This amazing quick bread is filled with all of the flavors of caprese salad - tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. Fantastic with soup or salad!
Each morning, my 7-year old son sneaks outside for "Produce Patrol". He starts with the strawberry plants, then gradually makes his way over to the tomatoes and lettuce, picking off any specimens he deems ripe enough for immediate consumption. If his bounty includes four strawberries, he washes them and doles one out to each family member. If there are only two, he carefully cuts them in half first, which is no small feat considering the strawberries are no bigger than his thumbnail. His favorite time is mid-August, when the tomatoes are plentiful and he can load his lunch plate with a handful of the sweet little orbs. Until those days of endless caprese salads, we have to satisfy ourselves with pairing bocconcini and fresh basil with jarred sun-dried tomatoes.
The beginning of our summer crop in the awesome raised planters built by my husband.
Last year, I started making one of my favorite summertime breakfast dishes, a Caprese Frittata with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Fresh Mozzarella and Basil. Around the same time, Caramelized Onion and Spinach Olive Oil Quick Bread stole my heart. Why not the combine the two? Out came the onions and spinach, in went the sun-dried tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil. The bread is dense, with a crumbly but moist crumb and filled with the fresh flavors of the season. It should hold us over until those tomatoes make their appearance.
Serve this bread with a hearty soup, such as Chicken Vegetable Soup or Beef Barley Soup. Or serve it with a dinner salad, such as Mediterranean Chicken Couscous Salad Bowls or Salmon Panzanella Salad.
How to Make Caprese Olive Oil Quick Bread
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, combine eggs, milk, and extra-virgin olive oil. Whisk well until combined.
Pour the flour mixture into the eggs mixture and stir until just combined. Do not overmix or the bread will become tough. Add the sun-dried tomatoes, bocconcini and basil, and stir until just combined. I found these extra-mini bocconcini at the grocery store (something straight out of Gulliver's Travels), but you can also use larger bocconcini and cut them into smaller pieces.
Coat a loaf pan with cooking spray. Scoop the batter into the pan and smooth the top.
Okay, the mini bocconcini look like marshmallows in this photo. Try to push past that.
Bake until the top is light golden brown and a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out dry, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool in pan for 15 minutes, then remove the bread from the pan, and cool completely on a wire rack. Slice and serve.
Other savory quick bread recipes:
Caramelized Onion Spinach Olive Oil Quick Bread
Mushroom Rosemary Olive Oil Bread
Printable Recipe
Caprese Olive Oil Quick Bread
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- ¾ cup 2% milk
- â…” cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ¾ cup sliced sun-dried tomatoes
- 3 ounces bocconcini small fresh mozzarella balls
- ¼ cup thinly sliced fresh basil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, combine eggs, milk, and extra-virgin olive oil. Whisk well until combined.
- Pour the flour mixture into the eggs mixture and stir until just combined. Do not overmix or the bread will become tough. Add the sun-dried tomatoes, bocconcini and basil, and stir until just combined.
- Coat a loaf pan with cooking spray. Scoop the batter into the pan and smooth the top.
- Bake until the top is light golden brown and a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out dry, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool in pan for 15 minutes, then remove the bread from the pan, and cool completely on a wire rack. Slice and serve.
Nutrition
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Jeanette
Dara, your son sounds absolutely adorable - he must be so excited to see your beautiful garden producing all those gorgeous vegetables. This quick bread sounds and looks lovely!
Monique
This looks delicious!
Sasha @ The Procrastobaker
ohh my gooodness, this looks amazing! I adore fresh bread in all its basic loveliness, but throw in that gorgeous combo of flavours and you are on to a sure fire winner of a recipe 🙂 Delicious!
Giulietta @ Alterkitchen
Wow! This bread looks amazing... and I never saw these extra-mini-bocconcini here in Italy! Here mini bocconcini (more or less 10 g) are called "ciliegine" ("little cherries"), but yours seems to me even smaller... very Gulliver's Travels, indeed! 🙂
Kathleen
I can't believe how yummy this bread looks! I love your raised veggie/herb beds!
Lauren from Lauren's Latest
Just scrolling through looking at the photos, I totally thought the bocconcini were mini marshmallows! Ha! I was like "that's odd..." and then I read the whole post! I've never seen those baby mozzarella balls in my grocery store! I must find them! They are so cute!
jen
You have such a lovely garden there! Makes me envious. For me - I don't think I would have enough patient to grow so many different kinds of things! You go!
Have a Fabulous day!
Jen http://www.passion4food.ca
Lindsey@Lindselicious
How smart to put the mozzarella in the bread like that! I'm sold- making this soon!
RavieNomNoms
Goodness gracious! That is so yummy looking! I would have a really hard time not gobbling up this bread in .2 seconds! hehe 😉
Viviane Bauquet Farre
Wow - what a show-stopper! I'll be trying this recipe very soon. Thanks for the great post!