Orange Juice Bread

I've been sticking to my commitment to bake something for Jesson and his classmates every Monday this semester. The problem is, I keep forgetting to photograph what I've made! Last week was Individual Mint Chocolate Chip Cheesecakes, and before that was White Chocolate Lemon Truffles. I always have this hope that at the end of the day at least one of my creations will be left over and Jesson will bring it home so I can take pictures, but, alas, that hasn't happened yet. Which I guess I'll take as a compliment.

I try to alternate what I bake each week. I try not to do something super chocolatey every week, I think there should be some variety. In keeping with that theme this week, I thought about making some kind of bread. I thought of banana bread, but didn't have any overly ripe bananas. Then I thought about something with citrus (my absolute favorite). I started looking around online and found the perfect recipe from The Menu Mom for Orange Juice Bread. I skimmed the list of ingredients and realized I had everything I needed! Perfect!

I did make two small additions that I think brought this bread from good to amazing. I added 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste and the zest of one orange and one lemon. I tried the batter before and after my additions. It was good before, but it was mind blowingly good after! Here is what I ended up with:

And the recipe (with my additions) if you want it:

Orange Juice Bread

• 1/2 cup butter
•  1 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
• zest of one orange
• zest of one lemon

Preheat oven to 350.  Cream butter and sugar.  Beat and add eggs.  Combine flour, powder, and salt.  Mix orange juice with milk.  Alternate liquid with dry ingredients until a creamy mixture. Add vanilla bean paste and zest of lemon and orange and mix just until combined. Spray bottom of loaf pan lightly with oil.  Pour in batter and bake for 45 minutes or until center is set.  Let cool 10 minutes, then turn out onto cooling rack.

Glaze:

• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp. orange juice
• 1/3 cup sugar

In sauce pan, cook until sugar is dissolved.  Brush over warm bread that has been removed from pan.