Sour Cherry Almond Bread

Last updated on December 11th, 2024

This wholesome Sour Cherry Almond Bread blends together fresh picked sour cherries, almonds, and nutmeg with sweetness from the honey and a bit of tang from buttermilk. 

Vintage Inspiration: A copy of my mom’s “Whole Foods for the Whole Family” 1981 La Leche League International. Food trends following the hippie era of the late ’70’s, focused on natural, healthy, whole-grain, refined-sugar free foods as a basic way of life. This cherry quick bread is delicious year-round, but tastes even better with fresh hand-picked sour cherries when they are in season.

How to make Sour Cherry Almond Bread:

Use fresh or frozen sour cherries:

• After picking the berries, put them in them in an air-tight container and store in the fridge for about 1 week.
• To freeze, drain and pat dry with paper towel and and reserve liquid for another use. Then place berries on a 1/2 sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Spread in a single layer and freeze for 1 hour. Place berries in ziploc bags or vacuum seal them for up to 8-10 months.

Use buttermilk, greek yogurt or sour cream for tender baked goods:

Adding buttermilk provides a tangy flavor and yields a tender baked good. If purchasing buttermilk, look for simple, natural ingredients like “cultured milk” on the label. Some brands are loaded with stabilizers, gums and starches. You can keep dry buttermilk powder in your pantry to mix up anytime it is needed. If you don’t have any buttermilk on-hand, make your own by placing 1 T. vinegar into a liquid measuring cup and add cream or whole milk until it reaches the 1 c. measure line and let it sit for a few minutes. You can easily substitute sour cream, plain greek yogurt or unsweetened almond milk in place of the buttermilk as well.

Avoid mushy or fruit stained quick bread:

Before adding the cherries to the batter, toss them in a bit of flour or cornstarch. Mix together all the ingredients and then fold in the berries by hand as the last step. This will ensure that the cherries will be evenly incorporated and not sink to the bottom or stain your batter into red mush.

Sour Cherry Almond Bread

This wholesome Sour Cherry Almond Bread blends together fresh picked sour cherries, almonds, and nutmeg with sweetness from the honey and a bit of tang from buttermilk. 

Servings 24

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 43 minutes mins

Ingredients

DRY INGREDIENTS

• 1 c. unbleached flour
• 1 c. whole wheat flour
• 2/3 c. almond flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. salt

WET INGREDIENTS

• 2/3 c. oil
• 2/3 c. honey
• 2 eggs
• ¾ c. plain greek yogurt or sour cream
• ½ c. buttermilk or unsweetened almond milk
• 1 ½ tsp. vanilla

MIX-INS

• 2 c. sour cherries toss in flour
• 1 c. almonds chopped

Instructions

PREP

• Gather your equipment: Mixing bowl, Liquid measuring cup, Measuring spoons, Measuring cups, Whisk, Spatula, Loaf Pan, Mini food chopper
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease (2) 9×5 loaf pan on the bottom and sides 2/3 of the way up. Pat dry sour cherries and toss into a little bit of flour and set aside. Chop the almonds and set aside.

MAKE BATTER

• Whisk together dry ingredients flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl.
• Add oil, honey, sour cream, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla. Mix until just combined.
• Gently fold in sour cherries by hand and lightly mix together.
• Scoop equal parts batter into (2) loaf pans. Sprinkle the top with course sanding sugar.

BAKE

• Bake at 350° for 43-45 minutes. Let cool, slice and store in air-tight container.

Notes

GLUTEN-FREE:

Storage: Gluten-free baked goods do not have the same shelf-life as conventional baked goods. Store in airtight container on counter 1-2 days, refrigerate 3-5 days, or seal in plastic and place in freezer safe container for up to 6 months. When freezing, allow to come to room temperature before opening the container.

Gluten-Free Baking Tips: If time allows, be sure to let the batter rest as hydrating the gluten-free flour is an important step to help eliminate grittiness. You can make batter ahead and store in the fridge up to 1 week until use.

DIETARY SUBSTITUTIONS
• In place of the sour cream or milk, use unsweetened oat, coconut or almond milk.
• To replace the egg, add 1 tsp. soda to the batter with 1 T. vinegar poured on top of the soda.

Author: Apryl Niksch

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Keyword: bread, quickbread

Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and tag @vintagebakedmodern on Instagram and hashtag it #vintagebakedmodern