Apricot Pumpkin Bread

5 from 7 votes

This Pumpkin Bread is sure to become a favorite! It's one of the most unique of it's kind, using chunks of dried apricots throughout the loaf and flavored with fresh orange juice, cinnamon, cardamon, nutmeg and a touch of ginger. The loaf keeps well on your counter for two days, and in the refrigerator for a week.

Prep Time25

Cook Time24

Total Time49

Course: Bread

Keyword: pumpkin, quickbread

Servings: slices

Calories: 143kcal

Author: Sally Humeniuk

Ingredients

Streusel Topping:

½ cup flour
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ tsp salt
3 Tbsp rolled oats, not instant
1 Tbsp pumpkin seeds
4 Tbsp butter, cold cut into cubes

For the bread:

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 ¼ cups granulated sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cardamom
½ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground ginger
4 eggs
1 15-oz can pumpkin puree
1 cup avocado or canola oil
½ cup fresh squeezed orange juice
¾ cup chopped dried apricots

Instructions

To make the Streusel topping:

In the bowl of a food processor, add ½ cup flour, ¼ cup sugar, and ¼ teaspoon of salt. Pulse just to blend.
Add 3 Tablespoons rolled oats, 1 Tablespoon pumpkin seeds, and 4 Tablespoons cold chunks of butter. Pulse about 5 times for 2 seconds each until the mixture resembles small crumbs and the butter is distributed throughout.
Place the streusel in the fridge until you need it. (You will have more than you need. This topping can stay in the fridge for a week or be frozen for several months to be used again.

To make the bread:

Place ¾ cup chopped apricots in a small sauce pan with water, just enough to cover. You may also use any orange flavored liqueur if you like. Let the mixture heat until it just barely starts to simmer then remove from the heat. Let the apricots sit in the liquid until ready to add to the recipe.
Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Lightly grease the bottoms and ½ inch up the sides of two 9x5-inch loaf pans; set aside.
In a large bowl stir together 3 cups flour, 2 ¼ cups sugar, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1 ½ teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon cardamom, ½ teaspoon nutmeg and ¼ teaspoon ginger. Set flour mixture aside.
In a medium bowl add 4 eggs and beat them with a fork until kind of fluffy. Add 15 oz can pumpkin, 1 cup oil, and ½ cup orange juice. Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture; stir just until moistened.
Drain the water or liqueur off the apricots and gently stir them into the pumpkin bread batter. Stir until no more streaks of flour are present.
Spoon batter into prepared pans. Get the streusel topping from the fridge and sprinkle liberally or lightly over the loaves, whichever you prefer. Don't make the streusel layer too thick. Bake 45-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted near centers comes out pretty clean.
Cool bread in pans on wire rack 10 minutes. Using a narrow metal spatula or table knife, loosen sides of bread from pans. Remove breads from pans; cool completely on wire rack before slicing.
The cooled bread may be wrapped in plastic wrap and kept at room temperature for up to 2 days. Refrigerate for a week or this bread freezes well for a couple months.

Notes

When greasing the pans, you might feel compelled to grease the entire sides of the pan. Don't do this as the batter needs to grip the sides in order to rise well. I've used this method on even regular (not non-stick) pans with success.
If you want to leave the streusel topping off the bread, you can bake the loaves without it or just sprinkle plain pumpkin seeds on top before baking.
Don't skip the step where you soak the apricots. This softens them and makes them incorporate into the bread better.
The loaves will most likely crack some on the top. Don't think you've failed, this it fine and normal and the loaves are still beautiful. Because I don't add as much sugar into the batter as an original recipe called for, the cracking happens. I don't recommend increasing the sugar because the texture of the bread is also more moist with the amount that I've indicated in the recipe.

Nutrition