Slip into your cozy era with this terrific, easy-to-make bread studded with coconut and cherries

RECIPE

A perfect addition to “your collection of transitional recipes from summer into fall”

Published September 14, 2023 5:30PM (EDT)

Bread in a loaf pan (Getty Images/istetiana)

Bibi Hutchings, a lifelong Southerner, lives along a quiet coastal Alabama bay with her cat, Zulu, and husband, Tom. She writes about the magical way food evokes memories, instantly bringing you back to the people, places and experiences of your life. Her stories take you all around the South and are accompanied with tried-and-true recipes that are destined to become a part of your memory-making as you share them with your friends and family.

Hearty and full of flavor, this is one of my first bakes once the summer heat subsides. No cinnamon, nutmeg or other quintessential fall spices, but rather a fruit-filled loaf, chock full of texture and brimming with the natural sweetness of baked cherries, carrots and raisins. I cannot resist slicing it still warm from the oven, with a pat of butter or some coconut oil . . . but it is even better the next day.

I became flooded with relief about a week or so ago when I realized it was my third morning in a row to have my coffee on the porch. Without hardly realizing it, my cat and I were enjoying porch time again, something we both missed all summer while the temperatures and humidity levels had us feeling like we had descended into one of Dante’s worst levels of Hell.

Granted, Zulu (my cat) and I get out early these days, like before first light early, but, oh: These mornings in the 70s are good medicine. No longer waking to the constant metallic churn and moan of air conditioner motors, quiet morning porch sitting is back. And at the risk of further anthropomorphizing, i think everything — from all the four-legged’s to two-legged’s to the winged and the finned — is waking up and moving around a little happier and less stressed thanks to this nicer weather.

I feel hopeful now that the heat has relented. And I celebrated yesterday by turning on my oven and baking this bread. It’s another to add to your collection of transitional recipes from summer into fall when afternoons still get too warm to want anything too cozy.

This bread really belongs in the “anytime” category, though. It is fresh and bright enough for spring, earthy enough for fall and delicious enough for all the times in between. It bakes long and low at 325, so if made first thing in the morning, you don’t feel like you’ve added to the ever-encroaching early September heat that still amps up by midday. It is also a great loaf to gift, so make a double batch and make someone’s day.

Want more great food writing and recipes? Subscribe to Salon Food’s newsletter, The Bite.

The flavors are different from what you might expect from a bread with carrots, raisins and coconut. I credit the cherries for providing some high notes and for single-handedly lifting the flavor up from anything similar you may have had before. Over the years, I tend to go a bit heavy with the cherries and a little lighter on the raisins, but that is merely my preference. The warmer the weather, the more cherries I pack into my quarter-cup measure. It bakes to a deep brown on the outside, but is vibrant and golden from the colorful cherries and carrots on the inside.

I feel sure this bread will hit the spot for you no matter if, like me, you are only now just getting a tiny taste of fall’s arrival or if cooler temperatures have already made it to your doorstep. It is certainly a favorite of mine.

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup oil

2 eggs

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut

1 cup shredded, peeled carrot

1/4 cup chopped sweet cherries

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Mix first 5 dry ingredients together — flour, sugar, soda, baking powder and salt — in a medium to large mixing bowl.

Mix milk, oil and eggs together then add to dry mixture. Stir just until all is incorporated.

Add in coconut, carrots, chopped cherries, raisins and nuts.

Combine thoroughly, then spoon into an oiled loaf pan.

Bake for 55 minutes or until top is fully baked.

*This recipe can be doubled for two loaves.

Cook’s Notes

Flour: This is a great bread to make when you want to experiment with non-traditional, non-wheat based flour. I have been on a sorghum kick lately, so I used 1 cup of sprouted sorghum flour and 1/2 cup King Arthur’s Gluten-free Measure-for-Measure baking blend. It will be crumblier when you make it without gluten, but the heartiness makes up for that.

Cherries: I generally use frozen cherries in this bread, which must be thawed. You can absolutely use fresh, but they are not always easy to find. If you use frozen, allow to thaw then press the water out and pat with a paper towel. You can substitute with blueberries if you like, but give cherries a try. They are delicious!

Oil: I prefer avocado oil in this recipe, but coconut oil or other, neutral oil will work fine.

Dairy: My friend, who is a skilled gluten-and-dairy-free baker, says it is important to make up for the loss of fat and protein when you substitute for cow’s milk in a recipe. Full-fat coconut milk takes care of the fat, but not the protein.

This recipe calls uses eggs, so there is protein already there, but I have experimented with adding a tablespoon of collagen powder to my dairy-free baked goods lately . . . and I believe I am on to something! If you choose to give it a try, whisk it into the wet ingredients before adding to the flour mixture.

Lastly, although this recipe uses both baking powder and soda, baking soda works a bit better when trying to keep the lift in your dairy-free baked goods. The reason? Baking soda does not require acidic ingredients, like cow’s milk, to activate it as a rising agent like baking powder does. If you’d like to have better luck substituting a non-dairy milk in your favorite baked good, here is the formula for converting baking powder to baking soda: one part baking soda to two parts cream of tartar.