first a general question about quick breads....what about quick breads makes you have to "mix only until combined'  or the the result will be tough, versus a cake for example that can withstand lots of machine mixing to make it  light and airy?   amount of eggs or fats?  also, I am searching for the perfect irish soda bread recipe, the one I found on this site is great. mine came out moist (it is a batter not a dough) but alittle chewy in the crust.   I am trying to duplicate a bread that I buy at my local bakery that is dense and moist,  not crumbly, alittle crunchy on t

I'm looking for a recipe for arepas.  Can anyone help, and also steer me to the proper cornmeal/cornflour?  In the groceries, I see masa for corn tortillas, but am not sure if that is what I should buy to make arepas.  I've been wanting to make them ever since I heard an article on NPR about women cooking and selling arepas on the streets in New York City.  They sounded delish!  
Thanks much,
SD Susan

I just needed to know if the 10 Minute Banana Bread recipe or the Better Banana Bread recipe would work ok in high altitudes. If not, is there a good Banana Bread recipe for high altitudes out there?

Thanks,

Julie Miller 

Hello! I am new here but not new to baking, LOL!

As I browsed through the postings today, I had a "hankering" to bake some pumpkin bread, so off to the kitchen and here is what I made.

Joyce's Fruit and Pumpkin Quick Bread
8 servings

Into a large mixing bowl place the following:

4 tbls canola oil
2 whole eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
(hand mix all the above till blended)

Add in:
1 apple, chopped coarsely
1/4 cup raisins, chopped coarsely
handful baby carrots, chopped coarsely
1 oz walnut meats
(I added all the above to my food processor and chopped together)
1/2 cup canned or cooked pumpkin or winter squash

Mix in:
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp spices of choice ( I used chinese five spices, but you can use pumpkin spice mix or cinnamon)
1.5 cups 50/50 mix of whole wheat flour and unbleached AP flour

You should have a fairly stiff batter when done. I divided mine into four mini pans or you could bake this recipe as muffins

Place on middle rack in preheated 350 oven. Turn heat down to 325 and bake till toasty looking and feels firm to touch, about 30-40 minutes.

per serving:
calories 264
fat 11 grams with
1 saturated
4 polysaturated
5 monounsaturated
cholesterol 53 mg
carbs 39 gms
fiber 3 gms
protein 5 gms

added bonus of 108% of daily requirement Vit A!

I am contemplating trying a runny organic vanilla bean yogurt (Wallaby-- to die for, by the way) in a quick bread recipe that I am trying to create from scratch.  Does anyone know what the outcome of this would be.... I want THE MOST moist quick bread in the world when I am finished with this... Dense and super duper moist... To me.... it seems that this could possibly be an amazing solution- using milk seems to make it just ok-but not what im going for...any suggestions?

 Thanks much

 Sometimes, there is fun and challenge in things as simple as baking powder biscuits.  Still trying to perfect these things - easy to overwork the dough.  These are tender and have a great flavor, but I'm still trying to get them to be more flakey.  any hints?

 2 1/2  c AP flour

1 T sugar

4 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

1/2 c shortening

4 T butter

1 beaten egg and 2/3 c milk

mix dry ingred.  cut in shortening and butter until pea sized and some larger

I baked gingerbread for the first time last night. Yum.

I was amazed at how good the house smelled when I came home from work today. It really smells festive, like the holidays are here, even 24 hours after baking it.

I looked at a few different recipes before settling on something closest to the recipe from the Joy of Cooking.

Fresh cranberries are plentiful this time of year.

I love this quick bread with cream cheese for breakfast.

Cranberry-Orange Walnut Bread
Makes 2 large loaves or 6 small loaves or 18 muffins
4 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
2 cups sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cup orange juice
4 tablespoons butter or shortening
2 tablespoons grated orange peel
2 eggs, beaten
3 cups (1 12 ounce package) fresh cranberries
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

The simplest scone recipe you've ever seen.

Popover recipe below.