Fresh Peach Bread

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What can you really say about peaches?  They are delicious.  They are going to be gone soon. :(

For breakfast, I eat peaches with plain yogurt and homemade granola.  Such a fabulous breakfast to start the day.  I will miss them in October, but I will probably be onto other fruits like maybe, apples.

I have not made many peach desserts or really any desserts this year, the family is working on being healthier so I have avoided most sweets including peach crisps. I am not sure how, but I did.  I am trying to do my part.  It is hard because baking is just good, plain fun.  I did make peach ice cream.  It was - and is good.  I made some thirst quenching agua frescas con el melocotón (translation:  fruit water with peaches) to quench thirst during the hottest summer on record.  I haven't grilled any peaches yet, but I plan to - to go with that peach ice cream.  My peach man (he is also my apple man) says he will have peaches through September.  Yeah!  He sells me his seconds. You know, the ones that look funny or have a blemish.   I really like his seconds because they become jam, smoothies, cobblers/crisps, ice cream and peach bread.  I have several types of peach jams and some frozen peaches for whatever comes to mind this winter.  Nice.  I am not usually this prepared for hibernation.

 I decided to work on a peach bread recipe because I don't really like peach bread with cinnamon. To me they taste like other spiced breads such as apple or pumpkin.  My mission, a quick bread that taste like peaches.  This year, I am into combining vanilla and peaches.  Here is what I came up with and we loved it.  Sadly, the second loaf didn't make it to the freezer.  We ate it all.  The good news is I have more peaches.

These are a couple of peaches that are seconds.  They taste absolutely perfect, they just look kinda funny and one of them has a boo boo.  They look like Cabbage Patch peaches or something like that. Or something else that I will leave it to your imagination. 
So the peach bread goes like this:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Toast the nuts at 350 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes, occasionally stirring.  This is the absolute best way to toast nuts because you get more of an even heat.  Alternatively, they can be toasted in a pan on the stove top over medium heat, stirring often.  When you can smell the nut aroma they are done.  If they are still whole set them aside to cool and then chop them.

Dice the peaches about 1/2 inch.  You would laugh if you saw how I did this.  I actually cut the peach while still on the pit in a grid in my hand.  Kinda the way I did the avocado when I made the Tomatillo Avocado Salsa but with the peach washed and still on the pit.  This technique should not recommended to anyone because you could cut yourself and as you know, the tiniest cut can be pure torture in the kitchen.  I do this over a bowl so I will catch all the juices that come out. Also sometimes this doesn't work that well because the peach falls off the pit before I am finished and that means I have to chop them normal.  Normal = halving the peach, removing the pit and chopping it in a grid while on the cutting board into 1/2 inch pieces.

I also added 2 tablespoons of the sugar and mixed it into the cut peaches to get some of that delicious peach juice to come out and help flavor the bread.

Next mix together the dry ingredients in a bowl:  All purpose flour, white whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Now mix the wet ingredients in another bowl:  3 eggs, sugar (sugar can be a wet or dry ingredient, in this case I choose wet.  It is a wet ingredient because it dissolves into the liquid), canola oil, and vanilla.  Note to cooks who like to substitute brown sugar for white (I am one of them):  White sugar is dryer than brown sugar and this is a very moist bread.  Brown sugar also adds flavor to the bread which I think interferes with the pure peach and vanilla flavor combination.

When you set your ingredients up like this it is called the dump method or muffin method.  That is you dump one mixture into another and gently mix or fold until just moistened.  Just mixing until moist is what gives the bread a tender crumb but if you over mix you will form gluten and your muffins or bread will be tough and dense.

So gently mix the two together until it looks like this.

It is almost mixed up but you have two more ingredients to add, the peaches and the walnuts.

Now give it a stir or two.  Put the batter into a couple of greased 9 X 5 inch loaf pan.  I sprayed my with Pam. 

Bake the loaves for about an hour until done.  Test for doneness with a toothpick, wooden skewer or I sometimes use a paring knife until it comes out clean with maybe a few crumbs clinging to it.

Let the loaves cool in the pans for 10 minutes and then slide them out on a cooling rack.  Let them cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing into lovely, fresh out-of-the-oven, warm bread.  This bread does not even need butter, but go ahead and indulge.

Fresh Peach Quick Bread
makes 2 9X5 inch loaves


3 eggs
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 cup of canola oil
2 cups of fresh peaches, diced 1/2 inch
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, unbleached
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Toast the nuts for 10 to 15 minutes.  Set aside to cool.  Chop when cool enough.

Chop the peaches into 1/2 inch size pieces and place in a bowl.  Place 2 tablespoons of the sugar on the peaches and stir, set aside.

In one bowl mix the dry ingredients:  all purpose flour, white whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.

In another bowl mix the wet ingredients:  eggs, the remaining sugar, oil and vanilla.

Pour into the dry ingredients and mix until almost completely mixed, you should still be able to see some of the dry ingredients.

Add the nuts and the peaches and stir a couple of times until just mixed.  Do not over mix.  Pour into 2  greased 9 X 5 loaf pans and bake for 1 hour or until done.  Test for doneness with wooden skewer or toothpick.  When it comes out clean or with crumbs on it it is done.

Let cool in pans for 10 minutes and then take the loaves out and cool on a rack for 20 minutes.

Note:  Sugar in most cases can be a wet or dry ingredient because when using as a wet ingredient it dissolves into the wet ingredients.

Enjoy!

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