what?! concord GRAPE bread?!

Oh hello, fair readers. So for those of you who don't know me in real-life (and most of you do....), here's me mid-mix during the making of the Concord Grape Bread, aka The Purple Monstrosity. If there's one thing I've learned from making bread out of this new cookbook, it's that mixing with your hands is so SO much fun. All that squishy, ooey, gooeyness just makes you feel like you're five again, making mud pies in your back yard. I don't know about you, but some days, I would just love to be five again....having no worries, except for how you're going to evade that scary green vegetable on your dinner plate. The heck with this up and coming entrance into Real Persondom. ;)

What a delicious ooey gooey mess.

So the moment I saw this recipe, I knew that it was made to be the bread for a peanut butter and banana sandwich. Grilled, of course. For the record, PB&B always must be grilled. It's the only way to get those peanut butter juices a flowin' and for the banana's natural sugars to come out and get all gooey and delicious. And then the bread gets warmed and crispy from the butter (or spray butter, if you will) schmeared all over before grill-age. Oooohhhh. Oh, so good. Yes, I may have had a love affair with a PB&B sandwich once....or twice. We go wayy back.

The cool thing about this sandwich is that it is kind of like a peanut butter and jelly banana sandwich, thanks to the grape bread. Crazy, kind of mind-blowing, right?! I like the idea of two sandwiches in one. :)

And here it is, my beautifully delicious grilled PB&B sandwich on grape bread. It was really strange to see purple bread being baked, to say the least. But appearances are usually deceiving, and this bread came out really well. It's more like a sweet bread (think banana bread-like) that's good for dessert or a snack. Or in a sweet sandwich. :)

Concord Grape Bread
From "Beautiful Breads & Fabulous Fillings"

1/2 tbsp. yeast
1 cup warm vanilla soy milk
4 oz. boysenberry yogurt
16 oz. jar Concord grape jelly
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 stick butter, melted
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tbsp. salt

Generously grease a large mixing bowl and two load pans and set aside.

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the soy milk. Let it stand for 5 minutes, or until the yeast is foamy. Add the yogurt, jelly, powdered sugar, and butter and mix well. In another large bowl, combine the flour and salt.

Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well with your hands. This dough is EXTREMELY wet! Transfer the dough to the prepared bowl. Place bowl in a warm, dry place and allow the dough to rise for 60 minutes.

Separate into two portions and transfer each portion into the prepared loaf pans. Place the pans in a warm, dry place and allow the dough to rise for 60 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and bake the bread for about 1 hour.

Test for doneness: if the pan sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom, the bread is done. If not, continue to bake, checking every few minutes. When the loaf is done, remove from oven and cool for 30 minutes. Remove the loaves from the pan, and transfer them to a wire rack. Cool for another 30 minutes before slicing.

Yield: 1 loaf