Cherry Almond Coconut Breakfast Loaf- Gluten Free

  

     It’s a "misty, moisty morning" and the dogwoods seem to have appeared overnight, mingling with the redbud trees to make a glorious spring pageant. After Saturday’s rain I can smell the earth just begging for the tiny little tomato plants growing in the windowsill. Spring has sprung.

     The warm weather and longer daylight hours have rekindled my enthusiasm for bringing my camera back into my kitchen, so I'm going to try to be more consistent with posting on my little blog. There are lots of things waking up around here that I can't wait to share!

   

  

     Sunday morning I woke up early, before the rest of the household stirred, and prepared these little loaves for breakfast. The original recipe for this lovely gluten-free-no-added-sugar-breakfast/snack came from Anja's Food 4 Thought. I changed it up just a bit to accommodate what I had on hand, and these loaves were the serendipitous results. As tasty as they were wholesome, they were a delightful addition to our morning. They disappeared so quickly that next time I'll be sure to double the recipe. Hmmm... Pineapple and macadamia nuts maybe?

     

Cherry Almond Coconut Breakfast Loaf

adapted from Anja's Carrot Coconut Breakfast Loaf

Ingredients

3/4 cup almond meal (I used almonds ground in my food processor.)

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

2 eggs

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. almond extract

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup mashed banana (about 2 medium bananas)

1/2 cup dates, pitted and chopped (If your dates stick together while chopping, sprinkle with some almond meal.)

1/2 cup carrots, grated

1/4 cup desiccated coconut

1/4 cup almonds, chopped

1/2 cup cherries (sweet or sour) pitted and chopped

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375° F (180° C). Line three small loaf pans (or one standard size loaf pan) with lightly greased parchment paper.

• In a small bowl, mix together almond meal, baking soda and cinnamon.

• In another bowl, mix together eggs, extracts, coconut oil and mashed banana. ( I had trouble with my coconut oil not mixing well with the other ingredients, so I whirled the mixture around a few times in the food processor.)

• Add almond meal mixture to wet ingredients; stir.

• Gently stir in the remaining ingredients. Mix well to ensure that the chunky bits are evenly distributed.

• Pour batter into prepared loaf pan(s) and bake for 40 minutes (35 for smaller loaf pans) or until a cake tester in the center of the loaf comes out clean.