Carrot Chocolate Chip Loaf

Fresh carrots from the garden are one of my favourite vegetables with dinner. They are a versatile and colorful side dish when diced and added to zucchini, corn, peas or shredded into a salad with greens. This recipe incorporates carrots into healthy and tasty dessert breads. Sugar and spice and everything nice are part of this loaf; excellent with a cup of tea or to go into the children’s lunches. You can substitute raisins for the chocolate chips if you prefer to avoid chocolate.

3 cups/750 ml all-purpose flour

2 cups/500 ml brown sugar, packed

1 tsp. /5 ml ground cinnamon

1 tsp. /5 ml ground ginger

½ tsp. /2 ml ground cloves

2 tsp. /10 ml baking powder

1 tsp. /5 ml baking soda

1 tsp. /5 ml salt

3 eggs

¾ cup/180 ml orange juice

¾ cup/180 ml vegetable oil

1 tsp. /5 ml vanilla

2 cups/500 ml grated carrots

1 cup/250 ml chocolate chips (or raisins)

Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Grease two large or four small loaf pans.

In a large bowl, combine the first nine ingredients. In a small bowl, beat the eggs, orange juice, oil and vanilla. Stir the liquid into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in the grated carrots and chocolate chips. Scoop the batter into prepared loaf pans.

Bake for 50 – 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack. (Glaze with a thin icing is optional) Enjoy!

Lemon Loaf

Lemon is a refreshing aroma and taste of the season.

Finding a good recipe using lemon the flavor takes patience and means often making many samples. Sometimes the origin of a good recipe may be a decrepit piece of scrap paper, battered, splattered and stained. Or it could be found in a repertoire of Martha Stewart’s array of cookbooks and magazines. I stumbled upon this one in one of my many cookbooks.

This Lemon Loaf is a favorite of our family; the pungent aroma and taste of fresh lemons delight the palate.

Baking the batter in four small pans instead of two large ones allows us to enjoy fresh loaves from the freezer on an ongoing basis. These smaller loaves make an excellent hostess gift for those of us who don’t bake and they can be used as a sweet treat at teatime.

Although, I normally use only butter in most of my baking, I do look for ways to make desserts lighter. Yogurt mixed with vegetable oil makes a healthy moist product and you don’t even need an electric mixer to make this loaf. As they cool on the wire baking rack, glaze them with sweetened fresh lemon juice. After removing them from the pans, drizzle thin lemon icing over the loaves. This final touch makes them almost too good looking to cut into. This recipe is not in the cookbook - From Oma's Kitchen.

3 cups/ 750ml regular flour

4 tsp/ 20ml baking powder

1 tsp / 5ml salt

2 cups/ 500ml plain vanilla yogurt

2 cups/ 500ml sugar

6 large eggs

1 Tbsp/ 15ml grated lemon zest (~ 2 lemons)

1 tsp/ 5ml pure vanilla extract

1 cup/ 250ml vegetable oil

……

Glaze: 1/3 cup/ 75ml lemon juice, freshly squeezed

1/3 cup/ 75ml sugar

……

Thin Icing: 1 cup/ 250ml icing sugar

3 Tbsp/ 45ml lemon juice

Method: Preheat oven to 350F/ 180C.

Grease 4 small or 2 large loaf pans.

Into a medium sized bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Into a large bowl, whisk together yogurt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest and vanilla. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ones. With a spatula, fold vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it is all incorporated. (Be patient, it will become smooth) Pour batter into prepared pans and bake 45-50 min. or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. For large loaves, increase baking time.

Glaze: Microwave sugar and lemon juice together until sugar is dissolved. When loaves come out of oven, pour glaze over them.

Let stand for 10-15 minutes, remove from pans.

Combine icing sugar and lemon juice, pour over warm loaves.

Enjoy!!! These loaves freeze well.

Triple Chocolate Loaves

Made in four small loaf pans, these loaves make wonderful hostess gifts when wrapped in pretty colored foil or placed in a small tin. This recipe is not in the From Oma's Kitchen Cookbook.

½ cup/ 125ml butter, softened

1 cup/ 250ml brown sugar

3 eggs

1 cup/ 250ml chocolate chips, melted

2 cups/ 500ml applesauce

2 tsp/ 10ml vanilla

3 cups/ 750ml all-purpose flour

1 tsp/ 5ml baking powder

1 tsp/ 5ml baking soda

1 tsp/ 5ml salt

¾ cup/ 180ml chocolate chips

Glaze: ½ cup/ 125ml chocolate chips

2 Tbsp/ 30ml butter

1 tsp/ 5ml corn syrup

½ tsp/ 2ml vanilla or peppermint extract

Pinch salt

Preheat oven 350F/ 180C.

Grease four small loaf pans.

In the mixer, cream butter with sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Add melted chocolate; mix well. Add applesauce and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder, soda and salt; add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Spoon batter into greased loaf pans. Bake for 35 – 40 min. or until toothpick inserted into center of loaf comes out clean. Cool on rack for 10 – 15 min. Remove and glaze when still warm.

For glaze: Melt chocolate chips, syrup and butter in microwave. Add vanilla and salt. Drizzle over loaves. Cool completely before cutting. Enjoy!