This recipe is an old family recipe of mine. My mum has been making it for years and when she came to visit me during postpartum she made it for me to stock my freezer with a delicious energy and nutrient dense snack. I have since made twice already as its become a breast feeding staple for me. This recipe makes two large loaves, but you can really cook it in anything. I only have 1 large bread tin and 1 small one so I put the remainder in a 6inch cake tin and make a round loaf! Once it has cooled I slice it up and pop it into freezer bags and straight into the freezer to be enjoyed toasted and slathered in butter (or Nutalex in my case thanks to O’s Allergy….)
Fruit and Nut Loaf
Ingredients
- 1200 g White Bread Flour
- 2 Tbsp Dry Active Yeast
- 1 Tbsp Caster Sugar
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Mixed Spice
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Cinnamon
- 1 Tsp nutmeg
- 550 g Dried fruit*
- 150 g Nuts** roughly chopped
- 1 L warm water
- 2 Tbsp Extra virgin Olive oil
- 1 egg lightly beaten
Instructions
- Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl, then mix in the fruit and nuts and make sure it is evenly dispersed. Make a well in the centre and pour in the water, egg and oil. Bring together to form a wet sticky dough. You may need a few extra TBSP of water depending on your climate.
- Cover the bowl with cling wrap and place in a sink filled with 2 inches of warm water. All dough to rise until doubled in size (about 45-1hr).
- Oil your bread tins and put to the side. When the dough has doubled in size turn out onto a floured board and consolidate into a ball. Divide into quarters. Take each quarter and shape into a smooth ball, make sure to expel as much stale carbon dioxide as possible. Place smooth side up in the tin and repeat with the other quarter. Then repeat with the other quarters into the other bread tin. Cover again and allow to rise until doubled in size.
- Meanwhile preheat the oven to 200C. When doubled in size place in the oven for 30-35mins or until golden brown.
- Allow to cool and then slice and enjoy!
Notes
** You can use any nuts. I used a mixture of walnuts and hazelnuts. Allergen swaps
- Egg: I have not tried it but am confident that a flax egg would work in this recipe. To make a flax egg combine 1 Tbsp ground flax and 2 Tbsp of water.
- Nuts: You could replace with your favourite seeds, or simply omit and add in more fruit instead.
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