Classic Alabama Pecan Bread #BreadBakers

This Alabama Pecan Bread is a sweet chewy treat – akin to a blondie - that is a must at potlucks and family reunions all over the southern states.

While its origins aren’t easy to pin down, the first Alabama pecan bread recipes date back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when commercial pecan production took off in Alabama. Hence the name.

In my own home state of Louisiana, pecan growing for profit dates back even farther to the arrival of the French who recognized the potential of the wild pecan groves regularly harvested by the indigenous peoples. Nuts are an excellent protein source.

In fact, as early as the late 1700s, the Port of New Orleans started recording the sale and export of pecans as a profitable commodity. This makes Louisiana the actual origin of the pecan as a commercial crop. 

Even before I learned this history, I always thought of Louisiana as the source of the best pecans because, growing up, my extended family grew and harvested them. Until my maternal grandmother passed away, I never had to buy pecans. She always had a few pounds, already shelled, waiting for me when I’d visit. 

Alabama Pecan Bread

Recipes for Alabama pecan bread abound and there are many variations like the addition of sweet potatoes, pumpkin, cranberries, chocolate chips, coconut, etc. but the classic recipe is exactly the same on too many websites to count! This recipe was adapted from one on Mama Sue’s Southern Kitchen. 

Ingredients

1 ½ cups or 190g flour

2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

1 cup or 200g sugar

1 cup or 200g dark brown sugar

4 eggs

1 cup or 240ml canola or other light oil, plus a little extra for the baking pan

2 cups, chopped, or 240g pecans

1 teaspoon vanilla

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare a 9 x 13 in or 23 x 33cm baking dish by greasing it or line it with baking parchment.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt to combine.

In another larger bowl, whisk the sugar, brown sugar, eggs and oil together well until you have a homogeneous mixture. 

Set aside a handful of the pecans for topping.

Add the flour mixture, pecans, and vanilla to the sugar/egg/oil bowl. 

Stir well to combine. 

Pour the batter into your prepared baking dish. Top with the reserved pecans.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in your preheated oven or until done. 

Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack before cutting into squares to serve. The edges aren't pretty but they were my favorite pieces. (My husband agreed!)

Enjoy!

It’s the second Tuesday of the month, so that means it’s time for my Bread Bakers group to share their recipes. Our host, Kelly of Passion Kneaded chose nuts as our theme. Many thanks to her for the impetus to research my favorite nut, the pecan. Check out the link list below. 

• Classic Alabama Pecan Bread from Food Lust People Love
• Coconut Flour Banana Nut Bread from Passion Kneaded 
• Cranberry Pecan Boule from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Easy Cinnamon Nut Loaf from A Messy Kitchen
• Maple Pecan Cinnamon Rolls from Magical Ingredients
• Mini Chocolate Almond Babka from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Nutty Miso Banana Bread from Sneha's Recipe 

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Pin this Classic Alabama Pecan Bread!

.

Cointreau Glazed Orange Quick Bread

Fresh orange juice, zest and Cointreau give this lovely Cointreau glazed orange quick bread a fresh, sweet flavor that smells amazing as it bakes.

Perfect for snack, teatime or even as a dessert, this quick bread is a family favorite. Similar recipes are best known in Great Britain as lemon drizzle cakes, but as you can see, any citrus substitution will do nicely. 

Cointreau Glazed Orange Quick Bread

For anyone who doesn’t drink or cook with alcohol, the orange liqueur can be replaced with an equal amount of orange juice for both the bread batter and the glaze. This recipe makes one  8 x 4-inch or 9 x 5-inch loaf cake.

Ingredients

For the batter:

½ cup or 113g butter, softened to room temperature, plus more for the pan

1 cup or 200g sugar

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice

1 tablespoon Cointreau or Grand Marnier 

½ teaspoon orange extract, optional

1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest (from an untreated or organic orange)

1 ½ cups or 190g flour, plus more for the pan if not using baking parchment

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

½ cup or 10 ml milk

For the glaze:

½ cup or 62g powdered sugar

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice

1 tablespoon Cointreau or Grand Marnier

Method

Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C. Prepare your loaf pan by buttering it and either lining the bottom with baking parchment or dusting it with flour, tapping out the excess.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the softened butter with the sugar until blended and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, just to blend. 

Beat in the orange juice, the Cointreau, the extract if using and the orange zest.

Stir together the flour, the baking powder and the salt in a small bowl; beat in the flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with dry, beating well after each addition and using a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides.

Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until the bread is risen, the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted near the center of the bread comes out clean. Remove the pan from the oven and place on a cooling rack.

To make the glaze, sift the confectioner’s sugar into a small bowl and add the juice and the Cointreau. Stir until you have a very smooth silky glaze. 

Slide a thin knife blade around the edges of the cake to loosen it and pour the glaze evenly all over the hot loaf, allowing some to dribble down the sides.

Leave the quick bread to cool completely before turning out of the pan and cutting into slices to serve.

Enjoy! 

Welcome to the 17th edition of the 2024 Alphabet Challenge, brought to you by the letter Q. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the Q recipes below:

• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Asian Quinoa Salad 
• Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Butternut Squash Taco Ravioli with Queso Fresco  
• Food Lust People Love: Cointreau Glazed Orange Quick Bread 
• Jolene’s Recipe Journal: Loaded Quinoa Breakfast Bowl
• Palatable Pastime: Quebecoise Pommes Persillade 
• Culinary Cam: Quesabirria Tacos 
• Magical Ingredients: Queso Paratha
• Sneha’s Recipe: Quick Potato Instant Sambar - Without Dal 
• A Messy Kitchen: Quinoa Crunch Bars
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Quinoa Paniyaram
• Blogghetti: Sheet Pan Quesadillas 
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Whole Wheat Quinoa Bread

Here are my posts for the alphabet challenge, thus far:
A: Anchovy Deviled Eggs
B: Spicy Braised Ginger Pork Belly
C: Cecilie's Favorite Coleslaw
D: Cajun Chicken Eggplant Dressing
E: Everything Pizza Tartin
F: Baked Chicken and Feta Meatballs
G: Grape Juice Jigglers
H: Crispy Bacon-wrapped Chicken Hearts
I: Raspberry Rhubarb Ice Cream
J: Java Dry Spice Mix Chops 

K. Korean Barbecue-style Meatballs 

L. Easy Lamb and Fresh Tomato Curry 

M. Fresh Mint Sauce 

N. Miso Butter Noodles 

O. Spicy Orange Braised Short Ribs 

P. Homemade Piri Piri Sauce 

Q, Cointreau Glazed Orange Quick Bread - this post!

Pin this Cointreau Glazed Orange Quick Bread!

 .

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Mini Loaves #BreadBakers

These Chocolate Chocolate Chip Mini Loaves are baked with cocoa and chocolate chips. Applesauce adds moisture and nutrition - not that you’ll notice it’s there flavor-wise! It's all about the chocolate!

Like many of my friends who love cooking and baking, I have a lot of pans that I rarely use but still keep, you know, just in case. The little vintage loaf pans I used for this recipe are a good example. I inherited them, if memory serves, from my paternal grandmother who used them to make fruitcake to give away at Christmastime. 

I actually own six of these little pans but since there are just two of us at home, it seemed like a good idea just to make four mini loaves. If you don't have mini loaf pans, you can bake this batter as muffins.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Mini Loaves

This recipe is for a small batch of just four mini loaves but it’s easily doubled if you need eight. Or even trebled. This batter is very forgiving like that. My mini loaf pans have a capacity of one cup or 240ml by volume.

Ingredients

1 cup or 125g flour

1/4 cup or 20g cocoa

1/4 cup or 50g white sugar

1/4 cup, packed, or 50g brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup or 75g applesauce (I used homemade but store-bought works fine.)

1 egg

3 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons canola oil, plus extra for the pans

1/4 cup or 50g semi-sweet chocolate chips plus a little extra for topping, if desired.

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your four mini loaf pans by brushing or spraying the insides with oil.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together your flour, cocoa, sugars, baking powder and salt. 

Mix in the chocolate chips and use your clean hands to separate any that are stuck together. 

In another smaller bowl, whisk together your applesauce, egg, milk and oil.

Pour your wet mixture into the dry ingredients and fold until they are just combined. 

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared mini loaf pans. Add a few more chocolate chips to the top, if desired.  

Bake in your preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes or until the mini loaves are puffed up and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.

Run a offset spatula or butter knife around the edges of the pans and gently turn the  loaves out of the pans and cool further on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

It's the second Tuesday of the month so that means it's time for my Bread Baker friends to share their recipes. Our theme is chocolate breads! Many thanks to our host Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. 

• Chocolate Chip Breadsticks from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Chocolate Chocolate Chip Mini Loaves from Food Lust People Love 
• Chocolate Crepes from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Chocolate Fudge Sauce Star Bread from Sneha's Recipe
• Chocolate Protein Oat Banana Waffles from Cook with Renu
• Chocolate Swirl Buns from Passion Kneaded
• Double Chocolate Chip Bread from Palatable Pastime
• Lemon and Ginger Scented White Chocolate Sourdough from A Messy Kitchen
• Milk and Chocolate Rolls from Magical Ingredients

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Pin these Chocolate Chocolate Chip Mini Loaves!

 .

Margy's Best Banana Bread #BakingBloggers

Truly a recipe that has stood the test of time, Margy’s best banana bread is a tender, rich and flavorful loaf, made with butter as well as sour cream. Plain or toasted, it is the perfect snack at the office or at home.

Back before my mom retired, her boss used to bring this freshly baked banana bread into their office and everyone would clamor for a slice. They all insisted that she share the recipe as well. It was that good.

My mom raved to me about it as well, so of course, I needed the recipe too. I don’t often bake banana bread because of the problem I talked about when I shared my light and fluffy banana cake recipe. Didn't stop me from wanting a tried and tested recipe though. That's how I roll.

Bottom line, it took me years to get around to making this and now I regret all the wasted years in between.

Margy’s Best Banana Bread 
This one-bowl recipe makes clean up a breeze, easily done even as the loaf is baking in the oven. It goes great with both a hot cup of tea or coffee. And honestly, even a cold glass of milk. My mother loves it toasted and slathered with butter.

Ingredients
6 tablespoons or 85g butter, plus extra for greasing loaf pan
1 cup or 200g sugar
2 eggs
2 large ripe bananas, mashed with a fork
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups or 190g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup or 60ml sour cream

Method
Grease and flour loaf pan (or line it with baking parchment) and preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Beat together butter and sugar until fluffy and light yellow. Add the eggs, bananas, vanilla and salt.

Combine the dry ingredients in a sieve and sift them into the butter mixture, alternating with sour cream, ending with the last of the dry ingredients.

Stir well in between each addition to combine.

Pour the batter into your prepared pan.

Bake in your preheated oven for 50-55 minutes or until the banana bread is golden and a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool completely before slicing to serve.

Enjoy!

This month my Baking Blogger friends have created a variety of delicious recipes for you. Check them out below. Many thanks to our group leader and host, Sue of Palatable Pastime. 

• Banana After School Snack Cake from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Banana Oatmeal Muffins from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Brown Sugar Banana Cake from Cookaholic Wife
• Chocolate Sunflower Seed Breakfast Muffins from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Dulce De Leche Banana Cake from Sneha's Recipe
• Hummingbird Muffins from Veggies First Then Dessert
• Margy's Best Banana Bread from Food Lust People Love
• Peanut Butter Banana Baked Oatmeal from Making Miracles
• Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Bars from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Raw Banana Baked Chips from Cook with Renu
• Roasted Banana Ice Cream from Caroline's Cooking
• Sourdough Banana Bread from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Triple Chocolate Banana Bread from Palatable Pastime

Baking Bloggers is a friendly group of food bloggers who vote on a shared theme and then post recipes to fit that theme one the second Monday of each month. If you are a food blogger interested in joining in, inquire at our Baking Bloggers Facebook group. We'd be honored if you would join us in our baking adventures.

Pin Margy's Best Banana Bread!

 .

Russian Kulich - Easter Bread #BreadBakers

The traditional Russian kulich is baked in multiplies for family gatherings to celebrate Easter and is often eaten on Easter Monday as picnic fare. It's a lovely sweet bread made with either raisins or chocolate chips.

This month our Bread Bakers host is Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla and she chose international Easter breads for our theme. I must confess that I really didn’t pay attention to whether the second Tuesday fell before or after Easter because I loved the theme so much.

Turns out that it is after Easter for those of us who follow the Gregorian (new) calendar, which is much of the western world. For those who follow the Julian (old) calendar, we are right on time with Easter bread recipes, as they will celebrate next Sunday.

That said, as Camilla rightly pointed out, most of us all over the world are still staying home to stay safe so many family Easter celebrations have been postponed until we can all be together. If that’s you, dear reader, please bookmark or pin your favorite recipes from our list, found below my recipe.

Russian Kulich - Easter Bread

This recipe is adapted from several I found online. Traditionally, Russian kulich would be baked with raisins instead of chocolate chips, but I did find one recipe by an actual baker with a Russian grandma who added chocolate, so I am feeling pretty good about my choice. I’ll be honest. My daughter is home and she is not a fan of raisins. I wanted to bake sweet bread that she would eat!

Ingredients
For the kulich:
1/2 cup or 120ml warm milk (I used 2% milk)
1/2 cup or 100g sugar
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 whole egg, room temp
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup or 56g butter, melted and cooled
good pinch salt
2 tablespoons sour cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups or 281g all-purpose flour
3/4 cup or 140g raisins or for a less traditional bread, substitute chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet chocolate.)

To bake the kulich:
2 1-lb coffee cans
parchment paper
butter

For the glaze:
1/2 cup or g 62 icing sugar
2 teaspoons fresh lemon or orange juice

Optional to decorate: colored sprinkles

Method
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the warm milk, sugar and yeast. Set aside to prove. The yeast should start to get a little foamy on top.

Whisk in the egg and egg yolk, melted butter, sour cream, salt and vanilla.

Whisk in half of the flour. Your batter will be very thick, mounding briefly when you let it drip off the whisk back into the bowl.

Cover the bowl with cling film and let it rise in a warm place, ideally 100°F or 39°C for about an hour. I achieve this by filling a larger bowl with hot water from the sink and set the batter bowl in it. Occasionally check the temperature and add more hot water as needed.

Using a wooden spoon or a stiff spatula, add the rest of the flour a little at a time.

The dough will be quite soft. Stir in the raisins or chocolate chips. Cover and let dough rise another hour in a warm place, again ideally at 100˚F or 38°C. Use the hot water bowl trick again for best results.

Butter your clean coffee cans then line them with baking parchment.

Spoon the dough into the two prepared coffee cans, trying not to mix it too much. We want to keep as many of the bubbles in the dough as possible. Mine were filled about halfway, which is hard to see in this photo. Trust me.

Again, leave the dough to rise uncovered in a warm place for an additional hour or until the coffee cans are almost full. I put my two cans back in the big bowl and added more hot tap water then covered the bowl with cling film and a folded towel.

If you do this, do be careful getting them out of the bowl when you are ready to bake. One of mine tipped over a bit as I tried to get them out and I lost some height on the rise.

Towards the end of the hour rising time, preheat your oven to 350˚F or 180°C.

Bake the kulich for 30-35 minutes until the top is golden brown. If they start browning too quickly, you can cover the tops with foil.

Cool for about 10 minutes on a wire rack then gently loosen the edges with a knife and turn the kulich out of the coffee cans. Leave them to cool completely, bottom side down on the wire rack.

To make the glaze, stir just enough of the lemon or orange juice into the powdered sugar to get a drizzling consistency. Pour the glaze over each cooled kulich. Top with sprinkles, if desired.

Enjoy!



Check all the lovely Easter breads from around the world! If you don't bake one this month, you'll be glad to have the recipes for another special occasion. Many thanks to Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla for hosting this month!

• Choereg (Armenian Easter Bread) by Making Miracles
• Easy Glazed Baked Donuts by Shockingly Delicious
• Folar da Páscoa, a Less-Than-Traditional Version by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• German Osterbrot Easter Bread by Ambrosia
• Hot Cross Buns by Sneha's Recipe
• Polish Babka by A Messy Kitchen
• Kalach (Hungarian Easter Bread) by Passion Kneaded
• Kozunak (Bulgarian Easter Bread) by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Russian Kulich - Easter Bread by Food Lust People Love
• Sourdough Hot Cross Buns by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Sourdough Ukrainian Paska by Zesty South Indian Kitchen

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the Bread Bakers home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Pin this Russian Kulich Easter Bread!

.