A moist, cake like bread, flavored with almond and studded with cherries. It’s like having breakfast and dessert at the same time, and if that’s not a win-win situation, we don’t know what is.
There are some flavors that seem to go together so perfectly, and cherries and almond happen to fit into that category. In this sweet, cake-like bread the essence of almond permeates the bread and the bright cherries give a burst of fruitiness that accentuates it even more. It is perfect for breakfast, dessert, or a snack. The bread is moist and flavorful, with a tender crumb that pairs beautifully with a cup of coffee or tea.
How to Make Cherry Almond Bread
Preheat Oven:
- Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
- Grease a standard-size loaf pan and set it aside.
Prepare Dry Ingredients:
- In a large bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, salt, and baking powder.
- Gently fold in the chopped and patted dry cherries. This helps to distribute the cherries evenly and prevent them from sinking to the bottom during baking.
Prepare Wet Ingredients:
- In another bowl, whisk together the large egg, vegetable oil, milk, vanilla extract, and almond extract until well combined.
Combine Mixtures:
- Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients.
- Stir gently until just moistened. Be careful not to overmix, as this can make the bread dense and tough.
Bake:
- Pour the batter into the greased loaf pan, spreading it out evenly.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.
Cool and Serve:
- Allow the bread to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
Recipe Notes
- Cherries: Ensure cherries are well-patted dry to avoid adding excess moisture to the batter.
- Mixing: Do not overmix the batter to keep the bread light and fluffy.
- Testing for Doneness: Insert a toothpick in the center of the bread; it should come out clean when done.
Almost Cake: Cherry Almond Bread
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 8-10 Slices 1x
Description
This quick bread is perfect for breakfast, dessert, or a snack. The bread is moist and flavorful, with a tender crumb that pairs beautifully with a cup of coffee or tea.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (180 g)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar (150 g)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (2.5 g)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder (10 g)
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil (80 ml)
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup milk (120 ml)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (5 ml)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract (7.5 ml)
- 1 cup cherries, coarsely chopped and patted dry (150 g)
Instructions
Preheat Oven:
- Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
- Grease a standard-size loaf pan and set it aside.
Prepare Dry Ingredients:
- In a large bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, salt, and baking powder.
- Gently fold in the chopped and patted dry cherries. This helps to distribute the cherries evenly and prevent them from sinking to the bottom during baking.
Prepare Wet Ingredients:
- In another bowl, whisk together the large egg, vegetable oil, milk, vanilla extract, and almond extract until well combined.
Combine Mixtures:
- Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients.
- Stir gently until just moistened. Be careful not to overmix, as this can make the bread dense and tough.
Bake:
- Pour the batter into the greased loaf pan, spreading it out evenly.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.
Cool and Serve:
- Allow the bread to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
Notes
- Cherries: Ensure cherries are well-patted dry to avoid adding excess moisture to the batter.
- Mixing: Do not overmix the batter to keep the bread light and fluffy.
- Testing for Doneness: Insert a toothpick in the center of the bread; it should come out clean when done.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 35 mins
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 210
- Sugar: 12g
- Sodium: 230mg
- Fat: 8g
- Saturated Fat: 1g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 31g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 3g
- Cholesterol: 20mg
I had cherries that were soggy and not good for eating. Before throwing it away, I thought to check for a recipy on the net. I found this one and what a treasure! Simple ingredients and the only one I did not have was almond extract and I used almond flour instead. Well worth the try…
Anyway, 60min later out of the oven came a fabulous desert! Definately one I will use again!
Delicate and very moist. I used fresh rainer cherries. Easy and tasty.
This recipe will go in my box. Thank you!
This is the most moist pretty looking cherry bread there is. I used the jar pitted red cherries and did these up for xmas gifts I bought the aluminum bread pans and let it cool a little bit wrapped the pans up in dollar tree christmas hand towels with a ribbon wrapped around it to close the towels. They looked festive and showed the thought put into the gift. Being on a budget this was my best bet. Thanks for the recipe that put this all together for me.
Wonderful – simple recipe! Thank you so much for posting it. Love that it uses on-hand ingredients. My brother’s cherry tree produced a bumper crop of fruit this year and he generously gave us buckets of cherries. This is a great basic recipe which can be modified to suit personal tastes. Again, thank you!
I made this recipe with frozen cherries, turned out perfectly. Great recipe I will definitely make it again. Thanks for sharing.
Very easy recipe. I think there is a lack in flavor du to not enough almond extract in my opinion but my boyfriend loved it(and he’s very picky).
This bread is fantastic. I have two sour cherry trees, and they were ready to be picked last week. I didn’t know what to do with all the cherries, as even my husband gets bored with cherry pie after a while, and besides, there’s only so much of it you can eat without growing immensely fat! (I made three, and gave one to a neighbor.) I found this recipe, and it is so delicious. I made 9 breads. We are eating one; I gave two away, and put six in the freezer as Christmas gifts. I would only suggest covering them the last ten minutes to preserve that beautiful golden color. I still have more cherries, even after 3 pies, but have found a couple of puddings I want to try!
I’ve come across your recipe for cherry almond bread. I am looking for a true “cake like” consistency, not too heavy. Last night I baked a cherry bread w/sour cream in it, 1st try, and am disappointed. When I mixed in the cherry juice and maraschino cherry pieces, the batter color was pink which was what I wanted; once baked, it turned out browner which I did not want. My husband loves the cherry bread from Bob Evans Restaurant—–this it the kind of cherry bread I wish to bake…is your recipe like this? If so, I will definitely give it a try.
Thanks!!
Great recipe. I like to make muffins because they cook quicker than bread. Made this recipe a few weeks ago with tart frozen cherries from our trees. They turned out moist and light for a bread. I am going to make them again for supper tonight because I really liked the recipe. Thanks for the recipe Michelle.
I have made this recipe several times and have added many fruits other than cherries. Strawberries, blueberries and apples are a great combination. We also love raspberry and plum combination and just about any fruit there is. Good basic recipe to add other items to.
I love this recipe.i have made it many times and also used blueberries.My granddaughter s allergic to eggs,o I used one tablespoon of buttermilk and it works well.It doesn’t rise as much but tastes delicious!! Thank you for this recipe.
Correction.Oops sorry.I added two tablespoons of buttermilk in place of the egg.thanks
We are really enjoying this cakey bread– so moist, delicious and pretty!!! I chose to use 1 cup all purpose flour and 1/2 cup wheat flour and it was still very moist! Otherwise I followed the recipe exactly. We were lucky enough to get Door County Bing cherries, which is what I used and they were scrumptious! I also love Robin’s post about making little loaves of bread and giving them for Christmas!
Thank you Michelle for a really great recipe!
I have been making this recipe for a number of years. For Christmas gifts I use half red and half green cherries, for Valentines Day I just use the red cherries.
I misplaced my recipe and was so glad to find yours.
Thank you for sharing.
Audrey DeFehr White Rock, BC Canada
tide@telus.net
Awesome
Made this Cherry Bread Recipe yesterday and it was FANTASTIC. Making 2 more loves today.
I was lucky to have received several pounds of fresh off the tree Washington State Cherries.
Thank You for sharing your recipe!?
Tasty simple recipe to use up fruit! I did it with cherries and blackberries. Thank you!
So,it sounds like you can use maraschino cherries or fresh or frozen cherries, right?
FYI
400 degrees is way too high for a quick bread! 350 is the best!
I have dried cherries, I thought I would soak them first, and try the recipe, I’ll let you know
Making this for a family Easter gathering. If it tastes as good as it smells, we have a winner!
Hi Michelle,
Can honey be substituted for sugar and can I use almond flour instead of white flour?
I did this recipe. WOW!. Loaf was gone by the end of the day.
I made this with sour cherries that I had previously frozen (from my own tree). This was an absolutely delicious bread. So moist and flavourful
Thank you for your recipe. The one I have comes out too dry and not sweet enough. I think that yours will be better due to less flour and more sugar. Does this come out moist? I was wondering what size of pan to use because you say in your instructions to use a “standard size loaf pan”. I have four loaf pans all 9″ x 5″. I also know that many loaf pans are 8″x 4″. I am only questioning this because your ingredients are less than the other recipes that I have seen. I was planning to make these tonight (Sunday the 16th of December) for delivery tomorrow evening. I will try it in my size pan. However, I planning to make two more next week so could still use a response. Also, I plan to put pecans in mine because I am allergic to almonds. I planned to add 1 1/2 tsp orange juice as a substitute for the almond extract. Do you think this will work? I’ll let you know how it comes out.
Michelle, I tried your cherry almond recipe today and it was great. I used 1/2 cup of pecans and replaced the almond flavoring with orange juice. I used a 9″ x 5″ pan and it came out great, looks good too. It is moist and flavorful. Thanks so much for the recipe. I wrote u yesterday to ask about pan size and use of orange juice. So no need answering my questions as everything worked out fine. I will be using it from now on.
The flavors are delicious. I used drained, canned morello cherries. When I make it again, I will bake it at 350. At 30 minutes I checked it with a toothpick and it wasn’t quite done inside, although the top was golden brown. I covered it with a piece of parchment paper and put it back in for 5 minutes. The bottom and sides ended up a little too brown.
I have baked this twice. My husband loves it,BUTdespite generously greasing the loaf pan, the loaf stuck after I let it cool. Any suggestions? Usually quick breads bake at 350. Could the temperature be too high?
I made this today and it is now one of my favorite sweet breads. My husband actually said “Wow!’ when he tried it. I only made very minor changes, despite the following:
* Added about 1/3 cup chopped almonds (Hubby loves nuts)
* Included a few more cherries than called for (Yum!)
* Used freshly pitted sweet cherries and very slightly less sugar (would use full sugar if using sour cherries). Super delicious cherries make this! Not all cherries are created equal.
* Used some whole wheat pastry flour in place of some of the all-purpose (1/2 cup of the 1 1/2 cups)
* Baked at 375 F (instead of 400 F) and for longer time, until toothpick was clean
* I used parchment paper in my cooking sprayed loaf pan, for easy removal
The color, texture, and everything else is wonderful!
Loved this recipe! Very yummy without being overly sweet. Thank you
Hi,
Can I use dried cherries & if so, should I soak them first?
Hi ,
Can I use dried cherries & if so, should I soak them first?
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe! I made this today using left over cooked cherries (they were previously frozen) (1-1/4 cups) (the cooked cherries had a little cinnamon and orange juice and zest of orange) and did not use the almond extract (we’re not fans of it) but I increased the vanilla extract to 2 teaspoons (my son makes it for me!) It was so moist and delicious!! This is definitely a family fave and I will absolutely make this again! I love that it came together so quickly and after 40 minutes it made my house smell so great!!
The best almost cake bread I have ever tasted!
Really good, my family loved it. Thanks!