When I was young, I vividly remember a special holiday sweet bread my aunt used to make for Thanksgiving. Chock full of delicious add-ins, this bread soon became something I would look forward to, come holiday time.
Fast forward to my first Thanksgiving as a married woman, and I knew I wanted to make this special holiday sweet bread as part of my Thanksgiving menu. Well, I didn’t have a recipe and wasn’t able to track one down, so I made one up by adapting a muffin recipe I found in my recipe file.
When we added kids to the mix, this bread became a necessary fixture to the holiday menu. And because I didn’t know what to call it, we quite creatively came up with the name “That One Bread.” But hey, at least we all knew what we were referring to, even with that lame-sounding name! That, along with Thanksgiving Pilgrim Hats, are two of the dishes we make every Thanksgiving.
The key to this bread is to add a variety of add-ins, from various fruits to nuts to chocolate to coconut. Of course, the precise ingredients that will go into your bread are up to you. I recommend any combination of blueberries, raspberries, maraschino cherries, cranberries, walnuts, almonds, pecans, sunflower seeds, chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, and coconut flakes.
Another recommendation I have is to keep the size of the added ingredients fairly large, meaning, leave the berries whole and only slightly chop the nuts. Of course, slivered almonds are good, and if you buy your pecans or walnuts already chopped, that’s fine. But the key to this bread’s uniqueness is to get a mouthful of unique flavor in each bite.
Assembling the Holiday Sweet Bread
First, take out 2 eggs and 1 stick of butter so they can get to room temperature.
Before you start your batter, get your bread pan ready by lining it with waxed paper. Then spray it with cooking spray. These two steps will save you much agony later when you’re trying to get the bread out of the pan!
When making the batter, first beat the butter and sugar. Then, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Up to this point, beat as much as you want.
Regarding the flour mixture, make sure you use baking POWDER and not baking soda.
And when it comes time to add the flour mixture alternately with the milk,
go easy on the beating.
Stop when it is still slightly unmixed, as in the photo below.
Then add your choice of up to 2 1/2 cups of add-ins. Choose from blueberries, raspberries, cranberries, walnuts, pecans, almonds, maraschino cherries, coconut, sunflower seeds, chocolate chips, and chocolate chunks.
Gently stir in your mix-ins by hand.
Don’t overmix.
Sprinkle something pretty on top like slivered almonds, sunflower seeds, or diced pecans.
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Quick Holiday Sweet Bread
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 2 cups whole-wheat flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 1/2 cups any mixture of blueberries, raspberries, cranberries, walnuts, pecans, almonds, sunflower seeds, coconut, chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, and maraschino cherries
Instructions
- Line a 9X5-inch bread pan with waxed paper, and then spray it with cooking spray.
- Mix butter and sugar thoroughly.
- Beat in eggs one at a time, until well mixed.
- Mix flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
- In separate cup, mix milk and vanilla.
- Add flour mixture alternately with milk mixture to batter, being careful to not overmix.
- Hand-stir in add-ins.
- Pour into prepared bread pan.
- Bake @350 degrees for 70 minutes.]
Nutrition Facts
Quick Holiday Sweet Bread
Serves: 15
| Amount Per Serving: | ||
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 233 | |
| % Daily Value* | ||
| Total Fat 13g | 20% | |
| Saturated Fat 6g | 30% | |
| Trans Fat 0 | ||
| Cholesterol 16mg | 5.3% | |
| Sodium 204mg | 8.5% | |
| Total Carbohydrate 28g | 9.3% | |
| Dietary Fiber 2.5g | 8% | |
| Sugars 3.5g | ||
| Protein 4.5g | ||
| Vitamin A 740 IU | Vitamin C 6mg | |
| Calcium 1000mg | Iron 7mg | |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
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