yummy.


At the market, I'm able to buy raspberries by the half-flat, and I've been busy adding them to my salads and yogurt, freezing them, and naturally, nibbling upon them throughout the day. The next step is to bake with them, and although I've found lots of pies and parfaits that use raspberries, I wanted to try something a little different; a little like the strawberry muffins I made last month. So, not to divert too much, I put together this recipe for Raspberry Quick Bread. I had seen similar recipes that call for bananas as well, but I wanted only the sweet taste of raspberries. That's precisely what I got with this recipe. The honey complements the raspberries well, but if that seems too sweet still, then the honey can be reduced by a couple of tablespoons. Additionally, the bread is quite moist, which I like but others may not prefer. This can be altered by omitting the milk, and keeping a close eye on the bread through the end of its baking time. And the spelt and garbanzo bean flours can, of course, be replaced with whole wheat or other flours, but I find this combination to be perfect in making this a hearty and fiber-filled quick bread that left me satisfied for hours after eating.

Fresh Raspberry Quick Bread

Ingredients:
1 c. spelt flour
¾ c. garbanzo bean flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. nutmeg
½ c. applesauce
2 eggs, beaten
1 c. honey
1/3 c. milk
2 c. raspberries

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix the applesauce with the eggs and honey.

3. Blend in the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients alternately with the milk. Fold in the raspberries.

4. Bake for 50-60 minutes, careful not to let it burn. Cool on a wire rack.

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