Carrot Chocolate Chip Bread

What can you make when you have 3 very large carrots hanging about in the fridge? Well you could make carrot cake. I love it, especially the icing, but that isn't something I want to tackle at 9pm on Thursday.  It's not popular for lunches, and there aren't any stir-fry's on the menu for a while. What about some sort of quick bread?

After browsing around for a while, I don't like any of the recipes. One called for 3 cups of flour, one had zucchini and orange juice, one had 2 cups of sugar, it went on and on - couldn't find anything I liked. They weren't even really adaptable.  So I just made up a recipe. It is loosely based on the banana bread recipe I make, but different.  I wanted whole wheat flour, so I started with 1 cup regular plus 1/2 cup whole wheat. You need at least 1 tsp of baking powder and soda, a pinch of salt, and some spices. For the wet, I'm thinking 1 egg or maybe 2, a little bit of oil, some sugar.  What else? Well the carrot of course.  Funny thing, the carrots I had were so gigantic that I got 2 cups of grated carrot out of one carrot. So far for using them up - one will do.  Let's try it out!

By the way - why is it that most recipes like this call for a ton of cinnamon?  I don't hate cinnamon, but I think it is definitely overused. It is very strong, tends to overpower everything. So I will use just a tiny bit.  I really like fresh nutmeg. Not sure if it is Michael Smith's influence or not. I saw an episode in season 2 of his new show "Chef Abroad" where he travels to Grenada to see how nutmeg is grown and used - very interesting.

Let's start with the dry stuff. The two flours, allspice,
fresh nutmeg, and a little bit of cinnamon.

After mixing the sugar really well with the eggs until it is a bit frothy and the sugar is well dissolved, I added the carrot.  At the last minute, I threw in some lemon zest - what the heck. I don't think I ever tasted anything with lemon or orange zest that didn't turn out better for it.

Eggs, sugar, carrots, and lemon zest

Finally, cook it for almost an hour at 350, and voila.  They were a bit low rising, so I'll make some adjustments next time and see if it turns out better. But they tasted pretty good!  SSO liked the chocolate chips I added, which is why they were there of course. The texture and density was spot on actually. Maybe swap the allspice for cardamom or something else.

The finished product - carrot chocolate chip bread

Next time: some adjustments so it rises a bit more, change the spices a bit.

Me: 8/10

SO: 8/10

SSO: 7/10

Carrot Chocolate Chip Bread

Ingredients

• 1 C all purpose flour
• 1/2 C whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 C brown sugar
• 2 C grated carrot
• zest of half a lemon or orange
• 3 Tb oil
• 1/4 C maple syrup
• 1/2 C semi-sweet choc chips

Method

1. Mix the 2 flours, soda, powder, and spices in a bowl. Blend together well with a whisk.
2. In a stand mixer, beat 2 eggs and add the sugar. Mix on medium for a couple minutes. Add the oil, syrup, carrot, and zest. Mix well.
3. Add the flour mix, beat until just mixed. Fold in the chocolate chips.
4. Divide evenly between 2 buttered 8x4 (or is it 9x5?) loaf pans, and bake for an hour at 350.