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Carrot Bread

February 23rd, 2011

Carrot Bread

I have had a tremendous amount of carrots in my crisper for the last few weeks. I have been debating how much crudite I could bring myself to eat, when I thought about using carrots in a new way- a sweet way.

It immediately made me think of things like squash and sweet potato. Similarly to those vegetables, I thought that carrots would make a good puree. Gently baked with some butter, they did indeed make a lovely puree. I was incredibly struck by how the carrots smelled- sweet and naturally spiced (like the smell of a baking sweet potato)!

I decided to turn the puree into bread, and the recipe did not disappoint. I was happily surprised to see the gorgeous orange color of the bread, and the moist, tender crumb was really impressive. The top (always my favorite part) had just a touch of sugary, crispy crust- soooooo good!

If you two have an overgrown carrot supply- try this surprisingly delicious bread in place of your usual banana or pumpkin- you will be happy you did!

Carrot Bread
2 Tbs butter
6 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into ½ “ pieces
¼ cup water

1 cup butter
3 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 cups flour
1 Tbs baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a small pan, melt the butter.

Add the carrots to a baking dish, and pour the butter over the carrots. Toss to coat the carrots with the butter.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until the carrots are soft.

Turn the oven down to 350 degrees.

In the bowl of a food processor, add the carrots and the melted butter. Puree with the water until the carrots are a smooth and creamy puree.

Set the puree aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream together the butter and the sugar.

Add the eggs.

In a separate bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients.

Add half of the carrot puree and half of the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl.

Mix until combined, and then add the rest of the carrots and the dry ingredients.

Mix everything until it’s a well combined and creamy batter.

Prepare two loaf pans with baking spray.

Evenly divide the batter between the two loaf pans.

Bake the bread for about 1 hour, or until just cooked through in the center.

Remove from the pan in order to not have it over bake.

Let cool slightly before slicing.

Enjoy!!