Sourdough Peach Quick Bread Recipe (Starter or Discard)
This moist, soft, slightly chewy sourdough peach quick bread recipe only takes 10 minutes to mix up, and is bursting with the flavor and aroma of fresh peaches and warm spices.
Prep. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line an 8.5 by 4.5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper so it hangs over all 4 sides, or butter and flour the inside of the pan.
Make the batter. Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, and cloves to a medium bowl and whisk to combine.Whisk together the brown sugar, buttermilk, melted butter, egg, sourdough discard, and vanilla extract in a large bowl.Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients all at once and stir to incorporate, being careful not to over-mix (a few streaks of flour are fine). If you're adding pecans (or other nuts), gently fold them in now.Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread it out evenly. Sprinkle 1/4 cup pecans and 2 teaspoons turbinado sugar on top.
Bake and cool. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a couple crumbs, about 45 to 50 minutes. Cool completely before slicing.
Notes
Mashed Peach: Your peach should be very ripe and soft so it mashes easily. I don't bother peeling it because the skin bumps up the nutrition and I don't mind the little bits of it. However, if you prefer, you can peel the peach before mashing.
Storage: Let the bread cool to room temperature. After that, wrap it well or pop it into an airtight container and store it at room temperature for up to 3 days, in the fridge for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 1 month. (TIP: If freezing, slice the bread first so you can thaw as many servings at a time as you want. Also after freezing, I like to lightly toast the bread to refresh it before eating.)
Recipe Yield and Serving Size: This recipe makes 1 (8.5 by 4.5-inch) loaf of bread. I cut it into 10 slices for 10 servings.
The Pan: Don't use a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan here; I developed this recipe as a smaller loaf and it won't have enough volume to rise properly in a larger pan. If you don't have an 8.5 by 4.5-inch loaf pan, you can bake this batter as muffins instead.