Packed with dried fruits & nuts, this naturally gluten-free breakfast loaf is delicious with lashings of butter. Enjoy it on Pesach/Passover, or year round!
There are three foods that we seem to eat an awful lot of at Pesach. They are
- Matza – obviously
- Eggs
- Dried fruit
Number 3 is largely to attempt to alleviate some of the digestive effects of numbers 1 and 2!
And although I do enjoy a bowl of dried fruit compote, I’ve also been on the lookout for other interesting and delicious ways to ingest my dried fruits during the festival.
Pesach breakfasts
Meanwhile, I’m always trying to come up with new and fun ideas for breakfast during Pesach. After a couple of days of matza with jam/cheese, I find the novelty does rather start to wear off. And while fruit and yogurt (and more eggs!) are all very well, there has to be another way…
A Passover loaf?!
After spending hours reading recipes for paleo baked goods and borrowing the best bits of all of them, I finally got busy in the kitchen and created this amazing dried fruit and nut breakfast loaf. It’s completely Pesach friendly, and contains no chametz, kitniot, or gebrokhts of any kind.
This means that it’s naturally gluten-free. It also has no added sugar or dairy, and is packed with healthy fats and fibre, so it’s a pretty healthy choice all round.
Success – Pesach breakfast loaf
A double triumph! This delicious breakfast loaf contains a stack of dried fruits, and also makes a wonderful Pesach breakfast!
It slices beautifully, is delicious plain or (my favourite) with lashings of butter, and it can even be toasted! Not that you have a Pesach toaster of course! Simply pop it under the grill instead, or gently toast in a frying pan until golden brown.
Fruit and nuts
I quite liked finding the occasional whole nut in this, but my Mum wasn’t so keen. She suggested cutting them into bits, or leaving them out altogether and replacing them with a similar volume of yet more dried fruit. Let your own fondness for nuts dictate how you interpret the recipe.
Pesach breakfast loaf
I have yet to test this fruit & nut breakfast loaf’s effectiveness against an excess of matza and eggs, but on taste alone, I’m pretty sure we’ll be eating it all week! Pass the butter…
Makes one loaf – about 10-12 slices.
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📖 Recipe
Dried fruit and nut breakfast loaf
Ingredients
- 125 g mixed dried fruit e.g. apricots, prunes, peaches, pears, apples, figs, mango etc.
- 1 medium ripe banana
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 75 g ground almonds
- 25 g desiccated coconut
- 50 g potato flour (potato starch)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- Pinch salt
- 50 g raisins
- 50 g blanched almonds
- 50 g shelled pistachios
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a 1lb loaf tin with greaseproof paper.
- First, prepare the dried fruit – remove any stalks or seeds, and cut the fruits into small bitesize pieces. Set aside.
- Mash the banana very well, then whisk together with the egg and vegetable oil.
- Add the ground almonds, coconut, potato flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt to the banana mixture, and stir well to combine into a stiff batter.
- Stir in the prepared dried fruit, the raisins, blanched almonds and pistachios.
- Transfer the mixture to the lined loaf tin. Ease into the corners and level the top using a spatula.
- Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 35-40 minutes, until risen, brown, and a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean.
- Allow to cool fully before slicing. Serve with butter.
Nutrition
More Passover breakfasts
Need more breakfast ideas? Check out my roundup of the best family-approved Pesach breakfasts, including pop tarts and pancakes!
I’m linking up with Bake of the Week, hosted by Maison Cupcake and co-organised by Casa Costello, and CookBlogShare, hosted this week by Snap Happy Bakes.
Trish
20 years experience of cooking gluten-free for my brother and this is one of the best recipes ever. So simple and uses up all the odds and ends of fruit and nuts in my cupboard. Slices beautifully, freezes well too. We eat it year round, buttered, not as a breakfast loaf but mid-morning or at teatime. All the family love it and all the ladies who came for coffee wanted the recipe. Thank you !
Helen
Thank you so much Trish! I’m so happy to hear that you all enjoy this recipe so much 🙂
Gaby Danziger
Can i leave out the Dessicated coconut from he recipe? If not what alternative shall I use?
Helen
Hi Gaby. You could try replacing it with 1/4 cup (30g) more of ground almonds. It should still be yummy! All the best, Helen.
Hannah
Could GF flour be used in place of potato flour?
Helen
Hi Hannah. I haven’t tried this substitution but I can’t see a reason why it wouldn’t work. Please let us know how it turns out if you try it! Thanks, Helen.
Elana Fligg
This was so delicious that I made it three times this Pesach – and my husband, who doesn’t eat sweets or cakes ate most of them! It’s definitely going to the top of the list for next year! Thank you.
Helen
I’m so happy you enjoyed it ?
Thanks for letting me know!
Carolyn
This loaf looks amazing!! A couple of questions. Is potato flour the same as potato starch?
As for the baking powder, I know you can get Pesach baking powder, but not everyone approves of it for Pesach. How would this do if I skipped it, do you think?
Helen
Thanks Carolyn! Yes, potato flour is the same as potato starch.
I imagine the loaf would be a bit denser without the baking powder, but it should still taste fine.
I hope you enjoy it! Helen.
Lisa Carson
Can you use flax+water instead of egg?
Helen
Hi Lisa, I’ve never used flax egg substitutes so I’ve really no idea. If you try it, please let me know how it works so I can update the post. Thanks!
Helen Costello (@CasaCostello)
I’m another one for whole pistachios too! You work so hard – your recipes look wonderful. Thank you for joining in with #BakeoftheWeek – New roundup and linky now open x
RJ Flamingo
Thanks for another tasty-looking option! Just pinned it!
Helen
My pleasure! I hope you enjoy it.
Amanda
He long does it stay fresh in sealed container?
Helen
A few days. I ate one basically single-handed over the course of 4-5 days and it was fine 🙂
YSU
I don’t have a scale. Can you give me the recipe using cups instead of grams?
Helen
The only ingredient I haven’t listed in cups is the dried fruit, because the volume measurement will depend on how small you cut it, how firmly you pack it etc etc. However, as a guide, I suggest around 3/4 cup of chopped, lightly packed dried fruit. I hope this helps!
Babby
a conversion for the 50g potato flour would be very helpful. thank you! lovely bread
Helen
Hi Babby. I’m glad you enjoyed it. I’m not sure what you’re asking for though – the recipe lists conversions, and 50g potato flour is equivalent to 1/2 cup. Are you wanting a conversion to something else? Please let me know and I will do my best to help! All the best, Helen.
Sarah James @ Tales From The Kitchen Shed
A breakfast bake is a great idea and your loaf looks delicious. I agree with you both, whole pistachios especially for the crunch. Pinned for later.
Helen
Thanks Sarah. I must admit I love pistachios in anything 🙂
Judith Phythian
Thank you for a great cake. As our garden is now open to the public, I like to have something special baked for our visitors, especially those who usually feel left out. I doubled the recipe and used flax egg instead of one egg and aquafaba instead of the second egg. We sold out within an hour. Not only is this vegan but also dairy free and gluten free. Many thanks Helen.
Helen
That’s great to know that you can ‘veganise’ this recipe – thanks for sharing your amendments and I’m glad it was such a big success!
If you’re looking for more vegan + gluten-free treats, these apricot flapjacks are delicious! Just make sure your oats are certified gluten-free, and use a dairy-free spread, and you’re all set.
All the best, Helen.
Ayanne
Have you tried freezing this?
Helen
I’m afraid I haven’t but I expect it would be fine.
Hayley (@SnapHappyBakes)
This looks super tasty 🙂 Thanks for sharing with #CookBlogShare
Lydia
Delicious Helen WhT is the web page please
Helen
Not sure I understand the question, but if you’re after the web page for my recipe book Helen’s Delicious Pesach, you can find it here: http://amzn.to/1r3YM91
Urvashi Roe
What an interesting post. I haven’t heard of pesach and would love to know a little more about it and how it came to be that you eat those foods? Nonetheless I’m happy it’s inspired this lovely bake 🙂
Marisa Colaianni
I made a double batch of this today. I followed it to the letter and it didn’t rise at all. I don’t know what happed as I bake gluten free all the time and have for years with great success. The batter was very thick and it may be that impressed it into the pan too hard and didn’t have room to rise, I don’t know.
Helen
Hi Marisa. Although the batter is thick and the finished loaf is quite dense, it should have risen a little bit at least. I’m sorry this didn’t come out as you’d hoped, but I hope you managed to eat it just the same! All the best, Helen.
Alene
I have to be gluten-free and lactose free anyway, so this sounds wonderful for breakfast any day! Trying it today. Forget Passover. Thank you!
Helen
Thanks Alene. I hope you enjoy it! (I must admit I eat it when it isn’t Pesach too – it’s just yummy!)
laura_howtocook
Sorry ignore me in my last comment!
Helen
LOL! Yes, eggs are not dairy 🙂
laura_howtocook
This looks utterly gorgeous, love how you have packed the loaf full of fruit and nuts, especially pistachios. I guess you mean egg substitute if the loaf is dairy free?
Chris @thinlyspread
Lovely, I like the addition of pistachios very much, I’d definitely leave them whole!
Helen
Thanks Chris. Yes, I thought they added a bit of crunch and texture too – and delicious flavour of course!