Maple Walnut Quick Bread -

... Oh! What a maple glaze ... sticky crunch atop a maple and orange quick bread ...be still, my heart!

The night before last, I had a particularly bad bout of insomnia..UGH. Tired of fighting it and tired of flipping back and forth like a fish on dock, I rolled out of bed and trundled myself downstairs to make up a fire, turn the lamp on low and browse a couple cookbooks that were laying by my spot on the couch.

This quick bread is the result of my middle of the night browsing ... a softly sweet and citrus quick bread with the silkiest batter I've seen in a while. The batter consistency is due to a full cup of maple syrup. I used dark amber, as I feel it has more body and a deeper maple flavour. The batter is also chock full of citrus flavour ... lemon zest and orange juice. A super easy batter to whip up and a superior bread all the way around. The shiny glaze is the result of a brushing with one more tablespoon of that thick amber syrup after the baked bread has cooled for several minutes. The syrup coats the surface and dribbles down the sides of the bread to make a gorgeous, finger-licking sticky topping to the slices.

Maple Walnut Quick Bread

a recipe from Sweet Maple : Life, Lore, and Recipes from the Sugarbush

Ingredients:

1 cup maple syrup, plus 1 more tablespoon more for glazing

2 tbsp. melted butter

1 large egg

Grated zest of one large lemon

2 ½ c. all-purpose flour

3 tsp. baking powder

½ c. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

¾ c. chopped walnuts, plus three perfect walnut halves

¾ c. orange juice

Making the Bread:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 ° F. and place the rack in the lower middle position.
2. Beat the cup measure of maple syrup, the melted butter, and the egg until smooth and glossy. Add the lemon zest and mix that in with a mixing spoon (so the zest doesn’t get tangled around the beater blades).
3. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.
4. Dump the chopped nuts into the flour and toss to coat and separate nut bits.
5. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet, alternating dry with part of the orange juice.
6. When the batter is smooth and shiny, turn it into a well-greased 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. Place the three perfect walnut halves I a design atop the batter, pressing gently to position them.
7. Bake the loaf for 55 minutes or until a cake tester comes clean. Cover the loaf loosely with foil if it browns too much for your taste.
8. Cool for ten minutes and then turn the loaf onto a pretty platter.
9. Use a basting brush to paint the maple syrup glaze all over the top of the loaf, using the 1 tablespoon measure of syrup.

It was only as I nibbled away on a warm slice of the bread with my morning coffee that I realized this bread might fit the parameters for this month's Twelve Loaves bread baking challenge ... scooting over to remind myself of the challenge ... yup! It's all about orange and citrus this month, so I'll link it there. There are some incredible Easter breads linked ... head on over and drool with me!