Fruit Bread

I dedicate this recipe to James. Fruit bread with apricot jam is one of his favorites.

Difficulty: Medium

Ingredients

• 416g bread flour
• 170g whole wheat flour
• 420g water
• 10g yeast
• 45g honey
• 20g sugar
• 12g salt
• 30g unsalted butter
• 30g sunflower seeds
• 30g oats
• 75g dried apricot
• 55g pitted dates
• 55g dried pineapple
• 25g black raisins
• 25g golden raisins

Directions

1. Chop dried apricots, pitted dates, and dried pineapple into small pieces.

2. Mix everything except the fruit into a bowl and mix.

3. Knead the dough into a shaggy ball.

4. Let rest for 10 minutes to absorb water.

5. Knead until mostly smooth. It will not get fully smooth.

   If the dough is too slack, add a tiny bit more flour (add it very slowly to avoid adding too much). This dough does not need to be super strong but it should have some strength and should only be slightly sticky.

6. Add and knead in the fruit.

7. Cover in a large bowl and let rise for 90 minutes.

8. Grease a roughly 9x5" (22.8x12.7cm) loaf pan.

9. Form the dough into a log and place it into the loaf pan.

10. Let rise for 60 minutes or until crested slightly above the edge of the loaf pan.

11. Preheat the oven to 425F (246C).

12. Cover the loaf in aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes.

13. Remove the aluminum foil and bake for another 10 minutes.

Notes

• Feel free to use different combinations of fruit in this if you prefer. Try to keep the total quantity roughly the same.

• This bread is really good with some nice jam. I quite enjoy apricot jam on it.