Gingerbread Loaf
Molasses and warm spices mix together to make a delicious, aromatic bread. This bread is very moist and stores well, and the walnuts sprinkled on top make a pretty topping.
Recipe type: Dessert | Quick Bread
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Recipe Notes
Pan: One 9"x5"x2¾" Loaf Pan Pan Prep: Greased and Floured Oven Temp: 350° Yield: 1 Loaf Storage: Tightly Wrapped, Room Temperature
TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast,
accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast,
accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.Ingredients
Batter:
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 cup buttermilk, chilled
- ¾ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
- ½ cup light or dark molasses
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 3 tablespoons commercial applesauce
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup golden raisins
Topping:
- 2 tablespoons walnuts, finely chopped
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare one 9x5x2¾ inch loaf pan; lightly grease the pan with shortening and dust with flour. Tip: to make baked bread easier to remove from pan, lightly grease the pan, line with parchment paper, and then lightly grease the top of the parchment paper and dust with flour.
Batter:
- In a medium mixing bowl, sift together all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine buttermilk, brown sugar, molasses, oil, applesauce, and eggs; whisk together until well blended. Add flour mixture; stir just until blended. Stir in raisins.
Topping:
- Pour batter in the loaf pan. Sprinkle walnuts on top, down the center of the loaf.
- Bake: Bake 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove pan from oven and let cool about 15 minutes. Grabbing the top edges of the parchment paper, lift bread from loaf pans and place on a wire cooling rack to finish cooling. Remove parchment paper and discard.
Testing for doneness: Use the baking times given in the recipe as an estimate as some ovens bake faster or slower than others. Insert a wooden toothpick or long wooden skewer near the center of the bread and remove it. There should be a few moist crumbs attached to the toothpick or skewer, but not batter. Or, insert an instant read thermometer into the middle of the loaf; the internal temperature should range between 195-205 degrees F. Tip: I like to use a combination of the toothpick test plus a temperature reading using a Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer for an accurate test of doneness.
Recipe Adapted from Cooking Light May 2006