Quick bread is any bread leavened with a chemical leavening agent rather than a biological one

like yeast or sourdough starter. An advantage of quick breads is their ability to be prepared
quickly and reliably, without requiring the time-consuming skilled labor and the climate control
needed for traditional yeast breads.
Quick breads include many cakes, brownies and cookies—as well as banana bread, pumpkin
bread, beer bread, biscuits, cornbread, muffins, pancakes, scones, and soda bread.
The term “quick bread” most likely originated in the United States at the end of the eighteenth
century.[citation needed][disputed – discuss] However, the similar Bannock was well known in
Ireland, Scotland and northern England centuries earlier. Before the creation of quick bread,
baked goods were leavened either with yeast or by mixing dough with eggs. “Fast bread” is an
alternate name.

The discovery or rediscovery of chemical leavening agents and their widespread military,
commercial, and home use in the United States dates back to 1846 with the introduction of
commercial baking soda in New York, by Church and Dwight of “Arm & Hammer” fame. This
development was extended in 1856 by the introduction of commercial baking powder in
Massachusetts, although perhaps the best known form of baking powder is “Calumet”, first
introduced in Hammond, Indiana and West Hammond, Illinois (later Calumet City, Illinois) in
1889. Both forms of food-grade chemical leaveners are still being produced under their original
names, although not within the same corporate structure.

During the American Civil War (1861–1865), the demand for portable and quickly-made food
was high, while skilled labor for traditional breadmaking was scarce. This encouraged the
adoption of bread which was rapidly made and leavened with baking soda, instead of yeast. The
shortage of chemical leaveners in the American South during the Civil War contributed to a food
crisis there.[citation needed]

As the Industrial Revolution accelerated, the marketing of mass-produced prepackaged foods

was eased by the use of chemical leaveners, which could produce consistent products regardless
of variations in source ingredients, time of year, geographical location, weather conditions, and
many other factors that could cause problems with environmentally sensitive, temperamental
yeast formulations. These factors were traded off against the loss of traditional yeast flavor,
nutrition, and texture.