Corn bread with fresh corn and bacon

I first saw this recipe over at Pinch My Salt earlier this week. It looked amazing, and I couldn't believe that this recipe came from The Bread Baker's Apprentice - I've had this book for over a year, and I never noticed this recipe in there. Once I knew about it though, I couldn't wait to make it. I picked up several ears of super fresh corn at the farmers' market this morning and decided to make the bread right away. I wanted to make it for dinner tonight, so I wasn't able to soak the cornmeal overnight as the recipe instructed. The bread was still wonderful though, packed with fresh corn kernels with lots of bacon on top. I've come to expect great things from recipes in The Bread Baker's Apprentice, and this definitely didn't disappoint. If you've got access to some fresh local sweet corn, this is a perfect way to use it.

Peanut butter banana bread

I have always loved peanut butter. As a kid, I would only eat the chunky kind, and later on switched to the creamy camp, where I still am now. I even remember trying peanut butter soup on a family vacation once. Bananas, on the other hand, I never really liked until a few years ago. It turned out that all it took to change my mind was smelling bananas one morning when I was very, very hungry. I started craving them immediately that day, and still enjoy them now. It's strange how tastes can change so quickly.

Once I started eating bananas more often, I quickly discovered how good the combination of peanut butter and bananas is. So when I saw this recipe for peanut butter banana bread in the October 2010 issue of Cooking Light, I couldn't believe that I hadn't thought of it before! I knew it was going to be delicious, and it didn't disappoint. The peanut butter adds a nice nutty flavor, and the peanut pieces add good texture. Regular banana bread is good, but I think this is even better!

Obviously bananas are not local to MA, but this is one of those recipes that I wanted to post about anyway. As for modifications, I used white whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose, like I always do for quick breads. I also substituted 1/2 cup applesauce for some of the banana, since I didn't have enough banana around. It worked out really well - the bread still tasted like banana (not apple), but the banana flavor wasn't too strong. I'll probably do the same thing next time. Finally, the original recipe also included a peanut butter glaze, but I left that out - I knew the glaze wouldn't store or freeze well. 

Zucchini sweet potato bread

This is my favorite quick bread recipe, and happily, both zucchini and sweet potatoes are in season right now! I first came across this recipe on Joy the Baker, and I've modified it to use white whole wheat flour, and also cut down on the sugar, because I don't like quick breads to be too sweet. This bread is hearty, moist, and flavorful, and makes a great breakfast...or afternoon snack...or dessert. And though I wouldn't exactly call it healthy, I think wholesome is an appropriate description. Enjoy!