Loafing

An eerie mist descended on the village today. It was (and still is) cold and wet and spooky. So we stayed indoors and baked. This. Crazy good and only a little bit bad for you. I found the recipe via Ellen's lovely blog. She has teenagers to help share the load. My three littles weren't too keen on all that cinnamon. I stared across the loaf at the GM and said something to the effect of, "If we're going to keep eating like this, we need an exercise plan." He said something to the effect of, "Or you could just stop baking." 

But that's not going to happen.

And then I remembered this. A different loaf altogether. 

I baked it last month in order to style and photograph it for the Cancer Council's Biggest Morning Tea promo. All of the recipes they use have to get the thumbs up from a nutritionist, which means they're yummy and good for you. I can vouch for the yummy on this one, and the girls devoured it. And unlike the cinnamon pull-apart loaf above, there's no yeast, no kneading, no proving, no setting aside for an hour or so...

Enjoy! (By the way, if you think those dried cherries look awfully blue in the pic, it's because they're actually dried blueberries. Couldn't find cherries anywhere. Shh!)

Nicky Buckley's Apple, Dried Cherry and Almond Loaf

Makes approx 12 slices.

50g rolled oats

300ml milk

2 cups wholemeal self-raising flour

1 teaspoon baking  powder

125g dried cherries

50g dried apple, diced

1/3 cup soft brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 tablespoons honey

1egg, lightly beaten

3 tablespoons roughly chopped almonds, plus 2 tablespoons extra.

Fresh ricotta and honey to serve.

Put oats in bowl, pour milk over and leave to soak for 30 mins.

Preheat oven to 180 C . Grease and line a 1kg loaf tin with baking paper.

Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl and stir in the rolled oats, dried fruit, sugar, cinnamon, honey, egg and almonds. Mix together well.

Spoon mixture into the tin, level the top and sprinkle with extra almonds. Bake for 45 mins or until golden brown on top and cooked through. Leave to cool a little in the tin before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Toast and serve with ricotta honey.