Carrot Bread with Raisins and Pecans
Third times a charm. Or so was the case when it came to recreating this carrot bread.
Last week to ring in the new year, my husband I packed up the kids and headed north for a weekend of cat skiing at one of our favorite resorts, Grand Targhee. Mid day, we took a break in the man made yurt for hot chocolate, coffee and the most delicious quick bread I’ve had in a long time. Super moist, it was loaded with shredded carrots and studded with just the right amount of raisins and chopped pecans. I couldn’t wait to get back in the kitchen and recreate it only I wasn’t so successful the first two times. I tried variations of recipes I found on line to minimal success. After two failed attempts I decided to go with my tried and true banana bread recipe, adapting it as I went.
One word. Winning.
While it wasn’t all that similar to the quick bread I had snowboarding, it was just as good. Different, but good. So good in fact, I ate two pieces right out of the oven slathered in butter. When in doubt, slather in butter. That’s my motto anyway.
If you like carrot cake, you’ll love this quick bread. It’s not nearly as sweet, a little more dense and it makes the perfect partner to an afternoon cup of tea. This loaf didn’t last long but I’ll be making another soon to put in my kids lunch boxes and for a quick pocket snack while I’m skiing!
Enjoy!
Carrot Bread with Raisins and Pecans
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- zest from one orange
- 1 heaping cup grated carrots
- 2 tablespoons plain greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup raisins
- 1/3 cup chopped pecans
Baking Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Prepare a standard size loaf pan with either butter or cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment paper; set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together both flours, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In a large bowl, beat sugar, eggs, and oil until light and fluffy. Stir in orange zest, grated carrots, vanilla and greek yogurt. Fold in dry ingredients just until combined. Add raisins and chopped pecans. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake about 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center of bread comes out clean.
15 Comments
I can picture all of you huddled in a yurt, snacking on some quick bread and hot chocolate. I absolutely adore all things related to carrot cake and this bread is something that I will definitely be making for my family.
this is awesome looking…I love carrot cake and I bet this carrot bread would be perfect for me!
I think it’s better than carrot cake, not as sweet and a little more dense!
I love quick breads and this one sounds especially delicious!
Mama. Mia.
I will have to leave the pecans out for Josh…or maybe I will leave them in so I can eat the loaf by myself:)
Great idea! 🙂
This looks like fabulous carrot bread, especially with the smear of butter!
Butter makes everything better!
OH MY!! Carrot bread – how have I never thought of that!? I so love carrot cake and banana bread. I also really love your photos 🙂
I love that motto, and I love this bread!!
Oh,carrot breads are yummy…Easy and quick!I love raisins too…I’d better try this,and add it to my faves.:)
Woah, this was amazingly moist and perfect. Made it today and my husband and toddler fought over it until it was gone. I ate my slices slathered in cream cheese. Definitely bookmarking and will be my default carrot bread recipe. Thank you!
Just made this – quadrupling the recipe (had a lot of carrots to use up). Love it, but it’s a bit on the dry side. Did I bake it too long or would adding more yogurt next time fix this? We’re at 5500 ft. Thanks for your great recipes – my ‘go to’ website for baking.
It’s hard to to know for sure. I think anytime one is quadrupling a recipe there is a lot more room for error. Anytime I hear that a recipe is “dry” I would look at 1) making sure the flour is being measured correctly and/or 2) shortening the baking time by a few minutes!