Savory quickbread vs. sweet quickbread

[Laurie M.]

Hi, I've been wondering if I could use a lot less sugar when I bake banana bread or pumpkin bread because I don't like it to be too sweet, so I asked a professional cook (via twitter) how much I could reduce the sugar by in a quickbread recipe and he said don't do it, it will ruin the texture and the structure. But here's my question: Why do savory quickbreads like pesto bread or cheese quickbread etc... come out with good texture and structure but they barely have any sugar in them? Thank you to everyone!

Laurie

 

[Becky]

It won't ruin the structure but it may change the texture. The structure in things like cakes and bread comes from protein (eg gluten in flour, eggs) and starch, not carbohydrates (sugar). You might find that reducing the level of sugar makes the quickbread drier, but given that you'll be using fruit/vegetables this may not be noticeable because they add a lot of moisture.

 

[ChesterV]

I don't like sugary sweets either. I put just enough sugar or sweetener in my breads and desserts to take the bitterness out.

For breads that have other substances in them like banana's, squash's, or other fruits/veggies, it is not really going to do much, other than change the sweetness level and take out some of the stickiness of the bread.

A good substitute for the possible drying out of removing sugar from this kind of recipe, is to add a couple tablespoons of melted real butter to the mixture.

If you prefer, and you are not allergic, you can replace the sugar with honey. You use half as much because honey is sweeter than sugar, and it causes the same effects of sugar in the batter while baking.....so you still get the sticky feel of the bread, if thats what you like. Plus, honey is better for you anyway.