Dried Cherry Almond Bread

Total Time: 1 hr 50 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 20 mins

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups boiling water
• 2 (5 1/2 ounce) bags dried cherries
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups slivered almonds
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon milk (or more)

Recipe

• 1 for the bread ~ in a medium bowl, pour boiling water over dried cherries & let stand 20 minutes, then pat dry with paper towels.
• 2 preheat oven to 325 degrees f, then spray a 9"x5" loaf pan with with a baking-spray-with-flour.
• 3 in a large mixing bowl, beat brown sugar & softened butter with electric mixer on medium speed until well mixed.
• 4 beat in eggs & the 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract, then carefully stir in the flour, baking powder & salt just until dry ingredients are moistened.
• 5 stir in almonds & cherries, then pour into prepared loaf pan.
• 6 bake 70 to 80 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean & top is dark golden brown.
• 7 cool 10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack, then loosen the sides of the loaf from the pan & remove the bread, placing it top side up on a wire rack. let it cool completely, about 1 hour.
• 8 for the glaze ~ in a small bowl, mix glaze ingredients until smooth, then drizzle over cooled bread.
• 9 wrap tightly & store at room temperature.
• 10 when ready to serve, cut loaf into 12 slices & then cut each of those slices in half.