Cantaloupe Bread

Cantaloupe is delicious. There is no doubt about it. But they can also be big, and hard to consume before that perfect window of freshness disappears into overripe. But what is there to do with overripe fruit? 

At first, the only thing I could think of was you could use it to attract fruit flies, (One of many reasons I look forward to the winter.) or add it to the compost pile out back and hope the raccoon family in the area is not a fan of cantaloupe. Needless to say, eventually I got serious and actually started to think about what I used other fruits that were getting over ripe for. Strawberries and raspberries can be made into jams or sauces, or frozen to stick into smoothies. The problem is, cantaloupe jam does not sound appetizing, and smoothie season for me starts when the snow falls. Well, what about bananas. They can be frozen, dipped in chocolate, or even baked into bread. 

That's it! Bread! We can make cantaloupe bread. I made this recipe after discovering cantaloupe can be used and bread, and that a lot of the recipes online just don't look delicious. The first time I baked this, it did not have chocolate in it, but by popular advice chocolate was added to give it a little extra sweetness (and because who can say no to chocolate!) 

 Surprisingly, the cantaloupe is a very light flavor, it taste like a moist raisin cake!

Cantaloupe bread

Ingredients

1 cup cantaloupe puree (fresh or thawed from the freezer)

¼ cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

4 little boxes of raisins

¼ cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine with an electric mixer the cantaloupe puree, egg, and brown sugar.

Sift together dry ingredients, and slowly beat into the cantaloupe mixture.

Stir in 4 little boxes of raisins and ¼ cup of mini chocolate chips if desired.

Bake for approximately 20 minutes.