My Quick Breads are quick and easy to prepare muffins, breads, biscuits, rolls, coffee cakes and special treats that make it seem like you’ve spent hours over a hot oven. Some are from scratch, while others use ready-made breads as their base - All are delicious and fast!
“Quick Breads” means exactly that. Quick-acting leavening agents such as baking powder, baking soda, and eggs, plus the steam created by heat, permit these breads to be baked or cooked as soon as they are mixed. Even the mixing should be quick; overmixing results in coarse-textured or tough bread that won’t rise to full volume and will have unattractive tunnels.
Most quick breads are at their best fresh from the oven. Remove loaves and muffins from their baking pan or cups as soon as they are baked or they will steam and become soggy. The exceptions are fruit and nut loaves. These are hard to slice when they are right out of the oven. Allow them to cool slightly before slicing. Or cool, then wrap loaves and leave them overnight, they will develop a mellower flavor and won’t crumble when sliced.
Muffins rely on chemical leaveners, rather than yeast, and are prepared with the same basic ingredients and techniques. They can be savory or sweet. The key ingredients are flour, leavening, butter or oil, and dairy products. They can also include all kinds of other ingredients such as blueberries, chocolate chips, cinnamon, pumpkin, lemon, banana, orange, peaches, strawberries, almonds, and carrots.