Easy giftable nut breads?
Hi all, I'm looking for some recipe recommendations for a loaf I'd like to make later this month as a gift for a friend. I know that she often buys breads with nuts in them and I've been served a (very tasty) hazelnut bread from a local bakery a few times at her house. So I was thinking of some kind of nut bread (possibly with addition of dried fruit) as a gift. She is a connoisseur of fine cheeses, so something that would complement cheese would be ideal.
My own bread-baking has not taken me to these kinds of breads, as I mainly make simple breads for my weekday packed lunches. I'm working my way through FWSY, and have become reasonably comfortable with the commercial yeast recipes in it and with the methods, though I've not yet moved on to levain breads. I attach a picture of my 75% whole wheat/80% hydration loaf for a sense of my skill level if that helps.
There are a wealth of fruit/nut recipes on here, and I'm reading through them, but if anyone has advice on a particular one that would be appropriate for someone with my limited skills, I'd appreciate it!
I make these and they are to die for!
http://www.dinnerwithjulie.com/2009/01/27/rosemary-raisin-pecan-crisps/
Note that I replace the raisins with cranberries.
I am trying another similar recipe today but I can't vouch for those yet.
Fig nut breads are very good with cheese, etc. There is one on the front page of this forum, or you could try the Fig Nut Levain here. I'm not sure what your skill level is but this is a pretty simple sourdough made with dried figs and toasted chopped Brazil nuts.
I have used the recipe for Pain au Levain with Pecans and Dried Cherries from Daniel Leader's Bread Alone for many years. I have made many.many different combinations of nuts and dried fruit: cranberries and walnuts, figs and walnuts, almonds and apricots. and my favorite- hazelnuts and pears. I almost always toast the nuts and use minimal soaking time for the fruit.
Have fun!
Thanks for all the suggestions! I wound up adapting this recipe from The Bread She Bakes: https://www.thebreadshebakes.com/2016/02/date-walnut-rye-bread-recipe I made several changes to the recipe as written to use up what I had in my kitchen/speed it up a bit. My changes were:
1. Used 300g strong whole wheat flour and 200g AP flour
2. Increased yeast to 9g and salt to 8g. (This let me keep the second rise and the final proof to exactly 1hr each)
3. Replaced 25ml of the water in the dough with milk I needed to use up
4. Only had 30 minutes to soak the fruit rather than the recommended 4 hours, so added an extra 2 tablespoons of the soaking water into the dough when adding the fruit
5. Made one large loaf rather than 2 small ones.
6. Proof on a baking sheet as written, but baked by Dutch oven method, took 45 minutes to bake through.
My friend was very happy with her present, and here's a picture of the results. Will definitely be baking this one again!