Gingerbread Loaf
Full of spice and robust molasses flavor, this bread is the for the gingerbread lovers. It's flavorful and ultra moist and will make the perfect holiday gift!
This is especially for those of you who love the gingerbread flavor but dislike the crunchy cookies. Have you tried it in a loaf-form? It's really more like cake than it is bread, but I'm calling it a loaf for simplicity..
This is so much easier to make than cookies-no chilling, no rolling, no cutting out, and no 10 million batches to bake! Mix it all up, pour it in a loaf pan, and bake. I'm planning to make mini loaves of this to give out this holiday season.
Can we take a moment to talk about how moist this bread is? Can we also take a moment to talk (or not talk) about how awkward it is to say the word "moist"? Every time I say it I can't help but think of that episode from How I Met Your Mother when Barney put on a play and stood in front of Lily repeating "MOIST" over and over and over again. That gets me every time! I have to pronounce it the way he did in the episode now too. Like you're talking in all caps. MOIST. Okay, back to the bread...
Have you ever noticed that brown sugar gives baked goods a tad more moisture than white sugar? That's because brown sugar has molasses in it. Not only does this bread have brown sugar, it also has molasses, AND buttermilk for moisture. Buttermilk is my #1 choice for moisture in baked goods, and helps this bread stay moist for daaays. With all 3 moisture-bringer-outers (scientific terminology of course), this bread is ultra moist and delicious.
Totally necessary is the cream cheese frosting on top. Okay, maybe not necessary, but I highly recommend it! The orange zest is a nice touch with the gingerbread flavor. It also helps deem this bread breakfast-worthy in my book.
Gingerbread Loaf
The wonderful flavors of gingerbread wrapped up into a moist, spice-filled loaf.
Yield: 1 loaf
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tea. baking soda
- 1 tea. salt
- 1/2 tea. ginger
- 1/4 tea. cinnamon
- 1/4 tea. cloves
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup buttermilk, room temperature
- 1 stick melted butter, room temperature
Cooking Directions
- Preheat oven to 325 and prepare a loaf pan.
- In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon and cloves.
- In a separate medium bowl, mix together the buttermilk, melted butter, brown sugar, molasses and eggs.
- Pour the liquid mixture into the flour mixture and gently stir until there are no more streaks of flour, stirring no more after that.
- Pour into greased loaf pan, and bake at 325 for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let cool and enjoy!
Cream Cheese Frosting with Orange Zest
Ingredients
- 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 2 T. butter, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 tea. vanilla
- 2 tea. orange zest
Cooking Directions
- Mix cream cheese and butter together.
- Gently mix in powdered sugar 1/4 cup at a time.
- Add vanilla, and mix until smooth.
- If needed, add 1-2 tea. milk to thin.
- Spread atop fully cooled bread, and sprinkle with orange zest.
