Teacher Appreciation Idea with a Twist

In my last post, I shared a banana bread recipe baked in mini loaf pans that I wrapped up to give as teacher appreciation gifts. Most people have a family banana bread recipe, so it is not that new and exciting. I was thinking it might be a nice twist to bake a breakfast bread recipe that may not be as widely recognized. I pulled out a recipe I have for Rosemary-Olive Oil Bread because I needed a few more teacher sirsees this week. This is a savory bread, and a slice tastes REALLY good toasted.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. pine nuts
• 2 t. baking powder
• 2 t. dried rosemary
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1 T. freshly grated lemon zest (about 1 lemon)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3/4 c. apple juice
• 1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
• Pam or Crisco
• standard loaf pan (8″x 4″) or 3 mini loaf pans (5 3/4″ x 3 1/4″)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat loaf pan with vegetable cooking spray or grease the pan with Crisco.
• In a bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, pine nuts, baking powder, rosemary, salt, and lemon zest.

• In another bowl, blend the eggs, apple juice, and olive oil. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.

• Transfer the batter to the loaf pan and smooth the surface.

• Bake 55 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Notes

• The pine nuts can be replaced with chopped walnuts or pecans. You can also use a combination of nuts if you only have a 1/4 cup of pine nuts and need to add a few pecans to make 1/2 cup. This combination has been tested and approved.
• If using mini loaf pans, fill about halfway with batter. I get about 3 mini loaves per recipe. Reduce the cooking time for the mini size. After about 30 minutes, watch until the top is browned, then test the center to determine if the rosemary bread is baked through.
• Wrap with parchment paper and have kids decorate with stickers to give as gifts.
• These work well as a teacher appreciation gift, hostess gift, or housewarming present.