Everyone loves hearty, whole grain breakfast breads studded with dried fruit and spiced with freshly ground nutmeg. Sprinkle a little coarse sugar on top of the loaves before baking for a light crunch.
Ingredients
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, (3 tablespoons melted and cooled and 1 tablespoon room temperature to grease the loaf pans)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup flax meal
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2-3 very ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup dried blueberries or cranberries
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
timer
Prep: 15 minutes
Total: 1 hour 10 minutes
Tools
2 loaf pans
mixing bowls
whisk
sieve
wire rack
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350F and prep 2 loaf pans by greasing and flouring them.
2. In a mixing bowl, mix the flours, sugar, flax meal, baking soda and powder with the salt and nutmeg. Reserve one or two tablespoons of this mixture to toss with the chopped dried fruit.
3. Stir together the cooled, melted butter, mashed bananas, yogurt, eggs and oil to a smooth paste. Fold into the dry ingredients and mix with 10 strokes; the batter will be lumpy with some spots of dry ingredients.
4. In a sieve, toss the dried fruits with the reserved flour mixture. Shake the excess back into the bowl of batter. Add in the dried fruits and seeds; stir to just combine--do not overmix.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pans and bake at 375F for 20 minutes. Rotate the pans, lower the temperature to 350F and bake for a further 30 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes before removing from the loaf pans.
