Almond Cherry Bread
Ingredients
One 10 oz. jar maraschino cherries
2 tbsp white all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cup white all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup reserved cherry juice
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
Glaze
1/4 cup reserved cherry juice
1 tsp almond extract
Approximately 1 1/2 cups+ confectioners’ sugar
Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Spray two 8×4-inch loaf pans with floured cooking spray or lightly grease and flour the pans; set aside. Recipe may be baked in one 9×5 pan, as 4 mini loaves, or as muffins. Adjust baking time accordingly.**
Remove cherries from jar and place on a cutting board. Blot with paper towel to dry slightly, then roughly chop them. Don’t discard the cherry juice, you’ll need it!
Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons flour (prevents them from sinking during baking) and toss to coat evenly. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 3/4 cups flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together.
In a small mixing bowl, combine eggs, oil, all the cherry juice from the jar except 1/4 cup to be reserved for the glaze, almond and vanilla extracts. Whisk together.
Pour wet mixture over dry ingredients and stir to combine. Batter will be thick. Do not over-mix.
Lightly fold in the chopped cherries.
Pour batter into the prepared pans, smoothing the tops lightly with a spatula. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until bread is domed, set, springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. Allow bread to cool in pans on top of a wire rack for about 15 minutes before removing and allowing to finish cooling completely on rack. While bread cools, make the glaze.
Glaze
In a medium bowl, combine 1/4 cup reserved cherry juice, almond extract, about 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, and whisk to combine until smooth and satiny. Continue to add sugar until desired consistency is reached. Glaze the bread just before serving.
