Breakfast breads are quick morning meal

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Mothers and nutritionists agree: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

The word itself means “breaking the fast” — that long timespan from dinner the previous night. Eating in the morning gets your metabolism going again.

Breads are often a part of our early morning meals, but rather than rising before dawn to make yeast breads, most breakfast breads are what’s called quick breads — those leavened with baking powder or baking soda instead of yeast, which requires much more time and multiple risings. Whipping up a quick bread for breakfast is, well, quick.

Whether your breakfast bread takes the form of muffins, coffee cake, scones, biscuits, sticky buns or a sumptuous loaf filled with fruits, nuts and spices, there are myriad ingredient options. You can even pack traditional bacon, egg and cheese protein into a single slice of breakfast bread.

Those same breads commonly associated with breakfast can be eaten anytime of day as a side or snack, and they can be sweet or savory.

Mix it up

Because either baking powder or baking soda serve as leavening agents in quick breads, it’s important that these ingredients are fresh, so check the expiration date on the container. If it’s out of date, buy new to ensure the best bread-baking results.

Serve it up

Breakfast breads can come in loaf form or individual servings like muffins or biscuits, or they can be cut from a larger shape, like scones or coffee cake. But one thing’s for sure: There’s nothing like something warm from the oven to entice a groggy-eyed breakfast eater.

Baking pointers

When you’re making a quick bread, be sure to either grease the pan or use parchment to prevent sticking. Or use pan covers, like individual muffin papers or silicone shapes, for easy removal. You want your bread to look pretty as well as taste good, and bread crumbs stuck to the pan don’t look very enticing.

Follow individual recipes for baking details, but common to all quick breads is knowing when your creation is done. If you’re looking at a loaf in the oven, there should be no sign of wetness on the bread surface — it should be dry and lightly firm. Look for golden brown instead of pale coloring. Stick a toothpick or wooden skewer into the bread center to double check for doneness. The toothpick should come out clean with no gooey residue.

The same test works for muffins, but also see that the muffin itself has risen slightly above the tin edge. If you take a muffin out of the oven too soon, it can collapse.

After removing a quick bread from the oven, take it out of the pan to cool and resist the temptation to eat it immediately. Cool a loaf shape on its side on a wire rack, and remove muffins from their tins to avoid soggy bottoms. Once the quick bread has cooled slightly, then it’s fine to slice without crumbling.

If you have breakfast leftovers, be sure to wrap the cooled bread to keep it fresh for the next encounter.

— Reporter: gwizdesigns@aol.com