{ carrot peanut bread }

Homemade bread is an everyday luxury. Nothing beats the smell of fresh bread straight out of the oven. I felt like adding some color and new flavors to a regular bread recipe. Carrot puree colors the bread gorgeous orange, and peanuts give it nice texture and flavor. It's like a spring version of bread, and will definitely be a part of our Easter menu. Top a slice with soft goat cheese spread, turn your face towards the sun and enjoy.

Ingredients (makes 2)

- 18 ounces (500 g) carrot puree, store-bought or homemade
- 1 sachet (0.4 oz/11 g) dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/2 cup (1.25 dl) salted peanuts
- 3  1/4 - 3  1/2 cups (about 8 dl) whole wheat flour
- 4 tablespoon olive oil

I used store-bought organic carrot puree. It is sometimes available fresh but often frozen, and if you'd like, the puree is also really easy to make yourself. Just peel, cook and puree the carrots. Warm up the puree in the microwave until a bit warmer than hand temperature. Add in the yeast and mix. You can use either dry or fresh yeast. Just check the instructions from the package; there are many types of yeast and they work differently. Follow with salt and honey. Mix in coarsely chopped peanuts. I like to use salted peanuts for this to add a savory flavor to the otherwise slightly sweet bread.

Start gradually adding flour. When the dough gets too heavy to mix with a rubber spatula, work it with your hand. Towards the end of the flour, mix in oil. Finish with the remaining flour. For this bread, I love whole wheat flour with full grains. Depending on the flour, you'll need a bit more than 3 cups (about 8 dl). The dough should be quite soft and sticky. Adding too much flour will make the bread too packed and hard. Fill the sink a couple inches high with warm water, and place the mixing bowl with the dough there. Cover with a kitchen towel. This way the dough has nice and warm conditions to raise for 30 minutes.

Divide the dough in half. With floured hands, form two breads on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover and let raise for another 30 minutes. Score the top of the bread with a sharp knife. Bake at 400 F (200 C) on the lower level of the oven for 25 minutes. Let cool a bit and serve with soft goat cheese spread or cream cheese.

 

Comments

[Kira]

Mhhhhhhhhh, it looks delicious! I liked the carrot, peanut and face towards the sun part. The warm colour of the bread reminds me we are in autumn.

[tiina]

Hi Kira, the sun part is fun - we've had so many sunny days! Working with orange dough made me feel so springy:)

[Amanda]

What a creative use of carrot! I love the colors and I bet the carrots add a welcomed moistness.

[Hannah]

I love the idea of this! I don't think I've ever had carrots and peanuts together. I'm going to have to try this out.

[Bianca]

A combo I would have never thought of but this sounds delicious!

[tiina]

Thank you, Amanda, Hannah and Bianca! It's really a different kind of recipe. I was really happy with the way the carrot puree works as the base for the dough. Great flavor and color.

[Y]

Carrot peanut wha? With goats cheese? Oh you're so speaking my language with this recipe! Yum!

[micropile]

Thanks for the recipe. Can't wait to try it!

[Tineke]

Thank you so much for the recipe - we just harvested about 9kg of carrots from our garden and I needed something interesting to do with them!

I liked the first loaf so much, I've made two more batches of puree & stashed them in the freezer :-)

[tiina]

Tineke - thank you for a lovely comment!

[fattydumpling]

I made this bread of yours (with only a little adjustments) and it turned out awesome! There is such a nice carroty flavour which works well with the whole wheat tastes--I wouldn't have imagined that it was possible to make bread from a veggie puree ;]

[tiina]

Thanks for the comment! So glad to hear you liked the recipe. Carrot puree is a good add on in brownie batter too!