Apricot and Walnut Breakfast Loaf
The other day I was working on adapting a recipe for a scone loaf from Molly Yeh. Her version is insanely good, but I wanted to change up the flavors a bit and scale it down. I decided to go for an apricot and walnut variation with a bit of a white chocolate drizzle.
In a classic turn of events I managed to completely misread my own hand writing and used 1/2 a teaspoon of baking powder instead of 1/2 a tablespoon. The result was surprisingly fantastic. I mean it tastes nothing like the scones I know and love, but it’s delicious in its own way!
Dyslexia is the mother of all invention. Right? Or something like that…
Anyways I messed up. And it was all fine. And now I have a recipe for apricot and walnut scone loaf meets pound cake meets sweet soda bread thing.
My version uses dried apricots and toasted walnuts and is delicious for breakfast or with a cup of tea in the afternoon. Pro tip (or really just a tip), try spreading a slice with some extra apricot jam!
This is a relatively simple recipe but it does take about 40 minutes to bake so you’ll want to make it when you have a bit of time. I’ve also scaled the size of it down a bit so it makes half a loaf pan worth of loaf, that’s perfect for 4-5 people or 2 people who are really hungry (i.e. Loml and I).
How to Make this Apricot and Walnut Scone Loaf thing:
1) Soak the Apricots and Toast the Nuts
Start by preheating the oven to 400 F and then put the kettle on to boil. Weigh out the walnuts and tip them into a baking tray. Slide the tray into the oven for 10 minutes or so until they are well toasted but not burnt.
Meanwhile cut the apricots in half or into 3 pieces if you have particularly large apricots. Toss them in a bowl and then submerge them in boiling water. Let them sit until you’re ready to add them in to the loaf mixture later on.
2) Prepare your Pan
Grab a loaf pan and then fold a piece of tin foil so that you can wedge it in the pan to divide it in half. Then line one half of the pan with parchment paper. You can see this in the pictures.
3) Make the Scone Loaf Dough
Combine all of the dry ingredients and then rub in the butter. Then you want to add the toasted walnuts and drained apricots to the flour mixture. You’ll want the walnuts to be cooled slightly and you’ll need to pat the apricots dry. Toss that all together and then move onto the wet ingredients.
Whisk together the egg, vanilla and cream and pour it into the dry ingredients. Mix with a butter knife or fork to combine. Tip the mixture into the pan and then sprinkle with a bit of extra sugar.
4) Bake the Apricot and Walnut Loaf
Bake the loaf for about 40 minutes until the loaf is golden brown on top.
Once it’s ready remove to a cooling rack and let it cool for 10 minutes. Meanwhile melt a handful of white chocolate chips in a small bowl by microwaving on 15 second intervals and stirring it between each interval.
Drizzle the chocolate over the loaf with a spoon and enjoy!
Apricot and Walnut Loaf Recipe
Ingredients
- 60 g dried apricots
- 60 g walnut halves
- 1 1/2 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 125 g flour
- 85 g butter
- 1 egg
- 60 g cream
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
Toppings
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tbsp white chocolate chips or just a handful
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F
- Tip the walnuts into a baking tray or cast iron pan. Toast in the oven for about 10 minutes until nicely browned but not burnt. Set them aside to cool.
- Slice the apricots in half and submerge in boiling water. Let sit while you prepare the other ingredients.
- Prepare the baking pan by folding a piece of tinfoil so that it fits in the center of the loaf pan (look at the pictures for help with this) and then line half of the pan with parchment paper.
- Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a medium bowl. Slice the cold butter into 1/2 inch pieces and add to the flour. Rub the butter into the flour until you don’t have any large pieces of butter left.
- Drain the apricots and pat them dry. Add the apricots and cooled walnuts to the flour mixture and toss to combine.
- Whisk together the egg, cream and vanilla in a separate bowl and then pour it into the flour mixture. Combine with a butter knife or a fork until you have a reasonably even mess.
- Tip the mixture into the prepared pan and then sprinkle over the last teaspoon of sugar.
- Bake for about 40 minutes until nicely browned. Let cool on a wire rack.
- Melt the white chocolate in the microwave by microwaving for 15 second bursts and string in between.
- Drizzle the chocolate over the top of the loaf and enjoy!