Orange Pecan Bread

Honey replaces sugar entirely in this citrus-scented quick bread, pairing its floral sweetness with fresh orange juice and grated orange zest. The result is a loaf that tastes more complex and less one-dimensionally sweet than a sugar-based version.

Creaming the butter with honey (not sugar) creates a different texture in the finished bread. Honey retains moisture longer than sugar, so this loaf stays soft for days. It also browns faster, so watch the color toward the end of the hour-long bake.

Alternating the dry ingredients and orange juice when adding to the creamed mixture keeps the batter smooth. Adding all the liquid at once can make the batter curdle and produce a dense, heavy loaf.

Chopped pecans stirred in at the end add crunch throughout.

Kitchen Tips

• Cream the butter and honey thoroughly. Honey doesn’t cream as easily as sugar, so beat longer than you normally would.
• Alternate flour and OJ in three additions each, starting and ending with flour.
• The bread is done when a toothpick comes out clean. Honey breads can look darker on top while the center is still raw, so test by insertion, not color.
• Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing. This bread is fragile when hot.

Variations

• Cranberry orange: Add dried cranberries with the pecans for a tart-sweet, holiday-worthy loaf.
• Lemon version: Replace orange juice and zest with lemon for a sharper, tangier bread.