Easy Fudgy Chocolate Cherry Walnut Bread

Hi everybody! Wow, it has been a little while (a bit too long, if you ask me!) since I have posted a new dessert recipe and my website was giving me a weird look. A look that if translated into words would be something like, “Hey girl, what are you too busy for me or something?! This is not okay. Feed me! And feed me something fudgy because you owe me big time for your long recipe leave of absence.” Now, as you can imagine, I was not happy with these current state of affairs and my computer’s unfriendly, mean-spirited behavior. Truth be told, “the look” was actually more of a glare now that I think about it. However, if I think about this too much, then I might come to the conclusion that “the look” was simply a product of my overactive imagination and like the many other things that circulate there, completely under my control.

It turns out that this recipe is also completely under my control. Thank heavens because I can’t deal with anything unhealthy. I just cannot. Not now, not ever!

Additionally, I knew that if a new recipe was going to make its way onto my virtual home, it had to be a scrumptious, drool worthy one. This bread is an ultimate healthy comfort food recipe and you really will be able to melt your fork right into it. The chocolaty, nutty (as in walnuty!) flavor will melt deliciously on your tongue. Just one slice of this dessert bread will be sure to satisfy any sweet or rich dark chocolate cravings without even just one deplorably unhealthy ingredient. There is no oil, sugar or salt in this recipe and this dessert bread is sweetened primarily by fruit. Hooray!

Now let’s get down to dessert bread recipe business before my computer can give me another weird “look”.

Ingredients (makes 16-18 servings):

2 and 1/2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour (can sub oat flour for gluten-free version) 1 cup walnut flour 1 and 1/2 cups date sugar (or coconut sugar) ¼ teaspoon Stevia powder (optional ~ if you want it sweeter) 1 cup cocoa powder 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 2 tablespoons flaxseeds, ground 1 cup nondairy milk ½ cup applesauce 1 large, very ripe banana 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1 10-oz bag frozen cherries (or fresh cherries), chopped if you prefer smaller pieces

Optional Topping Ingredients:

½ cup raw walnut pieces ½ cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and grease a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan (or use a paper-loaf pan). In a large bowl, sift together the flours, date sugar, Stevia powder (if using), cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda. Set bowl aside. Mix ground flaxseeds with nondairy milk in a small bowl or large cup and set aside. In a food processor, combine applesauce, banana, vanilla extract and flaxseed/nondairy milk mixture. Process well. Pour processed ingredients in the large mixing bowl with the dry ingredients and mix until a nice flour forms. Add chopped cherries and mix them in until they are evenly mixed throughout the batter. Transfer the batter to your prepared loaf pan, add any topping ingredients you want and bake for about 60 minutes (or until a cake tester comes out clean), rotating the pan halfway through baking. Cool completely before cutting.

Note: Cherries can be replaced by fresh or frozen strawberries or any other fruit you love!