Orange-Pecan Sweet Bread

There is just something about making homemade bread on a cold, rainy day that seems to just calm the soul and brighten your spirit.

Too serious?

Ok well it's also a great excuse to satisfy your inner fat kid and make your home smell amazing, all at the same time!

And luckily for my inner fat kid, I trick it into thinking it's consuming totally-god-awful-fattening-horrible-things-that-taste-insanely-good when in reality, it's lightened-up and low in fat and calories.  Yeah I can be sneaky like that.  But sometimes it's essential to enjoy the sweet things in life and this bread is no exception.

Sweetened using fresh orange juice and orange zest, this bread calls for zero butter and just a touch of sugar.  I substituted the buttermilk for fat-free milk and added just a scant tablespoon of lemon juice.  Fun fact?  You can create your own buttermilk simply by adding lemon juice or vinegar to your milk and allowing it to sit for about 10 minutes.  The added acidity is what creates your buttermilk and saves you a trip to the store!

I mean how could you not want to make this bread??  No rising required in this deliciousness either, that's the great thing about sweet breads.  You throw it all into a bowl, mix it up and pour it in your pan.  Done.  I also added a hint of cinnamon, well, because I just love the stuff.  Seriously this is a winner folks and has been my breakfast of choice for the past few days now (and quite possibly my dessert too...shh.)

Oh and another thing I'm excited about??  Eat Yourself Skinny is officially in print friends!  I just received a copy of a super cute cookbook called Frugally Delicious where they graciously featured my Candied Balsamic Tomatoes and Mozzarella Salad!  Pretty cool, huh??

There are many other amazing food bloggers
featured in this book as well and I might just be giving a copy away
to one lucky reader in an upcoming giveaway,
so stay tuned!

Now go enjoy this bread.

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Servings: 14

Serving Size: 1 slice

Calories: 171

Fat: 5 g

Carbs: 27.4 g

Fiber: 0.7 g

Protein: 3.2 g

Old Points: 3.7 pts

Points+: 4 pts

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Here are your ingredients:

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light 

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. allspice

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup fat-free milk

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted

3 Tbsp vegetable oil

3 Tbsp fresh orange juice

2 tsp. grated orange rind

2 large eggs

Cooking spray

For the glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp. fresh orange juice

1 1/2 tsp. chopped pecans, toasted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices, stirring well with a whisk.  Make a well in the center of the mixture and set aside.  Now in a medium bowl using a whisk, combine the sugar, milk, lemon juice, pecans, oil, orange juice, zest and eggs.  Add to your flour mixture and stir with a spoon just until moist.

Pour your batter into an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray.  Bake your bread at 350 degrees F for about 45 to 48 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Cool for about 10 minutes and remove bread and place on wire rack.  Allow to cool completely.

For the glaze, combine the powdered sugar and orange juice, whisking until smooth.  Drizzle glaze over your bread and sprinkle with pecans.  Enjoy!

Click here for a printable version of this recipe

Mmm delish.