Snickerdoodle Bread

Quickbreads are one of my favorite baked goodies to make. They come together in no time (hellooo, they're not called quickbreads for nothin' ;)) and if you do it right, they can be very moist and flavorful. They're a fabulous option for breakfast or a snack...and sometimes, as with this recipe, they're also a great option for dessert. I give you permission to eat this bread whenever you want: morning, noon, or night. I won't judge. :)

This recipe comes from Barbara Bakes. I halved her recipe though, and the ingredients I used (to make one 9 x 5 loaf) are below. Feel free to double it though! That should yield you two 9 x 5 loaves or several mini loaves (you could also make this into muffins if you'd like!). I also changed the recipe slightly and I'll tell you what those changes are afterward.

Ingredients:

-1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

-1 tsp. baking powder

-1/4 tsp. salt

-1 tsp. cinnamon (I used King Arthur Flour's Vietnamese cinnamon)

-1/2 cup butter, softened

-1 cup sugar

-2 eggs

-1 tsp. vanilla

-1/2 cup plain or vanilla yogurt

-3/4 to 1 cup cinnamon baking chips

-1 Tbsp. flour

-1 Tbsp. maple sugar OR cinnamon sugar mixture (1 Tbsp. sugar & 1 tsp. cinnamon) for sprinkling

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 5 loaf pan with cooking spray. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one. Mix in the vanilla and yogurt. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined; do not overmix. Coat the cinnamon chips in the tablespoon of flour, and stir into the batter. Spoon batter into greased pan. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture evenly across top of the batter (or the maple sugar, depending on which you're using). Bake for 45 to 60 minutes (baking times will vary per oven) or until a toothpick or knife inserted into the center comes out clean. When done, let cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to let cool completely on cooling rack.

I am in love with cinnamon chips. No joke, I have about six bags of them on hand right now. So, when I saw this recipe, I knew I could make it right away. There's no shortage of cinnamon chips in my kitchen! In fact, I probably could have made 10 loaves of this bread with the cinnamon chips I have...

Notice the nice distribution of cinnamon chips throughout each slice of bread? Thanks to coating the cinnamon chips in flour before adding them to the batter, this nice even distribution is possible; they don't all sink to the bottom of the loaf. Woohoo!

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention it, but I used plain yogurt in this recipe, although the original recipe calls for sour cream. Either option will work just fine!

And I have to explain the whole maple sugar vs. cinnamon sugar on top of the loaf too... The original recipe calls for sprinkling a generous amount of cinnamon sugar on the loaf before baking. When I went to my cupboard to get cinnamon sugar (I have a jar of already made cinnamon sugar ready at all times - you never know when you might need it!), I saw my maple sugar in the cupboard. And I thought, hey, that could be good sprinkled on this bread! So I opted to use that instead of the cinnamon sugar. However, I did not add a full tablespoon of it to the top of the loaf. I used less... So, because of that, you don't see that nice layer of cinnamon sugar crunch that you see on Barbara's loaves. If that's what you're looking for, I would suggest that you use the full tablespoon of either option, the maple sugar or the cinnamon sugar.

I brought this loaf home to New York this past weekend to share with my parents and some other family members who were visiting. We enjoyed it as part of our Saturday morning brunch. It added just the right touch of sweetness to our plates! I also enjoyed a slice later on with some peanut butter spread on it. Boy, was that good too!!

This post is linked up to Taste and Tell Thursdays! :)