Cranberry Apricot Loaf (A Keks Recipe) (2024)

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This sweet Cranberry Apricot Loaf made our house smell like Christmas morning. It is soft, moist, crumbly and loaded with the sweet tang of cranberries and apricots. ThisCranberry Apricot Loaf isinfused with clementine zest. And it’s amazing! I’m craving a slice just writing about it. Good thing we made it today and still have some left. Phew!

We’ve been experimenting with different Keks recipes and this is our favorite.Keks is a traditional Russian Christmas dessert bread. It’s a cross between a coffee cake and a fruit cake; definitely a comfort food.This recipe was inspired by one of our readers, Tanya, who shared her family’s keks recipe with us. Tanya, I love that you use kefir. It balances the whole loaf and makes it so so good!

Ingredients for Keks

1 1/2 cups plain kefir (this is not the same as buttermilk; found it at Fred Meyer)
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
2 large eggs (cold is ok)
1 stick (8 Tbsp) unsalted butter, melted (but not hot)
4 Tbsp extra light olive oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour *measured correctly
1 tsp clementine or orange zest
1/2 cup dried cranberries (craisins)
1/2 cup dried apricots

How to Make a Cranberry Apricot Loaf:

Preheat the Oven to 350 ˚F. Butter and flour a bread loaf pan.
1. Whisk together 1 1/2 cups kefir and 1 tsp baking soda together in a medium bowl and set aside for 20 minutes.

It will look fluffier when it’s ready:

2. Chop dried apricots into pieces about the size of your dried cranberries. In a medium bowl, cover craisins and dried apricots with boiling hot water and let sit two (2) minutes, then drain well and set aside to dry in a colander.

3. In a large mixing bowl, beat together eggs and sugar until pale in color (3 min on high speed). Mix in 1 stick melted butter, 4 Tbsp olive oil and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract. Stir to combine.

4. Whisk in the prepared kefir and baking soda until well blended.

5. Mix in the 2 cups flour until everything is well blended.

6. Finally fold in the craisins, chopped apricots and clementine or orange zest.

7. Transfer the batter to your prepared baking pan and give it a little shake to even out the top.

Bake in the center of the oven at 350˚F for 60 to 70 minutes. (make sure your bread isn’t too close to the top of the oven or the top will get too dark). Check the center with a wooden toothpick. It’s done when the toothpick comes out clean.

Let the loaf cool inside the pan until cool enough to handle, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. You don’t want to add powdered sugar if it’s warm or it will melt onto the bread. Finally, dust with powdered sugar and enjoy.

Merry Christmas!Do you have any special holiday baking traditions?