Secrets for making perfect, tender, moist quick breads

[cindpach]

There are a few secrets to making perfect, tender, moist quick breads. Linda Larsen from about.com put together the following tips on quick breads.

* Combine all of the dry ingredients in one bowl and all of the wet ingredients in another. Then quickly pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix about 20-30 strokes.

* Don't over-mix. The wet and dry ingredients should be mixed just until the dry ingredients disappear. If you mix beyond that point, the gluten in the flour will develop and the bread will be tough. The batter should be lumpy.

* Bake the breads as soon as the batter is mixed, unless the recipe specifies otherwise. Baking powder and baking soda leaven by producing carbon dioxide when mixed with water. If the batter sits around without being baked, the breads won't rise as high.

* There will be cracks in the top of quick breads, because there is less gluten development in the bread structure.

* Glazes and frostings are great additions to quick breads. Pour glazes on when the breads just come out of the oven and the breads will be even moister.

Store quick breads tightly wrapped at room temperature. They do taste even better after a few days.