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A quick bread sits atop parchment paper with beets in the background

Beet Quick Bread

This moist and flavorful Beet Quick Bread is lovely for a breakfast, coffeebreak, or teatime treat. Great way to use those fresh beets from the garden.
Course Quick Bread
Cuisine Canadian
Keyword Beet Quick Bread, Beet Recipe, beets, quick bread
Servings 12
My Island Bistro Kitchen My Island Bistro Kitchen - Barbara

Ingredients

  • 8oz/227 grams raw beet (weighed after leaves, stem(s), and tail ends removed and beet(s) peeled)
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • ¾ tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1½ tsp cinnamon
  • ¾ tsp allspice
  • ½ tsp nutmeg
  • 1/8 tsp cloves
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • ½ cup brown sugar, lightly packed
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
  • 1/8 cup applesauce
  • 2¼ tsp orange or lemon zest
  • 1½ tsp pure vanilla extract
  • ½ - 2/3 cup chopped nuts of choice (or sultana raisins) - optional

Instructions

  1. Bring eggs and sour cream to room temperature approximately 25-30 minutes before preparing batter.
  2. In medium-sized bowl, sieve the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices together. Make well in center of dry ingredients.
  3. In small bowl, mix brown and granulated sugars together and stir in the orange or lemon zest.
  4. Position oven rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350°F.
  5. Line 8.5”x4.5”x2.75” (21.59cm x 11.43cm x 6.985cm) loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving enough paper overhang with which to grasp and lift the baked loaf to remove it from the pan. Spritz parchment-lined pan very lightly with cooking oil.
  6. With the grating side of a box grater, or in a food processor fitted with the grating blade, grate the raw beet(s). Roll grated beet in a clean tea towel, and wring over bowl or in sink to remove excess moisture from the beet(s). It is not necessary to entirely remove all the moisture from the beet(s) and have them completely dried but the excess moisture does need to be removed to prevent a dense, wet, stodgy loaf.
  7. In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat the eggs at medium speed. Beat in the vegetable oil followed by the sugars into which the lemon or orange zest has been mixed. Add the sour cream or Greek yogurt, applesauce, and vanilla. Beat only to combine ingredients well. With mixer set to slowest speed, add the grated beet and mix just until combined with other ingredients.
  8. Remove bowl from mixer stand and stir in the chopped nuts or raisins, if using. Pour wet ingredients into well in bowl containing dry ingredients. Mix just until combined taking care not to overmix.
  9. Transfer batter to the prepared pan, smoothing batter evenly with a knife.
  10. Bake loaf on center of oven rack for approximately 50 minutes or until cake tester inserted into center of loaf comes out clean. If loaf starts to brown too much before it is baked, it may be loosely tented with tin foil after about 40-45 minutes of baking. Ensure loaf top is completely set before allowing the tin foil to touch it as the foil may otherwise peel off the top of the loaf. After removing bread from oven, let loaf rest in pan for 15 minutes then remove and set loaf on wire rack to cool completely before cutting.

Recipe Notes

Yield: One loaf, 12 slices (sliced approximately ½” thick)

[Copyright My Island Bistro Kitchen]

Note1: Loaf is best made the day before it is needed. Let cool completely on wire rack then place in airtight plastic bag and store in refrigerator overnight to allow the flavours time to blend and loaf time to set. Loaf freezes well, either whole or sliced into individual slices.

Note 2: Baking times are a guideline only as ovens bake differently. Start testing loaf with cake tester at the earliest baking time mentioned in the recipe. If cake tester, inserted into center of loaf, does not come out clean, bake loaf until tester removes with no moisture on it.