Quick bread facts for kids
| Type | Bread |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | United States |
Quick bread is a special kind of bread that doesn't use yeast or eggs to make it rise. Instead, it uses other ingredients called "leavening agents." The best part about quick breads is that they are super fast and easy to make. You don't need to wait for them to rise for hours like traditional yeast breads.
Many yummy foods are quick breads! This includes some cakes, brownies, and cookies. Other examples are banana bread, beer bread, biscuits, cornbread, muffins, pancakes, scones, and soda bread.
Contents
The History of Quick Bread
Quick bread likely first appeared in the United States around the late 1700s. Before quick breads, people made baked goods rise using either yeast or by whipping eggs into the dough. Sometimes, quick bread is also called "fast bread."
How Chemical Leaveners Changed Baking
A big change in baking happened around 1846. That's when baking soda became available for everyone to buy. Later, in 1856, baking powder also became popular. These new ingredients made it much easier to make bread rise quickly. Companies like Church and Dwight (who make "Arm & Hammer") and "Calumet" helped make these products famous.
Quick Bread During the Civil War
During the American Civil War (1861–1865), people needed food that was easy to carry and quick to make. It was also hard to find skilled bakers. This made quick breads, which used baking soda instead of yeast, very popular.
Quick Bread in Modern Times
As the Industrial Revolution grew, companies started making lots of prepackaged foods. Chemical leaveners were perfect for this. They helped make sure that every batch of quick bread was the same. This was a big deal because yeast can be tricky and change depending on the weather or where you are. Even though quick breads might not have the same flavor or texture as yeast breads, they are very reliable.
How Quick Bread Rises (Leavening Process)
Making quick bread usually involves two steps. First, you mix all the dry ingredients together in one bowl. This includes the special leavening agents. Then, you mix all the wet ingredients in another bowl. Sometimes, the wet ingredients might be slightly acidic to help the leavening process start.
The Science Behind the Rise
When you mix the dry and wet ingredients, the leavening agents start a chemical reaction. These agents are usually a weak acid and a weak base. When they mix, they create carbon dioxide gas. This gas forms tiny bubbles in the dough, making the baked good get bigger and lighter.
Yeast breads can take many hours to rise. Their texture can also change a lot based on things like temperature. But quick breads, made with chemical leaveners, are much faster and more dependable. They usually turn out softer and lighter than traditional yeast breads.
Common Leavening Agents
- Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) needs an acid to work. You might use cream of tartar, lemon juice, or buttermilk as the acid. When baking soda and an acid mix, they create carbon dioxide. If a quick bread uses only baking soda to rise, it's often called "soda bread."
- Baking powder is different. It already has both an acid and a base mixed together in a dry powder. It just needs a liquid to start the reaction.
Other ways to make things rise include:
- Beating egg whites until they are stiff, like for waffles.
- Using steam, like in cream puffs.
In big bakeries, they use special acids and bases to make sure the gas production is always the same. Here are some examples:
| Leavening acids | Leavening bases |
|---|---|
|
|
Most quick breads use the same basic ingredients: flour, a leavening agent, eggs, fat (like butter or oil), and a liquid (like milk). Other ingredients are added to change the flavor and texture. The type of quick bread you get depends on how you mix the ingredients and how much liquid you use. Some batters are thin enough to pour, while others are thick enough to shape.
Ways to Mix Quick Breads
There are three main ways to mix quick breads. These methods help the bread rise, not just from the leavening agents, but also from air mixed into the ingredients.
- The Stirring Method: This is also called the "muffin method." It's used for pancakes, muffins, cornbread, and dumplings. You mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately. Then, you quickly mix the two together. Often, the wet ingredients include beaten eggs, which have air trapped inside to help the bread rise. The fats used in this method are usually liquid, like cooking oil. It's important not to mix too much, or the bread can become tough.
- The Creaming Method: This method is often used for cake batters. You beat butter and sugar together until they are smooth and fluffy. This process is called "creaming." Then, you mix in eggs and liquid flavors. Finally, you add the dry and liquid ingredients. The creaming method helps the bread rise by trapping air bubbles in the butter. It's important to mix gently at the end so you don't lose those air pockets.
- The Shortening Method: Also known as the "biscuit method," this is used for biscuits and some scones. In this method, you cut solid fat (like butter or vegetable shortening) into the flour and other dry ingredients. You can use a food processor or a pastry blender. This creates layers of fat in the dough. As the bread bakes, the fat melts, making the bread flaky and helping it rise.
How Thick is the Dough?
Quick breads can have different thicknesses, from very runny to very stiff. There are four main types of quick bread batter or dough:
- Pour Batters: These are very thin, like pancake batter. They have about the same amount of liquid as dry ingredients (1:1 ratio). You can easily pour them in a steady stream.
- Drop Batters: These are thicker, like cornbread or muffin batters. They have about half as much liquid as dry ingredients (1:2 ratio). You usually need to scoop or "drop" them onto a baking sheet.
- Soft Doughs: These are even thicker, like many chocolate chip cookie doughs. They have about one-third as much liquid as dry ingredients (1:3 ratio). Soft doughs can be a bit sticky to work with.
- Stiff Doughs: These are the thickest, like pie crust or sugar cookie doughs. They have only about one-eighth as much liquid as dry ingredients (1:8 ratio). Stiff doughs are easy to handle and don't stick much to your hands or tools.
These ratios are based on how much space the ingredients take up (volume), not their weight.
