Sometimes I see recipes that just seem so bizarre that I have to try them.  This is one of those recipes.  My daughter Kayla sent the link to me thinking that the recipe is something that I would like to try…She was right!  Here’s a link to the recipe.
I read and re-read the recipe a couple times not believing it would work so I had to give it a try. Â I mixed up the recipe making a banana bread version..omitting the cloves and only adding 1/2 t cinnamon. Â I sprayed eight WIDE MOUTH canning jars with cooking spray and I filled the jars half full. Â (Please note that this is not a food blog with beautiful photos)…it’s just my house as is…dough drips and all.
The jars came out of the oven after 45 minutes looking like this.
As soon as the jars came out of the oven, I wiped the top of the jar off and put a lid and ring on the jars. Â Amazingly, the jars seal themselves!! Â The recipe says that the bread will keep in the jars on a shelf in your pantry for a year. Â WOW…
All of my jars were sitting on the counter cooling when our daughter, Kalissa, came home from school. Â She HAD to try it. Â We popped the top off and WOW…it’s wonderful and super moist.
I am completely amazed by this. Â I am going to be on the hunt for more wide mouth half pint jars so I can make more. Â I can easily imagine grabbing a couple of jars for when we have unexpected company…or a potluck…or a little something extra to make a meal stretch. Â As our kids keep growing up and moving away, we can’t always eat a full loaf of bread before it dries out, and let’s be honest…we don’t need a whole large loaf to satisfy a sweet tooth. Â I can also see me sending a jar with one of my kiddos when they are home for a visit. Â (Provided they swear that I will get the jar back…this is sometimes an issue)
The recipe has options for banana bread, zucchini bread, apple, cranberry and peach bread.  I think it would be awesome to have these on the shelf ready to go when my plans and my life’s plans aren’t always the same.  Thanks for passing the recipe to me Kayla!!
To see more ideas that work…check out Works for Me Wednesday, Sweet as Sugar Cookies and Dandelion House.
A year?! I can’t decide if that sounds scary or not. (Not that anything yummy would last in my house that long, so I doubt it would ever be an issue.) What a great idea for late night snack cravings!
I baked banana bread in 1 pound coffee cans before. (Is coffee available in 1 pound metal cans anymore?) I loved the round look. But never thought of using jars. And I agree, self-sealing and lasting for 1 year…mmm, I’ll have to test that one. So I’m off to try the recipe too! Thanks for the tip!
If you find a way of getting the kids to give the jars back, let me know. I gave my daughter 3 jars of bread and butter pickles. If she gives me the jars back it will only be to refill them.
I also doubt they will last a year at good quality… but if I just use up the pumpkin already in my cupboard I will have lots of goodies to give out until Christmas.
Yes they really are as good as the day you baked them. I have been doing this for 20 + years and no failures yet. One suggestion if l may.. if the foods in the jars rise above the rim just take a sharp knife cut off evenly with the top of the jar, wipe the rims, and seal …they are perfect also.
I hope this was a help
What a wonderful idea! A practical but fun gift for neighbors, church workers, friends, family. And of course, we’ll have to keep some for ourselves!
That is interesting! I’ll be anxious to see how long it lasts and how it tastes as time passes. Thanks for trying it and sharing the link.
Now THAT is a recipe I’m going to have to try!!! Thanks for getting my creative juices flowing this morning :~) I love blogland!!!
How funny ! Can the bread easily pop off the jar ?
My worry would have been ‘will the jars break in the oven’ but guess they don’t. did you use just Ball brand or any brand jars? I will try this and love your blog. you have some of the best quilting and cooking ideas….thanks much, Nancy in PA
I’m going to try pumpkin bread – we used to bake it in the one pound coffee cans. It will be great this time of year to usher in the autumn weather!!
I found something online like this the other day but it’s little pies you put in mason jars. You can freeze them and make them whenever and they are adorable.
http://www.notmartha.org/tomake/piesbakedintinyjars/
The info I’ve seen before (and I’ve made these breads and cakes often) is that their shelf life is 3 months. As my Mom used to say when I gave her one the first time- “It really didn’t last on my shelf for 3 months!” It would be eaten well in advance of that! Quick breads and cakes do quite well in the jars!
Wow, this looks yummy. I just bought some wide mouth jars. I was going to do pickles but this looks alot better than pickles. I think I’m going to try this first and then use the leftover jars for my pickles! thanks for sharing the recipe.
Definitely have to try this one – thanks for sharing! Guess I will get some jars when I get a food saver and jar attachment to do some salad in a jar.
These would make great hostess gifts. Thanks for sharing!
Definitely going to have to try this! Looks delicious and I love how long it will hold.
Michelle
Faith on Fyre
I would be careful because canning is pretty much a science and sealing things in jars is done by heating them to a high enough temperature in order to kill dangerous bacteria. Jars will seal if they are hot enough (hence the old jam method where they used to just put the lids on the jars and turn them over and wait till they heard the ping). But you have to heat them up to a high internal temperature. I’m not sure about bread but I would call your local extension office to make sure.
i had to scrounge around and even get a few more jars from my uncle, but came up with 8 wide mouth pints and tried the pumpkin bread recipe tonight. i’m not going to leave the bread in the jars. i’m going to let it cool until morning, then take it out and freeze it. i’m just not confident enough that it would be good to eat after months, plus i want to be able to reuse the jars to bake more!
I have always wondered what this would taste like – I hate to try a big recipe like this and find out it’s a loser. Thanks for doing this for us ;-) I see Christmas gifts ahead!
LOVE it! It makes sense that it self seals, I just never would have thought of that on my own in a million years. I love that you tried this and shared it, I only have a few wide mouthed jars but I will be on the hunt for more!
I just attempted this, and it was an epic fail. I’m not sure if I accidentally mismeasured, or what. I thought the batter was too runny for bread; and when I took these out of the oven they were very large-hole-spongy, and a couple had collapsed in on themselves. They aren’t solid, but very wet and heavy. Think stuffing like you have in a turkey. I’m not going to give up – I think I’ll try one of my own whole wheat cranberry bread recipes instead. I like the idea of a) sealing, and b) portion control. One jar would be perfect for Don and me for breakfast.
Wow, that is a very interesting idea! Will have to try that.
I agree with you …some recipes are so bizarre I have to try them.
I think this might be one…{wink}
I’m making a note of the recipe and going to give it a try. Thanks for posting!
From Deb’s Farm Girl Hop…
Pat
This reminds me of Brown Bread that comes in a can… The shape of it anyway… I had never heard of bread in a jar until now!
Deb
This sounds fun, but I would definitely freeze the breads afterwards instead of canning them. I just did a quick Google search on “canning bread” and came up with dozens of extension service reports that say that this method produces exactly the right conditions to grow botulism!
Of course we all have to make the choices that work for us! I just wanted to say that anyone who was considering this method might want to look it up first and see what’s published first before they decide what they want to do.
Alternatively, the wide-mouth jars are freezer safe, so you can still have a fun gift to give several months later! :-)
~Angela~
why is the lid and ring not put on when doing the baking? instead of after it is removed from the oven.
thanks!
answer only if you know for sure
The USDA has demonstrated that this method is not safe. The University of Georgia has tested the final product and determined that spores that cause botulism can survive this process and should NOT be used. While you can bake in the jar you simply cannot put a lid on it and get a year storage (Not safely anyways) Just because the jar seals doesn’t mean what’s inside is safe. http://nchfp.uga.edu/questions/FAQ_canning.html#30
I have done this with several cake in jar recipes–have used cakes almost (10 months) later and they were fine. The only problem I had with long term storage was breads/cakes made with nuts..the nuts went rancid and ruined the cake…but other than that I had great success. I also had them stored in a cool dark place..sunlight and heat will also make them spoil. So take what I’m saying with a grain of salt–for me it worked and worked and worked….made many cakes in jars. :0)
I wonder if you were to then seal them in a pressure canner after baking them if it would kill off the possibility of botulism, much like canning meat? I love the idea that you can store them, but i do wonder about the safety of long term.
I have ate Breads in a jar for 2 or three years now and they are so good they barley last a year long. One Banana Bread with nuts did get lost in pantry for 11 months and when it was opened and ate it didn’t make anyone sick and was just as good as all the others tasted.
These really last much longer than a year and taste like the day you baked them. Put the jar right in the microwave for a minute after opening and get ready for a real treat.
I’m dying to try this to give as Christmas gifts. Can you use any size wide-mouth jars?
I have the small 8oz size, but don’t know if they would be too small. Has anyone tried it with the 8oz or 12oz jars?
Thanks!!
I’m not sure…give it a try and let us know!
I’ve done pumpkin, banana, zucchini, apple, gluten-free, yes, they can last more than a year.
I have been doing this fir Centuries..really! They are so moist and actually had a Chocolate Kalluah Recipe everyone loved! Once when moving a friend and I found 2jars that had gotten shuffled to the back of the cabinet, they were about 1/2 the normal size and I told her well… maybe we should just throw them out! She replied absolutely not that stuff is like gold you eat one and I will eat one and if we get sick we will be together! It was awesome and No we did not get sick! Always keep these on hand in pantry.