Green Tomato Cinnamon Bread

My garden has more green tomatoes than red tomatoes right now, and that’s just fine. Green tomatoes are delicious in many recipes, and this recipe for Green Tomato Cinnamon Bread is one of my very favorites. What I’ve written below is a lower-fat adaptation on a recipe I read years ago on frugalupstate.com. When I first read about baking bread with green tomatoes, I was skeptical. If you’re raising your eyebrows, I understand. Seriously, give this a try. When it becomes one of your favorite recipes, send me a message!  🙂

Ingredients (Makes 2 loaves)

2 cups of pureed, whole green tomatoes (small chunks are OK)

1 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup applesauce (real applesauce, no sugar added)

2 eggs

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3 cups flour

Directions

Step 1) Grease two bread pans and “flour” using granulated sugar. This adds a wonderful flavor to the bread, and actually allows us to use less sugar overall, because some of the sugar is concentrated on the outside of each slice.

Step 2) Mix together pureed tomatoes, almond extract, oil, applesauce, and eggs. Add sugar and stir until well combined.

Step 3) Add remaining dry ingredients, a little at a while, until all ingredients are incorporated. The batter will be pretty stiff, and that’s OK. As the bread bakes, any little chunks of tomatoes will release liquid, and your bread will not be dry.

Step 4) Bake loaves in a preheated 350 degree oven for 50 minutes to 1 hour. Bread is done when a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

This bread freezes wonderfully – just cool and wrap in foil. When thawed, it will taste as good as fresh. Slices of this bread are delicious packed in school lunches!