So You Wanna Make Bread?
Article by | Lizzie West
You’re probably just about over the posts of your best friend’s sourdough starter, or the umpteenth banana bread your cousin made. You love them dearly, but enough already. Great news – there ARE other kinds of breads you can make! And you don’t need yeast – it’s nearly impossible to find in our area anyway. There are just a couple of other kinds of bread you can make to keep it fresh and a little less boring in your oven this week.
Zucchini Bread. This summer squash is a great alternative. It provides moisture without too much flavor so it’s versatile and makes for amazing breakfast bread. Don’t even get me started on how delicious zucchini bread french toast is. A few keys here are that you MUST extract excess moisture from the grated zucchini before adding it to the mixture. And adding walnuts or pecans to just about any fruit or veggie bread is an excellent way to add texture and more nutrients to your treat! HERE is a flexible favorite recipe to try and tweak for your needs. Like most online recipes, please note you do have to scroll more than halfway down the page to see the actual recipe. Cue eyeroll.
You can use just about any zucchini bread recipe and substitute or supplement with grated carrot as well. It has a sweeter flavor and pairs very well with cinnamon! Other interesting and adventurous options are other squashes (pumpkin, yellow), apples, and even sweet potato. Look at what’s in-season when you’re baking and remove large seeds before grating if needed. All these options are excellent for making sweet breads. Check out this very comprehensive recipe for banana carrot bread with more fancy stuff in it (you can always substitute walnuts for the flax seed and use all-purpose flour instead of making it more complicated than it needs to be).
Beer Bread. You don’t have yeast, but you know what does – BEER! Using beer to make bread is an excellent way to make something more on the savory side of things but it is still super easy and you can use just about any beer you want. You can also add some interesting things to beer bread, like grated cheese or scallions for MORE flavor. And a definite benefit to this is there is no waiting time for the bread to proof. Serve with butter as a side to your quarantine garden salad, and you’re a pioneer! Two tried and true recipes for beer bread are this 6-ingredient beer quick bread and easy cheddar beer bread (basically the same things with cheese added).
Pro-tip – you can even make red wine bread if you’re feeling a little crazy or adventurous in the baking department!