It was a wild hair, kinda care, looking through my crooked glasses kind of day. It seemed as good a day as any for a massive Freezer Fruit Bread big batch freezer cooking session.
The big batch baking was about to get real.
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Batch Freezer Cooking – Day One
My goal was to fill up a shelf in the freezer with many loaves of many variations of fruit bread, using my tried-and-true favorite & very adaptable Freezer Fruit Bread Recipe and my trusty Easy Banana Bread Recipe for the Bread Machine. It’s so nice to have a stash of freezer fruit bread to pull out for an easy breakfast or a hearty snack, both of which we go through a lot of around here.
I’ve baked these two fruit bread recipes about a million times with about as many variations as you can imagine. This big batch freezer cooking day was no exception. They say variety is the spice of life, right? So I figure a variety of fruit bread flavors is the spice of breakfast & snack time.
Humor me.
I pulled out my two trusty bread machines and as many other pans as I could round up, and my FAVORITE large family mama mixing bowl. Then I got down to bread-baking business!
*** Here’s my affiliate link for the amazing 30 Qt Mixing Bowl –https://amzn.to/2NwSGtB. You should get yourself one, just sayin’. 🙂 ***
Big Batch Freezer Fruit Bread
First up was a big batch of banana raisin bread. I used my favorite large family Freezer Fruit Bread Recipe, with mashed bananas as the main fruit, and threw in some raisins I wanted to use up.
It made three big pans, which I promptly slid into the oven to start baking. If you’re using regular loaf pans, this big batch recipe would make many more than three loaves. I don’t have a giant stash of bread loaf pans, so in the spirit of using-what-you-have, I used my larger rectangular glass baking dishes. Whatever works, right?
Bread Machine Applesauce Bread
Next, I turned my attention to getting two loaves of applesauce bread going in my two bread machines. Yes, we are a two bread machine family. I’m still using my Breadman bread machine from my My Bread Maker Unboxing post & video from way back in the spring of 2015! And the 2nd machine, an Oster that I picked up on a Thrift Store Haul, is still going strong! I considered picking up a third one when I saw another good deal at a local thrift store, but I didn’t want to turn into the crazy bread machine lady, LOL! ? So I resisted and we’re holding steady with two often-used and well-loved bread machines.
*** Here are my affiliate links to the Breadman TR520 & Oster Express Bake. ***
For these two loaves, I used whole wheat flour. This recipe works fine with white flour, whole wheat flour, or a mixture of the two. I used regular white sugar for one loaf, and I used a stevia baking blend for the other one to make it more mama friendly (think Trim Healthy Mama).
After I got both bread machines going on their quickbread/express bake options, it was time for a watermelon break with the kids, because, summer! 🙂
Loaf count so far: 5 (Remember, some of them are big pans!)
- One 11″x18″ banana raisin bread
- One 9″x13″ banana raisin bread
- One 8″x8″ banana raisin bread
- Two bread machine loaves of applesauce bread
Big Batch Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Next up was a big batch of chocolate chip banana bread for the oven, again using the Freezer Fruit Bread Recipe. (I have to admit to getting a chuckle out of the surprise a couple of the kids got when they discovered the first loaves had raisins, lol!)
This batch made two 11″x18″ pans. Again, this would be several more “loaves” if you were using traditional bread loaf pans, but quickbreads work well in cake pans and casserole dishes as well, as you can see!
Loaf count so far: 7 (Remember, some of them are big pans!)
- One 11″x18″ banana raisin bread
- One 9″x13″ banana raisin bread
- One 8″x8″ banana raisin bread
- Two bread machine loaves of applesauce bread
- Two 11″x18″ banana chocolate chip
How long does fruit bread last in the freezer?
Fruit bread will typically last 1-2 days at room temperature, about 1 week in the refrigerator, and when properly wrapped and frozen, they will maintain their best quality for 2-3 months in the freezer.
To freeze your fruit bread, allow each loaf to cool completely before wrapping. Then tear off enough plastic wrap to go around each loaf 2-3 times, folding ends in. Next, wrap tightly in foil. Finally, place wrapped loaves in heavy-duty freezer bags, label with the date, and store in the freezer.
If you know you’ll be enjoying your fruit bread loaves within the next few weeks, simply storing them in a heavy-duty freezer bag is good enough. This is what I often do. For fruit bread baked in larger pans, simply cut the loaf in half and slide each half into its own freezer bag.
To thaw, place frozen loaves in the refrigerator the night before needed, or defrost using your microwave’s defrost setting.
Batch Freezer Cooking – Day Two
I started the second day of my freezer fruit bread big batch freezer cooking session with a batch of my blueberry bread, again using my Freezer Fruit Bread Recipe with blueberries as the fruit of choice.
Bulk Batch Blueberry Bread
Now, some people are always careful to dust their blueberries in flour and then gently fold them into the batter.
Yeah, I’m not one of those people. We don’t mind practically purple bread, which is a good thing, because I bloody murdered my blueberries, LOL! If you watch the BATCH FREEZER COOKING: Bread Machine Recipes, Homemade Oven Bread, LOTS! video, you’ll see, my batter was about as purply-blue as it gets, ha!
They might not have been the prettiest loaves of blueberry bread you ever did see, but they were still mighty tasty, and that’s pretty much what counts, right?
After getting those big pans of blueberry bread into the oven, I loaded up both bread machines with the ingredients for my Easy Banana Bread Recipe for the Bread Machine, swapping out the bananas for blueberries.
So much blueberry bread goodness!!
Bulk Batch Applesauce Bread
Last up was a double batch of my big batch Freezer Fruit bread Recipe of the applesauce bread variety. My kids suggested adding chocolate chips, because, well, chocolate. They assured me the flavor combo would work. I figured, why not give it a try? I mean, it’s hard to go wrong with chocolate chips when baking, especially when hungry children are involved, right? Right.
Grand Total Loaf count: 15 (Remember, some of them are big pans!)
- One 11″x18″ banana raisin bread
- One 9″x13″ banana raisin bread
- One 8″x8″ banana raisin bread
- Two bread machine loaves of applesauce bread
- Two 11″x18″ banana chocolate chip
- Two 11″x18″ blueberry bread
- Two bread machine loaves of blueberry bread
- Two 9″x13″ applesauce bread w/chocolate chips
- Two 11″x18″ applesauce bread w/chocolate chips
