Quick bread recipe: ok to omit the olives?

March 22, 2022 9:14 AM

I want to make this quick bread (sorry, "savory loaf") recipe but omit the olives. Should I reduce the amounts of anything else to make up for no olives, or is it ok to just follow the recipe as is? I rarely bake and need some reassurance!
posted by cakelite to Food & Drink (10 answers total)

Best answer: Yes, you can skip the olives. You might think if there's something else you might want to include to punch up the flavor -- a tablespoon of minced garlic , maybe? Some chopped caramelized onions?
posted by shadygrove at 9:16 AM on March 22, 2022 [3 favorites]

Best answer: No — you don't have to add them just follow the recipe as is — anytime there is an addition to dough it can be omitted or substituted for another similar ingredient. Additions add flavor and texture but are not necessary for the structure in most bread dough recipes in my experience.
posted by blacktshirtandjeans at 9:25 AM on March 22, 2022 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Oh, yeah, you're fine skipping the olives.

Since you don't bake, I'm going to use house construction as an analogy: with construction, there are things on the plan that you really shouldn't leave off, because they are sort of integral to the structure of the house - the studs in the walls, the drywall, etc. There are also other things on the plan that are more ornamental and decorative - the paint on the window frames, the shutters on the outside, etc. If your house plan includes decorative shutters on the outside around the windows, and you decide to just leave 'em off, it's okay because the shutters aren't holding the whole house up. The house would look different, is all.

In this particular recipe, olives are a lot more like the shutters - it'd taste a little different, but the recipe would still "work" in the sense that you would indeed get a savory quick bread. Shadygrove is right about the flavor, though - olives have a lot of flavor, so you may want to add something else that might punch up the flavor a little. You could probably also get away with about the same amount of whatever-it-is. But you could also just leave them out and be fine, it'd still be a savory quick bread.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:27 AM on March 22, 2022 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Might add in a hair more salt to compensate for the lack of salt that olives would have added
posted by Ferreous at 9:51 AM on March 22, 2022 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Oh man, now I'm imagining cloves of garlic baked into the bread. Omit the olives. Feel free to add other stuff instead
posted by Omnomnom at 10:04 AM on March 22, 2022

Best answer: Last year I baked that loaf according to the recipe, and it was too salty for me. I believe omitting the olives would help with that problem.
posted by dreamyshade at 10:34 AM on March 22, 2022 [1 favorite]

Best answer: You can totally skip the olives.

If you wanted to add something, I'd add whole roasted garlic cloves.
posted by mmascolino at 12:12 PM on March 22, 2022

Best answer: I have a very similar savory loaf recipe and I throw in just about anything I feel like. Cooked bacon, walnuts, pistachios, sun dried tomatoes, salami, sautéed onions or shallots, scallions, fresh herbs, etc. It's always delicious. Don't worry about it.
posted by HotToddy at 2:21 PM on March 22, 2022 [1 favorite]

Oh dang, forgot to continue my house analogy.

In this particular recipe, olives are a lot more like the shutters - it'd taste a little different, but the recipe would still "work" in the sense that you would indeed get a savory quick bread. You wouldn't run into a problem unless you tried to leave out something that's more "structurally integral" to what you're baking - like flour or eggs or butter. Those are more like the nails and the drywall in the house.

But if it's just the olives or even the cheese, those are just there for extra flavor, and you can do whatever the hell you want. (Cooked bacon is an excellent idea.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:01 AM on March 23, 2022

Response by poster: Thanks for all the helpful hints! The loaf was a very nice compliment to our soup. I'm sure I'll be back with more dumb baking questions!
posted by cakelite at 9:02 AM on March 23, 2022