PDQ Bread, noun: General term for breads that can be quickly made in about an hour by using baking soda and/or baking powder as the leavening. "PDQ" stands for "Pretty Darned Quick"!
Quick breads are a revelation for those of us who struggle with yeast but love making fresh bread at home. What's your favorite kind of PDQ bread?
PDQ breads are "quick" in two senses: the batter can be mixed in a matter of minutes and the loaves can be baked off right away. All you do is gently stir the liquids into the dry ingredients, pour the batter into a loaf pan, and bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. With no time spent kneading or waiting for dough to rise, we can have a loaf of bread ready to eat by the time we finish making dinner!
These breads are also quick in that they get eaten just about as fast as you make them. They can be sweet or savory, plain or filled with fruits, nuts, cheese, and other add-ins. Because they're made quickly and use baking soda or powder as the leavening, PDQ breads have a very tender, nearly cake-like crumb. The addition of eggs, dairy, and sugar also ensures a moist, rich loaf.
Here are a few of our favorites:
• Blueberry-Oat Quick Bread
• Bill Granger's Oat, Pear, and Raspberry Loaf
• My Mother's Irish Soda Bread
• PDQ Onion Rye Bread from King Arthur Flour
• Banana Bread from Simply Recipes
Do you have a favorite quick bread?
Related: Help! How Do I Fix My Muffin Recipe?
(Image: Flickr member .j.e.n.n.y. licensed under Creative Commons)
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My favorite PDQ bread will always be Beer Bread. It's quick, easy, and so very, very tasty. There are multiple recipes around... search one out and try it!
view Stone Maison's profile
My current favorite is Mark Bittman's "Quick Whole Wheat and Molasses Bread"
http://bitten.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/14/recipe-of-the-day-quick-whole-wheat-and-molasses-bread/
YUM. It is excellent when slightly toasted and covered in peanut butter, jam, honey, ice cream, you name it. I use fat free yogurt and tell myself it's good for me.
view juliardye's profile
zucchini bread. it isn't really "bread" bread, more of a sweet treat bread, but as long as you have banana bread up there....
view BrooklynBaker's profile
Most of my PDQ breads are sweet breakfast style breads, but my favorites are definitely banana bread (adding chocolate chips is always a good idea here) zucchini bread, and my absolute favorite is almond poppyseed.
view MissingMpls's profile
Yeah, Stone Maison! I second Beer Bread. We'd always whip it up in college with leftover, stale, cheap beer and it still managed to impress everyone with its buttery goodness.
view lotusmoss's profile
This bread from Eating Well is really great. I used whole fat yogurt (that's what I had) and it turned out delicious.
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/honey_oat_quick_bread.html
view MissKatieMay's profile
I second the zucchini bread and the banana bread! but no nuts!! :)
view mdevans's profile
My favorite is Pumpkin, some people consider it seasonal, but I will eat that stuff year-round.
view paperchaseuk's profile
I too love pumpkin bread and banana bread but am a fan of any type of quick bread. I haven't made zucchini bread yet this year-zucchini muffins, yes, but bread, no. You just gave me an idea...
view rosebud's profile
Can you post a good beer bread recipe?
view Zach's profile
My favorite is peanut butter banana bread from this old cookbook I have from the seventies called "Quick Breads" by Nitty Gritty Productions.
Recently I also made Mark Bittman's Boston Brown Bread from his vegetarian cookbook. It is traditionally served with baked beans. You used to be able to get this brown bread in a can. Bittman's recipe tasted JUST like it! Very nostalgic for me.
view megbot's profile
My Mom's recipe for banana nut bread, with good black walnuts :D
view Kakugori's profile
Zach: Here is my favorite Beer Bread href> recipe.
I also really enjoy this Molasses Bread href>from the NY Times; sweet, nutty, fast as all get-out, what could be better?
A Bread A Day
view eprewitt's profile
I want to see a good beer bread recipe too. I have never had any luck with bread.
view buda's profile
eprewitt... good looking recipe. The picture looks *exactly* like I remember my last loaf. Also, I found the comments to be spot on.
view Stone Maison's profile
Megbot.. look around. I still see brown bread in the can. Good molasses flavor I loved as a kid. And yes, we ate it with baked beans. In fact, I think you'll find it near the baked beans in the store.
view Stone Maison's profile
Yep, B&M brand Boston Brown Bread with raisins, in a can. Still available. I like it toasted with butter--yum! My kids loved it when they were little.
view emilymch's profile