Quick fruit bread

A few slices of quick bread make for a great quick breakfast, or snack that can be carried out the door. This basic recipe can be modified to use up just about any fruit or baking veg you have on hand. Try the variations suggested below, or come up with your own!

• 3 cups all purpose flour
  
  
• 1 cup sugar (white or brown)
  
  
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
  
  
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
  
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
  
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  
  
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (or melted margarine)
  
  
• 2 eggs
  
  
• 2 cups shredded or mashed produce (see below for suggestions)
  
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350C and grease a loaf pan.
   
   
2. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together in a large bowl.
   
   
3. In a different bowl, mix sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla together. Stir in 2 cups of produce.
   
   
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and mix with a spatula until combined.
   
   
5. Scrape batter into the greased loaf pan, and put in hot oven. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in middle of the loaf comes out clean. Let cool in pan before removing to slice.

• Overmixing the batter will result in a dense, chewy loaf. Make sure to fold the wet ingredients into the dry gently with a spatula, and stir until just combined.
  
  
• This recipe calls for shredded or mashed produce, which will release a lot of juice from the fruit. If you'd like to use diced fruit, or something like whole berries, reduce the amount of flour or add a liquid like milk or juice to increase the moisture.

This recipe will taste great with a variety of fruits and veggies, but it works best with jucier produce like zucchini. apples, or bananas. For drier produce like rhubarb, add a little milk, orange juice, or applesauce to the batter.

Flavour suggestions:

• Chocolate zucchini: replace 1/4 cup of the flour with cocoa powder, and use grated zucchini for the produce
  
  
• Banana nut: use mashed banana for the produce, and add 1/2 cup chopped nuts
  
  
• Apple: use grated apple for the produce
  
  
• Carrot raisin: use grated carrot for the produce, and add 1/2 teaspoon of ginger, and 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg, along with 1/2 cup of raisins.

• Bread can be covered and stored on the counter for 2 days, or in the fridge for up to a week.
  
  
• To freeze, slice bread and wrap individual slices, or groups of slices in 2-3 layers of plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Store in airtight freezer container.

Recipe adapted from the Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee

Food is Too Expensive! was funded by the City of Saskatoon through our Healthy Yards partnership, the Cyril Capling Trust Fund of the College of Agriculture and Bioresources, and the Department of Plant Sciences. Focus group research to inform this work was collected by CHEP. Thank you all for helping us make healthy food more accessible!