It was cold and snowy this afternoon, so I decided to do some baking. My husband recently headed the committee to create a “cookbook” for his employer, so I went digging through the recipes. Most of them were contributed by co-workers as well as from my husband and me. However, I decided to try a recipe titled “Holiday Breakfast Bread,” although by the time I was finished I’d revamped the ingredients (omitting many of them), and ended up with a rather tasty bit of bread (for breakfast or anytime). I lined-through my omissions and/or changes in the recipe below:

 

Breakfast Bread

3 C flour

2 C sugar 1 C sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

3 eggs

1½ C oil

1 C chopped pecans

1 C coconut

2 C dried bananas

1 large can (20 oz.) crushed pineapple without sugar, drained

1½ tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. almond extract (this was not in the original recipe; I added for extra flavor)

 

Mix the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl. In another bowl, blend the eggs and oil until well-combined; stir into flour mixture. Stir in the drained pineapple, vanilla and almond extract. Grease a glass baking dish (or loaf pan) with oil, making sure to coat the sides well. Pour in batter and shake to even top. Bake at 350° for about one hour (more or less, test batter with a toothpick until it comes out dry). Let cool before slicing.

 

I eliminated the extra cup of sugar mainly because my husband is a diabetic; one cup leaves the bread perfectly sweet enough. I could use a sweetener like Splenda or Sweet-n-Low, but I can’t stand the aftertaste of artificial sweeteners so I tend to add less sugar to my recipes for my husband’s benefit. The alteration of ingredients from the original recipe was mainly done because I did not have the specific items in my house and had no desire to drive around in the snow to get them from the store. The almond extract gave a nice little flavor enhancement to the bread, and a slice or two goes quite well with a hot cup of tea or coffee. The bread doesn’t necessarily have to be eaten at breakfast time; in fact, I had mine late this afternoon and it was just fine and dandy.