saints preserve us!

Like many folks, I enjoy fruit preserves dolloped elegantly atop a piece of toast or biscuit. My latest successful experiment involved some of those scrumptious preserves delightfully incorporated into some quick bread batter.

Whenever I feel the need to bake, the first, second, and third places to which I turn for inspiration are (in no particular order) my refrigerator, cupboards, and pantry. On this occasion, my perusal of the fridge resulted in the discovery of about a quarter cup of lingering peach preserves.

'Wouldn't these dregs be great in some mini loaves?' I asked myself. (Do you talk to yourself? I do. At least I know someone's listening.) Convinced that they would indeed contribute to a tasty quick bread (and resisting the urge to just attack them with a spoon), I started with a basic muffin recipe, cut back the sugar, and added the preserves, chopped pecans, and nutmeg.

The result was a fluffy and sweet piece of breakfast bread--it was delicious. My only complaint would be that the taste of the peaches was too faint. In the future, I'll not wait until only a bit of preserves remain in the bottom of the jar and include more in the batter.

Ah, success. Feels gooood.

Peach & Pecan Planks
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup peach preserves
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray pan of choice.
In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. In another bowl, stir together milk, eggs, oil, preserves, and vanilla until blended. Make a well in center of dry ingredients. Add milk mixture and stir just to combine. Stir in pecans. Spoon batter into prepared molds and bake for 15-20 minutes for muffins, 25-30 minutes for mini loaves, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.