Clementine Vanilla Quick Bread

A delicious vanilla-studded quick bread, full of fresh clementines and a sweet clementine glaze.  Clementine vanilla quick bread is a winter citrus favorite!

It’s pretty much a guarantee that if you stop by my kitchen between November and February, you will find a crate (or two) of clementines sitting on the counter.

Hi, my name is Julie, and I’m a clementine addict.  I pack them for lunch every day, I snack on them all weekend – I just can’t help it (and judging from the additional peels I find in the sink, my husband feels the same way!).

Given my love of clementines, it’s probably no surprise that I also enjoy baking with them.

To date, my absolute favorite cake I’ve ever made was an extra cinnamony cake with a cinnamon clementine frosting – I last made it 4 years ago and I’m pretty sure I need to try to replicate that “throw things randomly in the mixer” frosting again, because it was amazing.

This clementine vanilla quick bread isn’t quite as tasty, but it’s still a delicious treat.  It’s not too sweet, which I like, and has a dense consistency similar to pound cake, which I love.

You might notice that this contains both vanilla bean paste and vanilla extract.  The double-dose of vanilla is delicious!  But why not just use vanilla extract?

Vanilla bean paste is a thick paste (whadya know, aptly named!) full of beautiful little specks of vanilla beans.  It’s basically the equivalent of scraping a vanilla bean right into whatever you’re making.

It leaves behind these beautiful brown vanilla-y specks, so it’s perfect in light colored breads like this clementine vanilla quick bread, where you can really see them.  Delicious – and gorgeous!

You may be able to find vanilla bean paste in the grocery store, but you can also order it online.

(Or for the serious bakers – I get mine in the 32 ounce size.  Running out of vanilla bean paste is apparently a pretty serious concern around here.)  {This post may include affiliate links.}

Go ahead and give this delicious clementine vanilla quick bread a try this winter while clementines are still plentiful – you won’t regret it.

Love winter citrus? Don’t miss these!

Print Recipe

Yield: 1 loaf (12 slices)

Clementine Vanilla Quick Bread

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

A delicious vanilla-studded quick bread, full of fresh clementines and a sweet clementine glaze.

Ingredients:

• 10 clementines
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
• 2 tablespoons vanilla bean paste (can sub vanilla extract)
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 °F.  Butter and flour a 5×9-inch loaf pan.
2. Zest 6 of the clementines.  Cut the pith from 2 of these zested clementines and cut the fruit along the membrane to collect the segments, discarding any seeds.  Juice the remaining 4 zested clementines, along with the 4 unzested clementines.
3. Beat together zest, butter, 1 cup of the sugar, and the vanilla bean paste in a mixer with medium speed until well combined and butter is pale and fluffy.  With the mixer running, add in the eggs, one at a time.
4. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Add half of this mixture to the butter and eggs and beat on low speed until just combined.  Pour in the heavy cream, 1/4 cup clementine juice, and vanilla extract, mixing to combine, followed by the remaining dry ingredients.
5. Fold the clementine segments into the batter and pour into the prepared pan.  Gently smooth the top using a spatula.
6. Bake for 50 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.  Halfway through baking, tent aluminum foil over the top of the pan to prevent the bread from darkening.
7. Bring remaining clementine juice (~1/2 cup) and 1/4 cup sugar to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Reduce heat and simmer for 3 minutes.
8. Remove the bread from the oven, poke the top all over with a knife, and brush with half of the clementine syrup.  Transfer the pan to a wire rack and allow to cool for 15 minutes.  Invert the pan to remove the bread and cool completely.  Once cool, brush the remaining clementine syrup on the sides and top of the bread.

The clementine vanilla quick bread can be stored at room temperature, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 5 days, or frozen wrapped in foil and stored in a freezer bag for up to 3 months.

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart