A-to-Z Bread

Name: A-to-Z Bread
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: 2 loaves.
Ingredients: 1-1/2 cups sugar; 1 cup canola oil; 3 Nellie’s Free Range Eggs, lightly beaten; 2 cups A to Z ingredients (choose from list below); 1 tablespoon vanilla extract; 3 cups all-purpose flour; 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon; 2 teaspoons baking powder; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 cup chopped walnuts; A to Z INGREDIENTS:; Apples, peeled and shredded; Applesauce; Apricots (dried), chopped; Bananas (ripe), mashed; Carrots, shredded; Sweetened shredded coconut; Dates, pitted and chopped; Figs (dried), chopped; Grapes (seedless), chopped; Oranges, peeled and chopped; Peaches, peeled and chopped; Pears, peeled and chopped; Pineapple (canned), crushed and drained; Dried plums, pitted and chopped; Pumpkin, canned; Raisins; Raspberries, unsweetened fresh or frozen; Rhubarb, chopped fresh or frozen

From apples to zucchini, no matter what you have on hand, chances are it will be fantastic in this bread. —Marcelle Okawa, Carson City, Nevada

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
3 Nellie’s Free Range Eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups A to Z ingredients (choose from list below)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped walnuts
A to Z INGREDIENTS:
Apples, peeled and shredded
Applesauce
Apricots (dried), chopped
Bananas (ripe), mashed
Carrots, shredded
Sweetened shredded coconut
Dates, pitted and chopped
Figs (dried), chopped
Grapes (seedless), chopped
Oranges, peeled and chopped
Peaches, peeled and chopped
Pears, peeled and chopped
Pineapple (canned), crushed and drained
Dried plums, pitted and chopped
Pumpkin, canned
Raisins
Raspberries, unsweetened fresh or frozen
Rhubarb, chopped fresh or frozen
Strawberries, fresh or frozen
Sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed
Zucchini, peeled and grated

Directions

In a bowl, combine the sugar, oil and eggs. Stir in A to Z ingredients of your choice and vanilla. Combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt; stir into liquid ingredients just until moistened. Stir in nuts. Pour into two greased 8x4-in. loaf pans.
Bake at 350° for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Originally published as A-to-Z Bread in Crafting Traditions May/June 1996

Reviews

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Average Rating:

PrplMonky5

Jan 15, 2016

I'm not entirely sure what I did wrong, but this was HORRIBLE. I used about 1 cup chopped up fresh strawberries, 1/2 cup mashed bananas, and 1/2 cup frozen blueberries. I feel like I was very careful making sure not to over-stir the mixture. Despite this, when I cooked it the inside would NOT finish cooking. The outside was getting harder and harder while the inside stayed gooey. When I finally had enough, I cut it open to find a huge hole in the middle of the bread. No idea how that happened. So to recap, inside had a huge hole and the bread all around the hole was nearly uncooked with the outside being extremely hard. The only things I can think of is either I did over mix it (despite trying so hard not to do so), the fruit mixture I used was too "wet", or the baking soda I used was a little too old. I will try this recipe again, because I refuse to be beaten by such a simple recipe. If that attempt goes better I will update my review. Otherwise, I'm really not happy with how my "bread" turned out. I had to throw everything away.
alfoa

Aug 18, 2015

The flavor is good, but texture is not what I expected. I'm not going so far as to say that its dry, but its definitely not moist. The color is light, almost sand-like--also unexpected. I used zucchini this time. I'd be willing to try again with different ingredients, but I'm not holding out hope that it will be better. My banana bread recipe is 10x better than this.Also, I pulled it out of the oven a few minutes early, as it was already done. My oven is usually slow...I did see several people commenting on changing the temp to 350, but the instructions say 350, so maybe there is an issue with the temp.
lindakw

May 31, 2014

I cut the recipe in 1/2 but used 2 eggs, no oil and 1 c. fruit plus 1/2 c. fruit puree....... the 1 c. was strawberries and rhubarb; the puree was strawberries.... YUM!
vworthen

Apr 8, 2014

My 4 yr. old is VERY picky, and she LOVES this bread!!! Any time we get bananas she immediately asks if I will make banana bread for her. This is defiantly a must keep!
delowenstein

Jul 14, 2013

I have used this recipe time and again and made adjustments to suit my tastes! Dawn E. Lowenstein
delowenstein

Jul 14, 2013

I have made this recipe before and I've found it really good! I have adjusted the recipe to suit my tastes! I used 2 cups sugar: 1/2 brown & 1/2 white, and I used three cups of A to Z ingredients, rather than 2 cups. Ingredients I'd used yesterday were a combination of cooked, mashed sweet potatoes, ground Navel orange, chopped unpeeled Granny Smith apple and chopped Bing cherries, pitted,to make 3 cups total. I used 1 tsp. eachof baking powder, baking soda and salt & 2 tsp. ground cinnamon. I also baked the loaves in three 8-1/2x4-1/2" loaf pans and baked the loaves at 350o F. instead of 325o F. For me, this method worked.I used the 55 to 65 time! I've baked thisbread a # of times and took it to our chapelfor our Sunday morning coffee breaks!People have really enjoyed this bread!Thank you for sharing this recipe, MarcellaOkawa! delowenstein
delowenstein

Jul 14, 2013

I have the original recipe from this contributor and I'd prepared it yesterday, using sweet potatoes, chopped unpeeledGranny Smith apples, 1 ground Navel orangeand chopped Bing cherries. I used a total of 3 cups of A to Z ingredients, rather than 2 cups. I also had used 2 cups of sugar in the original recipe-1/2 white and 1/2 brown. The original recipe called for 1 tsp. each of baking powder, baking soda and salt, so I kept it at that! I'd omitted the nuts since there are people who have nut allergies! I've baked this bread a # of times and it's been a lot of fun to use A to Z ingredients which work well-I'd used a combination of zucchini, shredded, ground apple (left unpeeled), ground Navel orange,candied fruit, canned pineapple, pumpkin-of course matching up the A to Z ingredients to make the bread compatible!I also found that this bread makes 3 loaves, rather than 2 loaves, using three greased and floured 8-1/2x4-1/2" loaf pans.I baked this bread at 350o and for me this oven tempt. worked! I baked 55 to 65 minutes! This bread has been a staple at our chapel Coffee breaks-I bake it and take it to our chapel and friends who have had it really enjoy the combination of flavors in this bread! My mother also has enjoyed it! Thank you, Marcelle Okawa,for submitting this recipe!
cmfdrama

Apr 11, 2013

Made. A version of this using pineapple and coconut. It can out good. A little dry though. Vanilla taste a bit strong so I'll use a little less next time and the coconut flavor came through well. The pineapple though I can hardly taste. Instead of one cup of each ingredient I'll add a cup and a half of pineapple and only a half cup of coconut. Looking forward to making this again.
jaynewalbridge

Feb 5, 2013

Made this recipe a couple weeks ago with applesauce. The texture was great, everyone loved it. Making it again this week and I think I'l try fruit cocktail (drained)............
VictoriaElaine

Sep 21, 2012

I made this using zucchini, carrots, apples & raisins. I overbaked it slightly, but it was still really good. Since the loaves were so small, next time I will use one 9 x 5 pan instead of the two 8 x 4 pans.