Chocolate Chip Quick Bread

Yield:1 loaf

Quick Breads are wonderful to make. Not quite cake and not quite bread, they mix together in a snap and are always moist and delicious. In college, this favorite quick bread frequently made it into the care packages I received from home. It keeps well and the flavors seem to only get better with each day. As an adult, I seldom made this yummy quick bread because the main ingredient was a popular buttermilk baking mix, which I almost never had in my cupboard. Rather than keeping this bread as a fond memory, I decided to rework the recipe so that I could make it without having to purchase baking mix. The loaf comes out moist and dense, with a light orange flavor mingled with the chocolate from well-distributed mini chocolate chips. Almost as delicious as the memory, this bread has become a rediscovered favorite.

2 cup all purpose flour 1/2 tsp. salt 1 tsp. baking powder 3/4 cup granulated sugar 4 tbsp. butter, melted 3/4 cup low fat buttermilk 1 egg 1/2 cup fresh orange juice 1 tbsp. orange zest 1 cup mini chocolate chips *

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Combine flour, salt and baking powder and sugar in a mixing bowl.

3. In a separate bowl, mix together the melted butter, buttermilk, egg and fresh orange juice with a fork. Add this to the dry ingredients and beat thoroughly, for about 1 minute. By hand, fold in the mini chocolate chips and the orange zest.

5. Pour the batter into a well greased 9x5 loaf pan. Bake for 55-65 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. If the top starts to get too brown during the last 15 minutes or so of baking, cover the top loosely with foil.

6. Cool the bread in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then unmold and finish cooling completely on the rack.

7. If you can stand it, let the loaf sit overnight as the flavors mature and get better the 2nd day.

Notes: If you do keep buttermilk baking mix on hand, you can use it to make this bread if you'd like. Replace the flour, baking soda and salt with 3 cups of baking mix. Omit the melted butter and replace the buttermilk with regular milk.

* Use miniature chocolate chips if possible, other wise chop regular chocolate chips into smaller pieces. The smaller chips distribute well throughout the loaf and don't sink to the bottom the way heavier chips do.