Post-Workout Fruit and Nut Loaf - Gluten Free

When I'm still eating thick slices of this six hours after I left the gym, it still counts as post-workout, right?




Post-Workout Fruit and Nut Loaf - Gluten Free
slightly adapted from here

For the Loaf:
Olive oil, for greasing
250g ground almonds
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and cut into small dice
100g dried apricots
100g prunes, pitted
50g pecans
4 eggs
2 tablespoons honey (or to taste, this is not meant to be a really sweet loaf)
50ml - 75ml water

To Serve: (optional)
Your favourite nut butter
Honey

Make the Loaf:
Preheat the oven to 170C.  Grease and line a 23 cm x 13 cm loaf pan with baking paper.  Grease the paper well too.  Set aside.

Put the ground almonds, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl.  Whisk to combine and break up any lumps.  Add the chopped apple, dried fruit and pecans.  Stir to coat the fruit and nuts in the dry ingredients, this will stop the fruit from sinking to the bottom of your loaf.  Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and honey together and stir them into the dry ingredients.  Add enough water to make a soft, creamy batter (between 50ml - 75ml depending on conditions and the hydration of your ground almonds and fruit).

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40 - 45 minutes.  Leave to cool to room temperature into the pan on a wire rack before slicing.

To Serve:
You can totally eat this as is, but I like to cut thick slices, toast them to golden perfection and slather with cinnamon spiced almond butter and drizzle with obscene amounts of  gloriously sticky honey.  (Also extremely good with a thick coating of chocolate and hazelnut spread, or smothered in Danish butter, or apricot jam. options!)