Tales of a Foodie: Tea Time! An Interchangeable Recipe for Tea Breads

I'm a big fan of quick breads - it takes half the time it does to bake regular bread, and there are so many great recipes for it! I came across a recipe for tea bread a while back, and decided to try it with some variations. They came out great! Tea is definitely not just for drinking anymore! A few great things about tea breads:

* they can be made just like tea - the recipe I use requires honey instead of sugar to sweeten the bread. It really makes the flavor of the tea the star of the show, and is a great sugar-free snack. 

* they make great gifts! Divide the recipe batter up among mini loaf pans, wrap them in pretty cellophane, add a bow and tag, and you have a perfect little gift! 

* This delicious recipe is amazingly simple, so it's a great beginning project for the novice baker. 

First I'll provide the base tea bread recipe. For the tea bags, you can use whatever kind of tea you think would taste great as a bread. 

Base Tea Bread Recipe

3/4 cup  2% milk

2 tea bags

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup honey

3/4 cup butter, melted

3 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. In a large saucepan, combine milk and tea bags. Heat milk over medium-high heat until steaming. Remove from heat. Let stand 10 minutes. Discard tea bags. 

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. In another large bowl, combine tea-infused milk, honey, butter, and eggs. Gradually add flour mixture to milk mixture, stirring until blended. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. 

Below are my favorite variations:

Vanilla Chai Tea Bread

Use vanilla chai flavored tea bags. Add a 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon.

Lemon Ginger Tea Bread

Use lemon or lemon-ginger flavored tea bags. Add 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger and a 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest. 

Green Tea Bread

Use green tea bags. Add 1/2 teaspoon of lime or lemon zest

You can have a slice for breakfast, or have it as a delicious snack! If you come up a variation that works for you or that you'd like to try, please share it with us! Enjoy!