Award Winning Holiday Carrot Bread

 Moist and delicious mini loaves.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup cooking oil
1/2 cup milk
2 cups shredded carrot
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
1/2 cup dried cherries or cranberries
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Method:
Preheat oven to 350*. Sift together flour, baking powder, soda, cinnamon and salt. Combine eggs, oil and milk. Add to the flour mixture and stir just until blended. Stir in carrot, coconut, fruits and pecans.

Spoon batter evenly into 4 well greased and floured 16 ounce fruit or vegetable cans. (Or use 4 mini loaf pans.) Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, until a pick inserted in the center of loaf comes out clean.

Remove bread from cans and coll thoroughly on rack. Wrap in foil and store in refrigerator. Makes 4 small "log shaped" loaves.

Notes: This is a healthier and tastier alternative to holiday fruitcake. (If baked in cans, the loaves will resemble yule logs and can be decorated with icing or green & red cherries.) In 1985, I submitted this carrot bread recipe in the Colorado Springs Star Tribune Newspaper recipe contest and it won 3rd place .

For a whole grain option, that also works at high altitudes, make the following changes:
2 1/2 cups flour  --> 1 1/4 cups unbleached flour & 1 1/4 whole wheat flour
omit sugar
increase baking powder to 2 teaspoons
stir dry ingredients instead of sifting 
omit milk
add 3/4 cup of honey with oil and eggs