It's that time of year again. The most wonderful time of year, as far as I'm concerned. I'm all for homemade Christmas. But homemade Valentine's Day is really where it's at.
Whip up these mini loaves, send them off tied up nice with a ribbon to a few potential suitors and wait for them to them to mob you Zack Morris style.
Ingredients
1/2 cup canola or olive oil
1/4 cup apple sauce
1/2 cup nondairy milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 banana, mashed
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon zest of an orange or lemon, or any other citrus you have lying around
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup dried cherries (or cranberries if cherries are hard to find in your area)
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease 4 (or 6 depending on size) mini loaf tins or one regular sized loaf tin.
Whisk together oil, apple sauce, milk, sugars, banana, extracts and zest until well combined.
Sift in flour, cinnamon, powder, and soda. Stir gently until just combined. Add in cherries, almonds and chips and gently mix until everything is well distributed. Don't over mix!
Divide among your loaf tins and sprinkle each with a pinch of coarse granulated sugar (like turbinado). Bake for 25 minutes. Check with a skewer or toothpick. If it doesn't come out clean, bake for an additional 7 minutes and check again. If you're baking a regular sized loaf, bake for 45 to 50 minutes.
When baked through, pop them out onto a wire rack and let cook completely before packaging or sneaking a slice or two...