Contents
A quick bread is leavened chemically rather than biologically, so there is no rise to wait for — the reaction between the acid and the base starts when the batter is mixed and the loaf goes straight into the oven. That makes this the family to reach for when there is under an hour, and it is why almost every bread tradition without a reliable yeast supply has one.
Part of Baking.
How they work
- Baking soda needs an acid in the recipe; baking powder brings its own. See yeast and leavening for the chemistry and the failure modes.
- The muffin method: wet into dry, mixed until just combined. Overmixing develops gluten and turns a tender crumb tough and tunnelled.
- The biscuit method: solid fat cut into flour cold, for flake rather than crumb. See baking fats.
- Self-rising flour, which is all-purpose with the leavening already in it — see flour.
The family
- Soda bread — bicarbonate and buttermilk; the Irish version is in bread-world-table
- Cornbread — usually cast iron, usually buttermilk; see pan and skillet breads and corn
- Beer bread — no yeast added, the beer supplying both liquid and lift
- Banana, zucchini, and pumpkin loaves — sweet enough to sit at the edge of cakes
- Muffins and scones
- Biscuits
- Damper — the Australian camp bread, also in bread-world-table
Using the harvest
Quick breads are the standard destination for surplus fruit and vegetables, because a batter tolerates a lot of moisture and a lot of variation.
Cakes With Vegetables · beet recipes · sweet corn recipes · apple crisp · Dried Fruit
Related
bread · flour · baking fats · cakes · bread recipes · buttermilk recipes — the acid half of most of these · sourdough · air fryer bread — quick breads are the category an air fryer wins outright, because they need neither a proof nor steam · cookies — the same chemical leavening on the sweet side, and the same argument that a batter which needs no rest is a different kind of baking