Quick Breads

While homemade bread is wonderful, there are times whem we just don't have time for a loaf or two of homemade bread. Let's face it, letting yeast rise (usually twice, with many loaves) takes time.

That's where Quick Breads come in. Check out these six yummy quick bread recipes, including Browned Butter Jalapeno Cornbread and Fluffy Cheddar Biscuits. Enjoy!

TEA TIME SCONES

This is from the infamous-long-since-forgotten emailing list. Both my son and I were on several of these lists years ago. He forwarded this to me, as he had a thing for scones. The recipe makes 12 scones.

Ingredients

Cooking spray

3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup butter or margarine

4 eggs

1/2 cup non-fat milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 425ºF. Lightly coat baking sheet with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, chocolate chips, baking powder, and salt. With pastry blender, cut in butter to resemble coarse crumbs. In medium bowl, beat together eggs and milk. Add egg mixture to the dry ingredients. Stir only until dry ingredients cling together.

On floured surface, with lightly floured hands, pat dough to 3/4-inch thickness. With 3-inch round cookie cutter, cut dough. Reuse scraps. Place scones on prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire rack to cool.

BROWNED BUTTER JALAPENO CORNBREAD

This incomes from the Spring/Summer 2019 issue of Renew by UnitedHealthcare, page 26. It begins, "Browned butter adds nutty depth and jalapeno adds a kick to this classic crowd-pleaser, made mildly sweet with honey and moist with yogurt." Makes 9 servings

Ingredients

1/4 cup better

1/3 cup honey

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup milk

1 cup flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon baking powder

1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped

Directions

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. In a small skillet, melt butter over medium heat, swirling the pan occasionally, until the butter foams, then turns to a toasty brown color, about 2 minutes. Remove rom heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the browned butter to a 9X9 inch baking pan, swirling to coat the bottom.

In a medium bowl, combine the remaining butter, honey, egg, yogurt and milk, whisking to combine.

Add the flour, cornmeal, salt and baking powder all at once. Stir together only until combined. Stir in the halapeno. Spread batter in prepared pan.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Serve warm.

Nutrition: Calories: 207, Total Fat: 6.6 g; Saturated Fat: 3.8 g; Cholesterol: 36.5 mg; Sodium: 87 mg; Carbs: 33.6 g; Dietary Fiber: 1.5 g; Protein: 4.3 g

CORNBREAD

This is from Betty Crocker, and begins, "Our quick Cornbread recipe is not only made from scratch but is melt-in-your-mouth good. No matter if you're serving it as a side at a barbeque, alongside chili or even as a breakfast option, you can't go wrong with homemade Cornbread. With only four simple steps, our easy Cornbread recipe is one you'll want to make again and again. This is all thanks to the golden brown, crispy edges and incredible flavor. You'll knock our Cornbread recipe out of the park."

Prep Time: 10 minutes; Total Time: 35 minutes; Makes 12 servings

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)

1 cup milk

1 large egg

1 1/4 cups yellow, white or blue cornmeal

1 cup Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

Heat the oven to 400°F. Spray the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square pan or 9-inch round cake pan with the cooking spray.

In a 1-quart saucepan, heat the butter over low heat until melted.

In a large bowl, beat the melted butter, milk and egg with a fork or wire whisk until well mixed. Add the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt all at once; stir just until the flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy). Pour batter into the pan; use a rubber spatula to scrape batter from bowl. Spread batter evenly in pan and smooth top of batter.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm.

Expert Tips

Ground cornmeal is available in different grinds, from fairly fine to very coarse. A finer grind is good for baking a cake-like bread, while coarser grinds (like for grits or polenta that are often cooked into a spoonable hot cereal) can offer more texture and bite to our Cornbread recipe. Consider using a mixture of fine and coarse meals for a crumblier, more bread-like product.

Not all cornmeal is yellow; switch things up with a white or New Mexican blue cornmeal in our easy Cornbread recipe.

Mix a spoonful of clover honey or grated orange peel into softened butter to slather on the warm bread.

Bake the batter in a round or square baking pan or try a small cast-iron skillet, muffin tin, or in a heavy corn stick pan. Like for all quick breads, just grease the bottom of the pan or muffin cups so the bread can climb up the sides easily as it rises. For a corn stick pan completely grease the grooves so the sticks slide out without sticking.

MAPLE PECAN SWEET POTATO SCONES

This comes from United HealthCare, and begins, "Tender and fluffy, these spiced scones are full of veggies, whole grains and maple syrup and are best served warm. Even better? They’re easy enough to whip up for brunch or afternoon coffee."

Yields:12

You can view this online by clicking here.

Ingredients:

Scones

2-3/4 cups whole-wheat pastry flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 stick cold butter, diced

2/3 cup sweet potato, cooked and mashed

1/3 cup real maple syrup

2 eggs

Glaze

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon real maple syrup

2–3 teaspoons milk

1/4 cup pecans, chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, ginger and nutmeg. Cut in the butter with two knives or a pastry blender until crumbly. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the sweet potato, maple syrup and eggs until blended.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and combine until a soft dough forms. Divide the dough in half and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Pat each half into a 6-inch circle about 1 inch thick. Transfer the two circles to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Using a knife, cut each circle into 6 wedges, gently separating the wedges with the knife until they are about 1/4 inch apart.

Bake the scones for 16–18 minutes or until golden. Whisk together the glaze ingredients and drizzle over the warm scones. Sprinkle with chopped pecans.

Yields 12. Calories: 231, Total fat: 10.8g, Saturated fat: 5.4g, Cholesterol: 51.3mg, Sodium: 96mg, Carbs: 30.8g, Dietary fiber: 3.7g, Sugars: 8.3g, Protein: 5.2g

FLUFFY CHEDDAR BISCUITS

This is from Erin Jeanne McDowell in The New York Times cooking enewsletter. For this wonderful recipe, Erin wrote, "These biscuits are golden and crisp outside, light and fluffy inside, and wonderfully cheesy inside and out. They come together in minutes, and triple basting them in butter (before baking, halfway through baking and once more when they come out of the oven) really takes them over the top. You may be tempted to skip the 3 tablespoons of sugar in this otherwise savory biscuit, but don’t: It’s the secret to the biscuit’s tender interior. Inspired by Red Lobster’s buttery biscuits, these are drop-style, which means you just scoop up the batter and gently plop it onto baking sheets. Try to handle the dough gently to avoid compressing it, which can result in a less-than-fluffy biscuit."

Time: 45 minutes; Yield: 12 biscuits

To view this online, go to https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020539-fluffy-cheddar-biscuits. While you're at it, if you haven't signed up for The New York Times cooking enewsletter, I highly recommend it. Great recipes, lots of info. If you're like me, you won't regret it.

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1-1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/4 teaspoon sweet or hot paprika

1/2 cup cold unsalted butter (1 stick), cut into 1/2-inch cubes, plus 6 tablespoons melted unsalted butter

8 ounces sharp or extra-sharp Cheddar, shredded (about 2 packed cups)

1 cup buttermilk

1 large egg

Preparation

Arrange the oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, stir the flour, sugar, baking powder, garlic powder, salt and paprika to combine. Add the 1/2 cup cubed butter and toss until each piece is coated completely in flour mixture. Use a pastry cutter or your hands to rub the butter into the flour, continuing to work the mixture until the butter is almost fully blended into the dough. There can still be a few larger pieces of butter, but none should be larger than a pea. If the butter feels soft or melty at any point, refrigerate the mixture in the bowl for 15 minutes before continuing.

Stir in 1-1/2 cups of the cheese into the flour mixture. Make a well in the center of the bowl. In a liquid measuring cup or in a small bowl with a spout, whisk the buttermilk and egg until well combined. Pour the mixture into the medium bowl and, using a wooden spoon, stir until the mixture is combined. Near the end, you may have to fold it over itself a few times in the bowl to make sure it’s uniformly combined. (Resist the urge to use your hands so that the mixture doesn’t get too soft or compressed.)

Scoop the dough into 12 even portions (about 1/2 cup each) onto the prepared sheet pan. Stagger the biscuits on the baking sheets. (You should have 6 biscuits per sheet pan.)

Brush each biscuit with the melted butter (you won’t use it all) and divide the remaining shredded cheese among the tops of the biscuits (about 2 teaspoons per biscuit).

Transfer to the oven and bake the biscuits for 15 minutes, then brush each biscuit with butter again, and rotate the pans between the oven racks. Continue to bake until the biscuits are light golden and the cheese on top is deeply golden, 5 to 10 minutes more. The biscuits should spring back gently when touched in the center.

Brush the finished biscuits generously with the remaining butter. Cool at least 10 minutes before serving warm (or cool completely and serve at room temperature).

BUTTERMILK CORNBREAD WITH CORN KERNELS

This is from the infamous long-since-forgotten emailing list, though it states that it's from The Working Family's Cookbook.

Prep Time: 10 minutes; Cooking Time: 30 minutes; Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter or margarine

1-1/4 cups yellow cornmeal

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup fresh, or frozen and defrosted corn kernels

1 cup buttermilk

2 medium-size eggs, lightly beaten

Directions

Heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Put 1 tablespoon of butter in a 9-inch cast iron or ovenproof frying pan or a square baking pan and heat in the oven until it is hot and the butter is melted.

Meanwhile, combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda and corn kernels in a bowl and mix to blend. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and combine with the buttermilk and eggs in a bowl. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients and stir just to combine (do not overmix).

Swirl the butter in the frying pan to coat the sides and pour the batter into the pan. Smooth the top of the batter and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until a knife inserted in the center of the cornbread comes out clean.