Carrot bread

This is by far one of my favorite fall and winter breads, it smells so amazing your neighbors will know you're baking something yummy in your kitchen. If you're not a fan or carrots by all means use zucchinni's but did you know that not only are carrots good for your vision but can also prevent Heart Disease? They can also turn your body yellow/orange in color if you consume to many. Just ask my husband, he almost turned into Carrot Man after drinking a daily homemade carrot juice for 3 months in a row. Oh my, he was honest to God turning orange. We actually thought he had hipatitis or something but thank God it was just the amount of carrots he had been eating. :)


Ingredients

2 cups self rising flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
1/4 teapoon salt
1 cup light brown sugar
3 large eggs
3/4 cup oil
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup wallnuts, raisins, or dried apricots (I used apricots and wallnuts)


Directions
Make sure to prep all your ingredients ahead of time (Shredded carrots, chopped nuts, room temperature eggs, and buttermilk). Set your oven to 350*. In a large bowl combine your eggs, sugar, oil, buttermilk, and vanilla. Beat until well combined. Set aside. In a seperate bowl sift your flour, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. Add your shredded carrots and raisins into your flour mix, giving them a light toss with your hands (make sure the carrots are well dried). Add the liquid mixture to your dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon just until combined (make sure not to overmix your batter or you will get a rubbery bread). Bake in a non stick loaf pan for approximately 40 minutes or until toothpick or knife inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan. Cool completely on a wire rack before serving.

This bread is not very sweet so feel free to top it with icing, like you see in the picture below.

Easy Icing/glaze recipe

1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted.
1 tablespoon heavy cream or milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Stir together confectioners' sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth. Transfer icing to a zip bag or pastry bag, and make a small cut in the corner of the bag. Decorate your loaf after it has completely cooled down.