Cinnamon Bread with Cherries and Almonds
Yes you can use fresh cherries in a quick bread and this Cinnamon Bread with Cherries and Almonds is delicious!
My recipe for this bread was inspired by three things. Cherries, cherries and more cherries. I’ve made cherry chipotle BBQ sauce, cherry sorbet, cherry conserve, maraschino cherries and so it stands to reason I would make a bread with cherries.
Actually guess I have to say four things; I could not have done it without this recipe I used for the bread!
This may have started as a cinnamon bread that I decided to add some cherries to but come on…this is as good as a dessert cake folks; putting it in a loaf pan does not change that fact! Still, I’m not complaining, it’s wonderful.
Lots of cinnamon and almond crunch layered in between and on top of the bread cake along with lots of lots of cherries.
Cherries I foolishly expected would dot the canvas of this bread but they had other plans and all huddled together on the bottom. Was that me or was that altitude. Well, you know I’m gonna blame the altitude!!
Still, it worked and not one person who was offered a slice refused it saying, ‘The cherries seem to have all sunk to the bottom, no thanks.’ But then maybe that’s just what we’re used to here in Denver? All I know is I could get used to this bread…it was most definitely a ‘yummers!’
PIN IT! ‘Cinnamon Bread with Cherries and Almonds’
Cinnamon Bread with Cherries and Almonds
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup butter room temperature
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 & 1/2 cups pitted cherries halved
For the Cinnamon/Almond mixture
- ½ cup almonds
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 2 heaping tablespoons ground cinnamon.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Lightly grease a 9 inch loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease parchment and set aside.
- Cream together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, salt and vanilla extract.
- Sift together the flour, baking soda and baking powder. Add alternately to the creamed mixture along with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with your dry ingredients.
- Add the lemon zest and the cherries and blend in with a large wooden spoon.
- To Prepare the Cinnamon/Almond Mixture
- Put the almonds into a food processor and pulse until they resemble large, course meal. Add the brown sugar, butter and cinnamon and pulse until thoroughly mixed.
- To Prepare the Bread
- Spoon 1/3 of the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the cinnamon mixture. Repeat the layers twice more, ending with cinnamon on top.
- Bake in the pre-heated oven for 1 hour or until it tests done when a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let rest in the pan for about 10 minutes before removing from the pan to finish cooling on a rack.
I have been looking for the longest time for a recipe for cherry almond bread that we used to purchase at a local bakery that has been closed for a while. My son loved this bread and have been searching without success. It was a yeast bread with a cherry almond swirl and topped with a cherry almond crumb topping. The cherry almond was not dark in color so I am thinking that maybe an extract was used. Would you have any recipes that would come close to this?
I wish I could help Toni but I’ve not got a huge repertoire of bread recipes and that’s not one I’ve done. I’ll ask my friend Lora who is the bread queen and if she has any info I’ll get back with you. Thanks for stopping by!
This bread looks awesome! Cherries, almonds, cinnamon – great combo!!
Don’t know if anyone pointed out yet, but your prep time says 15 hours. Not sure that’s the case…
Now Meg do you not think 15 hours sounds correct? Maybe…maybe it…oh nevermind- you are so right! Off to fix that now; thank so very much. Bad blogger. 🙂
This is a beautiful loaf! Cinnamon, cherries and almonds all wrapped up in one beautiful package?! Awesome job! I think this bread will help move you out of the serf stage of bread baking! 🙂
Serfdom is often the result of living at high altitude…so not fair but I wrestle with it every day; more importantly I just live with imperfection – doesn’t seem to keep anyone from eating the results of those labors. 🙂
Just what I need, another fantastic quick bread recipe! Yay! And with cinnamon and cherries, to boot! I love everything about this beautiful bread….cake… whatever it is I can just see it on my breakfast table. And midmorning snack. And afternoon coffee break. Thanks for baking up this beauty for #TwelveLoaves, baby!!
Yes, you named every meal I had it with that first day. Now my challenge is to do it again and not have the fruit sink. Baking and Colorado…always a challenge (which is part of the fun, right?). Looking forward to our participating in a group together; who knows maybe I’ll knock the wind out of altitude forever!
Sounds delicious!I love that it contains fresh cherries and not dried ones. 🙂
Me too…maybe the dried ones wouldn’t have sunk but they also would not have tasted anywhere near as good.
I’m a streusel feind. Your cherry almond bread screams summer. I’ll be baking mine right now! Can’t wait for it to come out of the oven!
The combination sounds heavenly! I am so in love with the quick bread and this looks divine.
It was delish…you should join us; we’re going to stretch breads as far as we can…pizza, muffins and more!
What a beautiful bread! I love the sound of cinnamon, cherries, and almonds together.
I love Laura’s Twelve Loaves initiative and I wish I could participate. I honestly don’t know how you all, with your busy lives, manage to do so and can only believe that you are much better at organizing your time than I am. I do find time to read the posts however and what a delightful treat they are. Your bread (sunken cherries or not) looks amazing and the top coating look so scrumptious. For me, who cares if the cherries reacted to the high altitude, there’s cherries in this bread and that’s all I care about. That and wishing I had a slice of it 🙂
I am so loving the idea of Twelve Loaves. Can’t wait to get mine going. But in the mean time, I may just have to whip up your cinnamon cherry almond bread…as I sit here munching on juicy sweet cherries! 🙂
No problem with both Deb, right?
This looks flipping amazing. So good.
Thanks Claire; love that phrase but it is right on…it is flipping good! 🙂
Ooh, I’m so tempted to join in with this – I love baking to bits. But it is far from summer down in this hemisphere and the only summer fruits I could lay my hands on would be canned or have a massive carbon foot-print from being flown in. Still, I do have a can of cherries in the pantry …..
Perfect! Plus you will always have the option of switching up even more because of your geographic distance…dried fruits for you even! I hope you do join us. BTW…what a job you are doing on that event for ‘down under.’ Only wish I were closer.
I’m so glad you joined us, Barb. This loaf is begging to me to make it (actually it’s my sister) The crunchy cinnamon – brown sugar almond topping keeps calling to me. The ‘cakey’ part looks perfectly moist, especially with those plump cherries. I see yours decided to hang out in one place too! Picky little suckers.
Lora and I have been back and forth for months…sometimes you just gotta go for it and when we did; well those Bacardi folks had me for that first day. 🙂 I’ll do better, promise and of course LOVE that we’re involved in something else together. Such fun huh and you made me laugh…yes, picky little suckers is right!
Hi Barb!!
Ooohh… such a fun idea!!!! I am going to see if I can work this into my schedule this month because I’d love to expand my bread baking repertoire and you all are just too fun to hang around with!! This “cake” sounds marvelous – have to admit I’ve never met a fruit “cake” or bread that I didn’t like!!!
Couple of thoughts on the fruit sinking thing – try tossing the fruit with some of the flour for the recipe – sometimes that can help keep it from sinking. Also, when fruit sinks, it generally means the batter is too slack to hold it – wonder if substituting greek yogurt for the buttermilk would tighten up the batter enough to hold the cherries? It is stuff like this that makes cooking so much fun for me!!!
I should have floured the cherries but here…it’s anyone’s guess. Beat the dough too much, it explodes. Not enough, I got sinkage. I’ll try yogurt next time…I would LOVE to see fruited dotted throughout; I’m also going to quarter the cherries instead of halving them…I love the ‘idea’ of big pieces but not if the idea sinks. Thanks a bunch for your ‘educated’ advice. 🙂
mmm, what a fantastic trio of flavors – thanks for sharing!
xo
This is such an awesome challenge and really perfect for me too s I do need to get out of my comfort zone and start baking! Just made the first challenge and yay, it worked (post will be up on friday) Now I totally love your cherry cinnamon bread and might actually make that later too!
So glad you’re coming to the party with us Simone…I sure thought your bread looked fabulous; now I want to make all the others I’m seeing.
Like the Twelve Loaves concept, Barb! Hopefully, I’ll be able to participate depending on how my mangled ankle behaves. This is a lovely loaf with that classic combo of cherries and almond. Was there ever a more perfect blend of flavors? I think not.
Oh I so hope you will and if not this month…then join us when you can. You just concentrate on getting better.
Hi Barbara, so nice to finally get to meet you; Your post is so well written, and I thank you for the mention about me, as well!
I’m so glad that you are participating in the bake group with Lora. She does a lot of bread baking which we all enjoy so much.
I love your delicious Cinnamon Bread with the Cherries and almonds, and the crunchy topping. Your photos are superb! I pinned your amazing bread on my ‘bread love’ board:D
Thanks for your kind comment on my blog!
xo
Nice to meet you too Lizzie…and if you don’t already know; just love your sweet daughter! Thanks for participating; I’m hoping you will do some more events with us.
Scrumptious combination! I´m mad about cherries and never paired them with cinnamon. A great bread recipe.
Really so very good Paula; I’ve even bought more cherries; I need to make another before they disappear until next year.
Yum!! Your bread looks absolutely delicious. I definitely wouldn’t have turned it down due to sinking cherries 🙂 And that recipe looks like a real keeper – I bet you could adapt it in so many delicious ways. Really great job!
Thanks Shelley; I’ll have you over next time. 🙂
My gosh, that would be fun 🙂
I’m looking forward to blueberries in the winter; I’ll have a stash in my freezer and you know they would be perfect in here too.
Fabulous!
What a great combination of flavors. My family would love this one.
Mine would do but the neighbors already finished it off…evidence they need to come visit mama more often huh? 🙂
I have a thing for streusels. It’s a good thing. It’s not that good because when I bake something with a streusel topping or filling, it disappears even faster than baked goods do over here normally. Is it possible to gain virtual pounds? Because I am sure I have just looking at the breads that were baked for this Summer Fruit month:)Love this recipe and I am making it this weekend!!
If you make it sure want to know if your fruit sunk. I might cut my cherries in quarters next time to see if a lighter piece of fruit does better. Next time as in a day or so. LOVED this!
wow, this looks fantastic! i have been buried in peaches lately, but this may be enough for me to pick up some cherries this weekend.
also, a baking challenge, eh? this may be enough to get me over my fear of high-altitude baking. maybe.
I don’t specify my altitude changes in the recipe, always listing it as it would be baked at sea level , so this is the first thing I’ve done using Chef Gerhard’s advice; turning the oven up 25 degrees and here’s what I found. It does seem to work; that higher heat bakes the dough quicker as it’s rising and so it rose and didn’t fall (though I still did my typical of taking a divot out of the leavening with my baby finger!). That was the good part. But once it appeared to be set, I also think the higher heat was browning the outside too quickly; even this result was a bit browner than I would ideally like. So, I covered it with foil when I noticed and I would recommend you do the same. It’s still a bit of a guessing game for me so I’ll guess about halfway or when the top looks light brown would be a good choice. Also, the baking time was lessened about 10-15 minutes. Just start testing much sooner than any recipe’s standard bake time; that higher heat will bake it much faster.
Come join us…I’ve been baking for decades and am still learning…and accepting less then stellar results occasionally. We do have a decided disadvantage baking at altitude but the taste of goods are not affected…your family and friends will still devour them!
Count me in! I think your 12 Loaves idea is just the encouragement I need to bake more bread throughout the year. I happened to have posted a focaccia recipe today that turned out quite well. With the altitude here I tend to have more success with breads that don’t have to rise quite as much (like flatbread and focaccia). I ALWAYS blame the altitude even if the culprit is my lack of experience. Your cherry creation looks delicious.
Yay! I agree with you Holly…yeast breads don’t tend to have quite the same issues as those with leavening ingredients. What I find with them is that the moisture level if affected; I always add more water to a yeast dough than a recipe calls for; not a lot but probably a couple of tablespoons. Our flour gets drier and I think it needs that compensation. So glad you’re joining us!
Mmm…. This “bread” sounds divine. For me, cherries are truly the ultimate summer fruit. Whenever they begin to appear in the markets, I just get giddy! I always buy too many but that gives me the perfect excuse to make a million things with them. They are my absolute favorite fruit. This bread would be such a hit at my house. Maddy would love it!
On another note, I can’t wait to get baking some bread of my own and join in with you all! So excited to participate in 12 Loaves. This way I can get over my own yeast issues and hone my bread making skills since this is an area where I’ve definitely had issues in the past.
It was a hit. It is gone. Bread or cake, it was delish!! So glad you’re joining us Kate; think that deserves a big WHOO HOO!