Just Peachy

The days are likely numbered for the fresh peaches of summer. But my hometown grocery store still has peaches on sale this week, so it's not too late to try this spicy quick bread. I made it to share over Labor Day weekend at Jill's and Eric's house.

Select ripe peaches for this bread. And, if they aren't quite ripe, leave them on the kitchen counter for a few days until the peach flesh yields to a soft squeeze. The most time-consuming part of the bread is chopping the peaches and grating the carrots. But it's worth the effort. A time saving hint: Use the shredder/grater blade on your food processor to shred the carrots. (Thanks to Jill, Eric & Brent for replacing my worn-out food processor for Mother's Day!)

Hurry! Soon, the fruits of summer will be gone for another year. Yep, that makes me sad, too.

Spiced Peach and Carrot Bread

from Kitchen Meets Girl blog

2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 1/2 cups peeled and chopped fresh peaches
3/4 cup grated carrots
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup white chocolate chips and/or pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Add peaches, carrots, oil, milk and eggs, stirring until just moistened. If desired, add white chocolate and/or pecans (see recipe note below).

Spoon batter into a greased 9- by 5-inch loaf pan (or use smaller pans for mini loaves). Bake the 9- by 5-inch loaf for approximately 65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove bread from pan and allow to cool completely.

Recipe Notes

•  Since I was making this bread to take to Jill's and Eric's house and Jill doesn't like nuts in quick breads, I didn't add the white chocolate and pecans to the batter. Instead, I sprinkled them on some of the mini loaves and left others plain.

This shows both versions. On the left side of the cutting board, it's the bread I sprinkled with white chocolate and chopped pecans. On the right, I left it unadorned.

• I doubled the recipe so I had bread to share and bread to put in the freezer. 
• If you want, you could use half white whole wheat flour in the bread for additional nutrition. You could also replace half the oil with applesauce.