Carrot Cake Bread

Here at UB, when I still ate in the dining hall last year, there were very few choices that I actually enjoyed. Something that was pretty great about our dining hall was that they had a vegan/vegetarian section that usually had some awesome goodies.  My favorite was their vegan carrot bundt cake and little chocolate chip oatmeal cookies; every time they would have those along with dinner, I'd stock up for the rest of the week in a takeout box.  Now that I no longer eat in the dining hall (thank god), I miss that carrot bread.  I figured I'd attempt it someday, but one day when I was browsing through Healthy Food For Living, everything became much easier.  The recipe was right there!  Having finished a test today with pretty good results, I decided to treat myself with some of that bread.

It smelled so fantastic as it was baking, and now my room is filled with its delicious aromas.  I'm whipping up a boxed french vanilla pudding (the horror!) for later to serve with it as dessert.

 I ended up cutting this in half after it cooled so we have two loaves; I don't have a bundt pan, so this pan worked out just fine.

Carrot Cake Bread

adapted from Healthy Food for Living

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour

2 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

3/4 t cinnamon

1/2 t ginger

1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

2/3 cup low fat buttermilk

1/4 cup sugar (I used 6 packets of truvia)

2 eggs

1 t vanilla

1 1/2 cups shredded carrots

1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

1/2 cup raisins, soaked in boiling water for 10 minutes to plump

1/2 cup old fashioned oats

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.  In a small bowl, mix together the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger.  In a large bowl, beat together the applesauce, buttermilk and sugar for about 1 minute.  Beat in the eggs and vanilla until well combined.  Stir in the carrots, walnuts and raisins until fully incorporated.  Fold in the flour until just combined.  Spread the batter into a lightly greased pan.

Bake for about 35 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack.  Remove from the pan and then cool completely on the rack.  Store in the fridge wrapped in plastic wrap.