When we were packing for a move, I came across a cookbook that my grandma bought for me, Taste of Autumn from Gooseberry Patch. Several years ago, my grandmother went on a two-week bus trip that took her, my aunt, and my uncle through New York, New England, Ontario, Quebec, and Pennsylvania. (Oh, there were many Paul Revere-inspired photos to view!). Thoughtful as she is, she returned with a bag full of goodies just for me, including maple syrup, of course, and this delightful cookbook. As a thank you, I baked a loaf of the Honey Quick Bread from Taste of Autumn, with a few simple changes. It was wonderful, and she loved it.
So when I laid eyes on that cookbook, and thought of her, I had an overwhelming urge to make that delicious honey quick bread recipe again.
Though it contains a good dose of honey, this honey quick bread is just lightly sweet in nature. It actually makes excellent breakfast bread or toast, slathered with nut butter or my Homemade Bakeable Butter (shown in the picture below – recipe in Go Dairy Free!). And of course, another little drizzle of honey never hurts! Tony also enjoys using this honey quick bread for slightly indulgent PB & J sandwiches.
Dairy-free and naturally egg-free “buttermilk” and honey quick bread slathered with Homemade Bakeable Butter – a recipe from Go Dairy Free 2nd Edition. Plant-based and so indulgent.
Buttermylk & Honey Quick Bread made Dairy-Free and Vegan
Taste of Autumn is far from dairy-free and the authors aren’t from any of the states or provinces my grandma visited, but there’s no need to tell her on either count. The simple comfort food recipes boast plenty of warm New England appeal, and most are quite easy to convert to dairy free. For this honey quick bread, I simply swapped out the buttermilk for my homemade dairy-free version.
But I couldn’t resist making a few more changes to this fall-inspired recipe. I reduced the oil a touch, increased the cinnamon, and substitute whole wheat pastry flour for part of the all-purpose flour. I also opted to “sugar” the loaf pan instead of flouring it. The resultant bread was absolutely perfect in texture, moisture, and flavor.
And I didn’t adapt the recipe to be egg-free – it came this way! It’s a naturally egg-free, nut-free, and soy-free, pantry-style recipe that can even be strictly vegan (honey-free) if you wish. Just see my Special Diet Notes below.
Special Diet Notes: Honey Quick Bread
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, optionally vegan, plant-based, and vegetarian.
For vegan honey quick bread, substitute a honey alternative or maple syrup for the honey. I wouldn’t use agave nectar because it is a little too mild in flavor
- 2½ cups flour (I use 1½ cups all-purpose flour + 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1½ cups unsweetened dairy-free milk beverage
- ½ cup honey (or honey alternative for vegan; see Special Diet Notes above)
- ⅓ cup oil (your favorite type for baking; I use rice bran oil or extra-light olive oil (not extra-virgin))
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice, white vinegar, or apple cider vinegar
- Grease and flour or sugar a 9x5-inch loaf pan.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk beverage, honey, oil, and lemon juice or vinegar.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Stir until fairly well combined, but do not overmix. Some small lumps are okay.
- Scrape the batter into your prepared loaf pan and level it out. Let the batter rest for 20 minutes. Preheat your oven to 375ºF.
- Bake for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
For More Dairy-Free Baked Goodies, Get Go Dairy Free!
11 Comments
Such a good snacking cake! I added 1 C oat flour instead of the whole wheat flour, the zest of one lemon, and topped it with a lemon icing (lemon juice + powdered sugar). The bread is barely sweet at all so the icing was such a treat! Will definitely be making this again.
So glad you enjoyed it!
If we use straight self rising flour do we omit the baking soda and baking powder? Planning on making this tonight with my spaghetti dinner
That’s a tough question since I’ve never made this recipe with self-rising flour. Based on the recipe we have for self-rising flour, you should be able to omit the baking powder and the salt, but you might still need some or all of the baking soda. I might try it with 1/2 teaspoon baking soda (no baking powder and no salt), and see if it rises enough if I were to test it myself.
Would this work with gluten free flour ?
I’ve not tested it gluten-free, so I can’t tell you how it would turn out. I’m always hesitant to recommend gluten-free when there are no eggs, because that can affect both the stability and the texture. If it were me, and I were testing gluten-free, I would probably add eggs, if I could. But if you try it egg-free and gluten-free, let us know how it turns out!
I made this bread today it turned out really good! Are other breads I made I struggle with and don’t turn out that great! LOL I did use different flour used all purpose gluten free flour in a cup cup of oat flour oh, reduce the honey to only 1/4 cup. Thanks for the recipe!
That’s wonderful! I’m so glad it worked gluten-free for you too!
I can see why you jumped on making this recipe. I love bread, so I’m pretty sure we’ll be trying it soon.
Made this today. It was super easy and delicious!! Thank you for always sharing your recipes- especially grandmas ❤️.
This looks like such a perfectly moist loaf! I can’t wait to bake it.