Hi, my name is Heather Christo from heatherchristo.com, and I am Jenna’s guest blogger for the day! I am so excited and honored that Jenna asked me to contribute a recipe for Eat, Live Run, which I personally read all the time. I hope you enjoy this little recipe for Carrot bread!
I have had a tremendous amount of carrots in my crisper for the last few weeks. I have been debating how much crudités 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. And 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 too 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
makes 2 loaves
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 the bread 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 at 350 degrees for about 1 hour, or until just cooked through in the center.
Remove from the pans quickly in order to not have it over bake.
Let cool slightly before slicing.
Enjoy!!
Heather (Heather's Dish)
March 2, 2011 at 5:05 amthis sounds wonderful heather! i never would have thought to bake and puree the carrots, but i can only imagine it adds a fabulous sweetness to the bread 🙂
maria @ Chasing the Now
March 2, 2011 at 5:05 amI’ve never considered using carrots in a sweet bread. Great idea.
Kristen @ That Hoosier Girl
March 2, 2011 at 5:07 amYum! It sounds like zucchini bread’s sweeter, orange-ier cousin! Perfect excuse to turn the veggie glaring at me from the fridge into something I’m more likely to eat 🙂
Blog is the New Black
March 2, 2011 at 5:08 amLove your new header! This looks great- and I LOVE the color.
Lauren at Keep It Sweet
March 2, 2011 at 5:09 amCarrot bread is such a terrific idea!! I love the color of it.
Jessica @ How Sweet
March 2, 2011 at 5:13 amHmmm vegetables in bread… I might need a little more convincing. Like… a loaf in my kitchen. 😉
Stephanie Rose
March 2, 2011 at 5:15 amthis looks delish! i wonder could you make it with a white whole wheat flour?
Estela @ Weekly Bite
March 2, 2011 at 5:16 amLooks delicious! I love Carrot Cake, so there’s no doubt in my mind I’d devour this 🙂
Katrina
March 2, 2011 at 5:17 amMmm this sounds lovely! I absolutely adore carrot cake, so I’m sure I’d like this. Great idea!
Angela @ Eat Spin Run Repeat
March 2, 2011 at 5:21 amThis looks awesome! I love carrots, so I don’t think this would last very long in my house!
Camille
March 2, 2011 at 5:42 amThis looks wonderful! Thanks for the guest recipe!
Amy
March 2, 2011 at 5:45 amOh yummy! I’ve got some carrots that have been waiting patiently in my refrigerator for an opportunity like this 🙂 Can’t wait to try it!
Hannah (Culture Connoisseur)
March 2, 2011 at 5:52 amI will be trying this. Odd, I never considered this idea before and now I’m kicking myself for having wasted 24 years without it! Thanks for the recipe!
Justeen @ Blissful Baking
March 2, 2011 at 6:16 amI am already in love with this bread and I haven’t even tried it yet! 🙂 I’m intrigued by the carrot puree versus the shredded carrots that are used in most carrot quick bread recipes. I’m definitely going to be making a loaf of this very, VERY soon!
Kelly @ Laughter, Strength, and Food
March 2, 2011 at 6:42 amI have a ton of carrots in my fridge now. This is a must try! Can’t wait!
Jillian @ Reshape Your Life
March 2, 2011 at 7:03 amI would have never thought to make bread with carrots! Then again I’m not very creative with carrots lol. Awesome post Heather!
Briana
March 2, 2011 at 7:09 amI have a ton of carrots in my fridge that need to be used! Thanks for the great recipie! (And this bread is good for you right? Since there are veggies involved ;))
Sabrina @ Radioactive Runner
March 2, 2011 at 7:25 amCarrot bread… who would have thought?! It does look pretty good though!!
Jenny
March 2, 2011 at 7:28 amI have a fridge full of carrots needing to be sweetened up! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
notyet100
March 2, 2011 at 7:30 amthis looks so flavourful,..
Angharad
March 2, 2011 at 7:36 amGenius! I make a butternut squash bread the same way but for some reason carrots never occurred to me! Lovely.
Coco
March 2, 2011 at 7:46 amHOLY YUM
Current Instincts
March 2, 2011 at 8:04 amThose carrots look beautiful! And I bet they taste beautiful too in bread form.
Michelle
March 2, 2011 at 8:13 amLooks delicious. I LOVE zucchini bread, so I bet I’d love this, too.
britt
March 2, 2011 at 8:29 amthis looks so good!! i too have a ton of carrots from a trip to the farmers market but never thought of using them for bread. great idea!
Sonia (the Mexigarian)
March 2, 2011 at 8:35 amLOL. Carrot bread and carrot cake were on the tip of my mind the other morning when I realized I had about 2 lbs of carrots sitting in my fridge plus the jar of carrot puree I made. Thanks for the recipe. Couldn’t have come at a better time.
Natalia - a side of simple
March 2, 2011 at 8:45 amI’m not one for mixing vegetables and bread/cakes/desserts but you’ve got me convinced with those glazed carrots, Heather. Thanks for sharing!
Baking 'n' Books
March 2, 2011 at 8:51 amI’ve been needing to make a Carrot Cake lately! Stuck on the bananas still…never go out of style 😉
Seems like a lot of sugar and butter -but 2 loaves right? I LOVE the color – unexpected!
Stephanie @ Live Cook Love
March 2, 2011 at 9:05 amI’ve never thought of doing this! What a great idea! The carrots straight out of the oven with butter sound great too, I am going to have to try both! Great post!
Jess
March 2, 2011 at 9:24 amgreat twist on quick bread!
Mr & Mrs P
March 2, 2011 at 9:25 amThis looks great!!!!
French Heart
March 2, 2011 at 10:08 amLove the color. Today is ‘Read Across America Day’ I’ll need that carrot bread for my eyesight as read through my stack of books, thanks!
Lindsey @ Gingerbread Bagels
March 2, 2011 at 10:55 amI love carrots, they’re my favorite vegetable but I’ve never thought of making carrot bread before. It looks so beautiful and flavorful! 🙂
Beth @ DiningAndDishing
March 2, 2011 at 10:59 amGreat recipe! I checked out Heather’s blog – she pretty much has the life of my dreams :).
Emily @ Savory and Savage
March 2, 2011 at 11:09 amThe bread looks delicious!
Mauimandy@The Grains of Paradise
March 2, 2011 at 11:09 amSo pretty! What a great idea 🙂
duffy
March 2, 2011 at 11:34 amREALLY 3 cups of sugar? I get it’s 2 loaf pans, but is it possible to bring this down at all?
Averie (LoveVeggiesAndYoga)
March 2, 2011 at 11:46 amHeather the bread looks great!
I just recently made No Bake Oatmeal Raisin Carrot Cake bites. I love carrot cake and the flavors and I would love this bread.
Jenna, hope your move is going okay!!! 🙂
Melomeals: Vegan for $3.33 a Day
March 2, 2011 at 12:04 pmthis looks fantastic! I love the cooked pureed carrot.. I always make mine with shredded raw carrot
chelsey @ clean eating chelsey
March 2, 2011 at 12:13 pmThat looks fantastic! I love carrots/carrot cake, so I am sure I would love this too!
Alexia @ Dimple Snatcher
March 2, 2011 at 3:50 pmI ABSOLUTELY love this. At first I was confused and thought you meant banana bread and I was like “been there, done that,” but finally my brain caught up and I was like, “Ohhhhh.” Lovelovelove this 🙂
melissa
March 4, 2011 at 9:38 ammade this yesterday and it was soooooo delicious – have to admit, it seemed (and tasted) more like carrot cake to me but i’m not complaining (and neither is my husband or friends who i shared with!) such a vibrant color and more importantly, so good!!!
keep on cookin...
April 24, 2012 at 5:17 pmYou dont say how much butter to add at the 2 diferent times you call to “Add the butter”. Am I adding a cup to the carrots when they bake, and adding the 2TBSP to the mix..or other way around???
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