The world of quick breads is so much wider than a basic loaf of banana bread. See, there’s a zillion breads out there that you can fill with fruit or veggies, like zucchini bread or pineapple bread or this here Southern Peach Bread. True to its name, it’s studded with juicy fresh peaches and spiced and sweetened to perfection, but don’t let that fool you into thinking even for a second that it’s difficult to make. It’s quick. It’s simple. And it sure is delicious.
The bread batter here isn’t based on vanilla. Rather, it’s flavored with brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice, which is the perfect combination to complement sweet peaches. You might expect those spices to have sort of a winter holiday flair, but it’s quite the contrary. They lift up and accentuate the peaches in the best way – you can taste the spice mixture in the finished bread, but it’s not overwhelming.
INGREDIENTS
Butter, softened, for greasing pan
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch of allspice
Pinch of ground cloves
2 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups peaches, peeled and chopped
PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan with butter. Dust with 1 tablespoon sugar and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, and milk. Add to dry ingredients and mix, but do not over-mix.
Fold in peaches and transfer batter to prepared pan. Smooth out batter.
Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 60-70 minutes.
Let cool on a wire rack 10 minutes before removing from pan. Let cool completely before slicing. Enjoy!
