Sourdough Carrot Bread

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

In a mixing bowl, cream sugar, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add to creamed mixture alternately with sourdough and pineapple juice. Stir in carrots, pineapple, coconut and raisins, if using. If desired, you could mix in the pecans too, but I usually sprinkle them on top of the bread.

Prepare loaf pans by spraying with a cooking oil spray. You could use two regular size loaf pans but I almost always use 3 to 4 of my mini loaf pans. Fill pans 2/3 full. Sprinkle with chopped pecans.

Bake large pans for 60 minutes, minis for 35 minutes or until lightly browned and done. Sizes of mini-pans vary so watch closely so you don’t over-bake. Cool in pan for 5 minutes and then remove from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Many people feel that flavor of carrot bread improves by wrapping and storing for several hours before serving. I usually don’t wait that long. However, if you need to prepare ahead of time, it’s good to know that it’s only going to get better with time. We’re talking hours or a day perhaps, not weeks or months!