Carrots inside bread is one of my favorite things as evidenced by my continued use of a wartime recipe for Carrot Rolls. They’re a favorite family holiday tradition! When I came across this recipe for Carrot Raisin Bread, I knew I had to try it. I’m so glad I did, because it’s a delightful twist on cinnamon raisin bread including all the cozy spices with the added nutrition of raisins and carrots!
This recipe comes from the March 1944 issue of Farm Journal and Farmer’s Wife magazine. I love this magazine so much. If you want to learn about how farmers and their families worked and lived, flip through a few old issues of Farm Journal!
I love that this magazine has a women’s section with all kinds of delicious recipes, many of them tested and/or shared by farm women across America. They had a lot of mouths to feed, so they knew what was up with good tasting food! More recipes come from food product ads which were also tested so they tend to be good choices for experimentation.
Which is where this recipe enters in. The recipe for Carrot Raisin Bread comes from a Pillsbury ad promoting their enriched flour. Don’t you just love the anthropomorphized raisin and carrot? Haha!
Here’s a close-up of the recipe for easier reading, because I know you want to try this one!
I shredded carrots using my flat, vintage aluminum shredder with a fine tooth which was the perfect size. The recipe also includes cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. I didn’t have dark raisins, so I used golden raisins I had on hand. I think it’s a good choice if you want less intimidating looking raisins in there. Haha! If you want them even less noticeable, try chopping them up before adding them in.
(I also used almond milk so my little guy could eat it if he could get past the raisins… so far no luck. But it still turns out great! If you use non-dairy milk, you don’t have to scald it. Just warm it slightly to help the yeast feel cozy.)
I even had a curious little helper come to watch me make it! Caspian is always a fan of watching me bake. As long as fur isn’t flying, he gets to stay. lol
The loaf turned out beautifully! I didn’t bake it at 400°F like the recipe says, because I felt it was too high. I did need to bake it a bit longer, so about 50 minutes. The surest way to figure out if your bread is done is to test the internal temperature. If it reads 190°F, then it’s baked!
The Carrot Raisin bread was soft with little pops for tartness coming from the raisins. The carrots kind of disappear, but that’s because I grated them so small. The spices give the bread just the right amount of coziness, though spice-lovers will want to amp up the cinnamon, cloves, and allspice a bit more.
Some notes
- The level of spice was tasty, but if you’re a fan of punchier spices, then increase the cinnamon by 1/2 tsp. Cloves and allspice by 1/8 to 1/4 tsp. Cardamom would be an incredible addition.
- To make the carrots more noticeable, grate them thicker.
- Bake the bread at 375°F for about 50 minutes, though keep checking it towards the end. An internal thermometer is a handy tool to have. 190°F is the magic number for bread.
Please let me know if you give this one a try. I’d love to hear how it went!
If you’d like to try another cozy Autumn recipe, take a look at this recipe for Maple Bread Pudding. It would be the perfect way to use up any leftover Carrot Raisin Bread!