For those of you that have been following my blog for a while, you may recall this recipe.
It is worth repeating – at least for me.
Let me share what I wrote in my post two years ago when I first shared this recipe that is one of my ALL-TIME favorites.
December 15, 2014:
One of my favorite things to bake (and eat) for the holidays is my Grandma’s Old-Fashioned Apricot Nut Bread.
For me, it is like spending a little time with Grandma – even though she’s been gone for 20 years now. The smells that fill the house… using her recipe card – complete with stains from baking episodes past… using her old tin measuring cup, snipping apricots, chopping nuts… To me, the holidays aren’t truly here until I make Grandma’s Apricot Nut Bread and spend a little time with her through this ritual.
When I was young, I spent Christmas vacations (and every other moment I could) with Grandma. We spent a lot of our time together in the kitchen. While we were cooking or baking, Grandma would tell me stories about her childhood. It was sadly a pretty short one, because she had to become Mama to her baby brothers at only 9 years old when her mom died at a devastatingly early age. We would talk about her early married life with outhouses, coal furnaces, and washboards. And some of my favorite stories, especially when I was young, were the ones she would tell about me when I was a baby and how she danced in the hospital hallway with the doctor after I was born and how she fed me her homemade chicken soup on my first day home.
We laughed while we worked, and I never felt so loved.
One of the things Grandma made every year was Apricot Nut Bread. Growing up, it really wasn’t my favorite. I much preferred the lady locks or nut horns or nut roll – even the chocolate chip cookies. This bread is not overly sweet. It is not overly moist. But as an adult, it has become my absolute favorite. A slice with a swirl of creamy salted butter or a schmear of rich cream cheese and a cup of coffee might just be my favorite way to start the day.
This weekend, I once again made my annual batch of Grandma’s Old-Fashioned Apricot Nut Bread. I can only hope for cherished times like this to share with my granddaughter some day.
Here’s the recipe if you’d like to try. May it bring you as much joy as it does me.
Grandma’s Old-Fashioned Apricot Nut Bread
Ingredients:
- 1 cup dried apricots, chopped
- 1 cup boiling water
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 2-3/4 c. flour
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
Mix together 1 cup chopped apricots and 1 cup boiling water. Let stand until the rest of the ingredients are ready.
In larger mixer bowl, beat two eggs and gradually add 1 cup of sugar.
In a third large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder salt and baking soda.
Add the first two mixtures to the dry ingredients – alternating as you incorporate. Fold in chopped nuts.
Bake one large loaf at 375 degrees F for approximately 40 minutes, then 350 degrees F for 20 additional minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
For smaller loaves, bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes.
P.S. I typically quadruple the recipe, and I get 8 mini loaves and 1 large loaf. We eat the large loaf (right away!) and I give away the mini loaves.
Cheers & Holiday Baking Hugs,
Jodi
the creative life in between 