Sweet Cantaloupe Bread

This is a very yummy bread that Barn Pickup Helper Heidi has been making for many years, and the recipe is adapted from allrecipes.com. I am always altering recipes slightly to my taste, and I included my notes in italics. Enjoy!

Bread:

2 cups white sugar (I usually cut in half, as I like it less sweet)

2 cups cantaloupe, peeled, seeded and pureed

1 cup vegetable oil (I like to use avocado or melted coconut oil)

3 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour (I will sub 1 cup of whole wheat pastry, and 2 cups all purpose)

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

¾ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon ground ginger

Optional Glaze:

1 ⅔ cups brown sugar

½ cup butter

½ cup chopped pecans

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease and flour two 9x5-inch loaf pans.

Beat sugar, puréed cantaloupe, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer until well combined. Whisk flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and ginger together in a separate bowl. Stir flour mixture into cantaloupe mixture until combined. Divide batter evenly between the prepared pans.

Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the centers of loaves comes out clean, about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, make praline glaze: Combine brown sugar, pecans, and butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Cook on High in the microwave for about 3 minutes, stirring every minute, until smooth.

Pour sauce over warm loaves. Cool for 1 hour before serving.

NOTE: This bread is very tasty, with or without the glaze. The Glaze makes it more of a dessert, while on it's own it's more of a bread, like pumpkin or zucchini bread.