Mini Carrot Peach Loaves

Sometimes it is fun to drop off a special treat to a friend....for no reason at all other than a gesture to show that we care and that we were thinking of them. Not only do I enjoy bringing a special smile to someone's face over an unexpected treat but it also helps me NOT eat so much of the baked goodies that I seem to produce quite often - yes, I admit I have a serious problem...I LOVE to bake!!!  Shhhhh....don't tell anyone, that doesn't already know. ;-)

 Recently after making a batch of Mini Carrot Peach Loaves my oldest daughter and I piled into the car and delivered the treats to a couple of special people in our lives. 

We tied cute and colorful ribbons around the mini breads (another problem of mine...I just ADORE anything mini...and ribbon too!-I have a special place in my heart for ribbon.) and away we went.  The breads were a hit!  The flavors of carrot and peach matched well with one another that was accented with just a touch of cinnamon.  The texture and taste of the sweet bread was perfectly moist and with just enough sweetness to allow it to be eaten for breakfast, snack or even dessert.  Warmed with a layer of butter was also reported to cause great happiness to our friend's taste buds.  Can you blame them?!  Butter = YUM!

Because of my love for anything mini I choose to make this recipe into 4 mini loaves....

....but of course you can just as easily just pour the batter into 1 regular size 9x5 bread loaf pan and be just as successful with this recipe. 

Mini Carrot Peach Loaves

(recipe is from Ryan Bakes - Ryan has super yummy recipes on her blog!)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup pecans, chopped (optional)

2 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1 1/2 cups peeled and chopped fresh, ripe peaches

3/4 cup freshly grated carrots

2/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup milk

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 4 mini loaf pans or 1 regular loaf pan.  If you choose to use pecans place nuts in a single layer in a shallow pan and bake for 8-10 minutes or until toasted and fragrant.  Stir halfway through baking.  Cool nuts 15 minutes before adding to the recipe.

2. In a large bowl stir together flour, sugar, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Add in peaches, carrots, oil, milk, beaten eggs, vanilla extract and toasted pecans.  Stir just until dry ingredients are moistened - do NOT overmix as bread will become tough if overmixed. 

3. Spoon batter into prepared pan(s) and pop into oven.  Bake for 30-40 minutes for mini loaves, 1 hr - 1 hr and 10 minutes for regular size loaf or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool for 5 minutes in pan before removing.

Happy Mini Carrot Peach Loaves Baking!

p.s. This week my oldest daughter entered into Kindergarten.  We are SO proud of her for her happiness, braveness and willingness to learn new and exciting knowledge from school. Below is a picture of her coming off the bus from her first day of school ...

Hello there Kindergartener!!!