I’ve been on a bread-making kick the last few weeks. It’s such a good way to use up leftover vegetables and you get a great snack out of it. We’ve pretty much had some sort of bread around all semester, whether its the sweet potato bread I posted the other day, this recipe or the one I’ll post in a few days… It’s a fun treat!

On Easter Sunday, I went a little crazy and made four loaves of bread – and this was one of them! The almonds and coconut give the flavor of the carrot bread a unique twist, and using only brown sugar gives it a beautiful amber color.

Brown Sugar Carrot Bread with Almonds and Coconut
Makes 1 loaf
Recipe adapted from Mark Bittman’s Cookbook, How to Cook Everything (Awesome cookbook btw!)

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons cold butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup skim milk or almond milk
1 tablespoon grated orange zest or lemon zest
1 egg
1 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a loaf pan with non-stick spray and dust with flour.

2. Stir together the dry ingredients and then cut in butter with two knives or in a food processor until there are no pieces larger than a pea. Transfer to a large bowl if done in food processor.

3. In a small bowl, beat together the milk, zest and egg. Pour into dry ingredients. Mix with a wooden spoon until the batter is just moist, do not overmix. Fold in the carrots, almonds and coconut.

4. Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for about one hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes before removing from the pan.