Rhubarb bread

Just at the end of rhubarb and strawberry season, I want to post a recipe for rhurbarb bran bread that we've really enjoyed several times this season.

Below is the original recipe that we found on the internet, which produced a tasty dessert bread, followed by some modifications that I made the second time around, resulting in a moister bread, a little less sweet, with an aromatic strawberry flavor, in addition to the rhubarb's tartness! (That's the version that CSA member Angie's kids "inhaled," just like we did! :) )

Rhubarb-Bran Bread Recipe

Ingredients:

2 C finely chopped rhubarb
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2 3/4 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
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1 slightly beaten egg
1 1/3 C packed brown sugar
an 8 oz carton of plain yogurt
1/2 C bran cereal flakes
1/3 C applesauce
1/4 C cooking oil

Directions:
1. Grease the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of two 8x4x2" loaf pans. Stir together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
2. Stir together egg, brown sugar, yogurt, bran cereal, applesauce, and oil; add all at once to flour mixture. Stir just til combined -- gently stir in rhubarb.
3. Spread batter into pans, and sprinkle with Streusel Oat Topping (see recipe for topping below.)
4. Bake in 350 degree oven about 50 minutes, or until the toothpick you insert comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, and if you can possibly wait, wrap the bread and store it overnight before slicing.

Streusel Oat Topping:

Stir together 1/4 C packed brown sugar, 1/4 C rolled oats, 1 T all-purpose flour, 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon. Stir in 2 T melted butter or margarine and sprinkle onto batter before baking.

Variations:

The second time I made the bread, we didn't have brown sugar or applesauce, so I substituted about 1/2 C raw cane sugar and 1/2 C raw honey, and instead of the applesauce I mashed up fresh strawberries to make about 1/3 C of a chunky strawberry "sauce." It turned out great!

~Maggie