Chai-Spiced Bread

Let me just put this out there: Yeast scares me. Okay, it doesn't make me want to run away in fear, but it does intimidate me. I'm sure I'm missing a world of lovely homemade breads due to my yeast phobia, but I really feel okay about that as long as there are delicious quick breads like this one out there for me to bake.

This bread is so yummy; it is the true definition of "spicy." I don't mean it's hot, but rather that it's full of delicious spices that dance on the tongue. The bread itself is not incredibly sweet, which makes it a perfect balance to the powdered sugar glaze. This was a great use for the ground cardamom that's been sitting in my spice cabinet since I last used it in October, just waiting to come out and play. This bread isn't as moist as some of the other quick breads I've made, but it was still incredibly good. It was the perfect thing to warm me up on a chilly, snowy day!

Chai-Spiced Bread
Source: Betty Crocker Annual Recipes 2009

For the bread:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup prepared tea or water
1/3 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

For the glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
3 to 5 teaspoons milk (I ended up using about 6)
Additional ground cinnamon

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease bottom only of 8 x 4- or 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with shortening or cooking spray.

2. In large bowl, beat granulated sugar and butter with electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy. On low speed, beat in tea or water, 1/3 cup milk, 2 teaspoons vanilla and the eggs until ingredients are well-combined (will appear curdled). Stir in remaining bread ingredients just until moistened. Pour into pan.

3. Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on cooking rack 10 minutes. Loosen sides of loaf from pan; remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool 30 minutes.

4. In small bowl, stir powdered sugar, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla and 3 teaspoons of the milk, adding more milk by teaspoonfuls, until spreadable. Spread glaze over bread. Sprinkle with additional cinnamon. Cool completely, about 2 hours, before slicing.