Thanks for giving this recipe a try, Kathryn! Oftentimes enriching ingredients will help to preserve the freshness of a homemade loaf (because of the additional fat and sugar), but this recipe already has a number of such ingredients (egg, butter, sugar and non-fat dry milk), so it's unlikely any more would change the shelf life. The unfortunate reality of homemade baked goods is that they do tend to stale much more quickly than store bought versions, so it may be more helpful to focus on storage. If time requires baking gifts ahead of time, you may want to consider freezing your well-wrapped loaves as soon as they are fully cooled -- wrapping in plastic wrap, then in a ziplock tends to do the trick. Then you can pull them out of the freezer, unwrap, more loosely cover and defrost for 3-4 hrs just before gifting. Hope this helps! Mollie@KAF

• Reply