I love waking up on Saturday mornings, looking forward to the idea of making a hearty breakfast of waffles or pancakes or French toast. But what I love even more is being able to hit the snooze button a couple more times when I know I don't have to cook breakfast at all. Because this Orange and Almond Breakfast Loaf is all ready and waiting in the kitchen for us to dig into with our morning coffee or, for Jay, with some non-dairy milk.
If you are as in love with breakfast as I am, especially weekend breakfast, this is the recipe to get all excited about. It's mildly sweet, with the scent and taste of oranges mixed with nutty almond and whole wheat flours. The crumb is moist and flavorful, and the crust is sticky and sweet with a very simple but deliciously addictive orange marmalade glaze.
This bread -- an orange almond cake, really -- works very well as a make-ahead recipe. You can stir it up on a weeknight and put into the oven while you catch up with your favorite TV show or book. You could even do it on a Friday or a Saturday night, if yours, like mine, mostly involve staying in with family.
I came up with this cake because Jay loves oranges and lemons or, indeed, anything citrusy, and he especially adores desserts and sweets with these flavors. The great thing about this loaf is that it is not loaded down with sugar, and it includes nuts and wholegrain flour, both good for him, and us.
I used whole wheat pastry flour for this bread, but you can certainly substitute with unbleached all-purpose flour or all-purpose gluten-free flour.
It took me about 20 minutes to put the ingredients together, and I ground up my almond meal and blended my oranges from scratch. You can cut down on that time further by buying ready-made almond flour and orange juice (make sure it has lots of pulp).
Now the recipe. Hope everyone is looking forward to the weekend!
Related recipes
- Vegan Zucchini Bread
- Zucchini Breakfast Strata
- PB&J Breakfast Pudding
- Healthy Stuffed French Toast
- Vegan Banana Crumb Muffins
Vegan Orange Almond Breakfast Loaf
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour (can use a mix of whole wheat and unbleached all purpose flour)
- 1 cup very pulpy orange juice (I made my own by simply blending there whole medium-sized oranges (peeled) in the blender. Make sure there are no seeds, if you do this.
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 flax eggs (2 tablespoon flax meal whisked with 6 tablespoon water)
- ¼ cup applesauce
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For orange marmalade glaze
- 2 tablespoon orange marmalade
- 2 tablespoon orange juice
- 1-2 tablespoon almonds, finely chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a bowl, whisk together the almond and whole wheat pastry flours with the baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or in any large bowl, mix the sugar with the oil, flax eggs, apple sauce, vanilla extract, and orange juice. Mix or whisk well.
- Add half the dry ingredients to the wet in two batches, mixing after every addition until the dry ingredients are thoroughly incorporated.
- Prepare a standard 9 by 5 inch loaf pan by spraying or coating with cooking spray or oil.
- Pour in the batter and even out the top with a spatula.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry or with crumbs (not wet batter) sticking to it.
- Cool the loaf in the pan for about 30 minutes. Then slide out of the loaf pan (run a knife or spatula along the sides to help it along, if necessary) and place on a rack.
- Make the marmalade glaze: In a small saucepan, heat the marmalade and the orange juice until the marmalade is warm and a little runny. Brush or spoon over the top of the loaf.
- Sprinkle on some chopped almonds for garnish.
Nutrition
Heidi
I made this today, with fresh apple juice (instead of orange and no glaze), I had left over from making pin wheels and it was delicious, my partner ate half the cake in 1 sitting. Thank you
Vaishali
So happy to hear, Heidi, thanks for letting me know!
Lori Bosse
I have to prepare food gluten and dairy free for my child. I saw the recipe called for 2 flax eggs. My son can eat regular eggs. Can I use two regular eggs? Sorry I know when vegan people don’t eat eggs but I don’t have any flax meal but have everything else on the list. Also it say 1/4 cup unflavored vegetable oil. Can I use just regular vegetable oil since I don’t have any avocado oil. I have vegetable, canola and olive oils on hand.
Thank you so much for posting this. I can’t wait to make it for my entire family!
Vaishali
Yes, on both questions!
Ellie
It looks so good! I’m gonna make it. Where do you find whole wheat pastry flour?
Vaishali
Most supermarkets carry it, and you can definitely find it online!
Suzanne
Can I substitute any other flour for the almond flour? My daughter has but allergies and is also a self imposed vegan. Thanks!
Vaishali
Just sub with 1 cup all purpose flour. Or a gf flour would be fine too.
Suzanne
OMG! I just realized my comment autocorrected to but instead of nut allergies. ?♀️
Vaishali
Hehe, I didn't even realize. No worries.
NeneFoodie
Absolutely delicious. My kids love it. This recipe is a keeper.
Geetha
I can’t wait to make this, how does one make almond flour? Is it ok to just grind up the whole almonds with skin into a fine powder?
Thanks
Geetha
Vaishali
Hi Geetha, I use superfine almond flour, and I don't know if you can grind it up that fine at home. Coarser powder would not hold together as well.
Cozinhar sem Lactose
Just baked this cake, looking forward to taste it! I replaced the sugar for 5 dried dates so the baby may enjoy it too. Thank you for the recipe!
Prinks
Any suggestions on gluten free version?
Denise
Looks good, but confused about the ingredients. In the directions it says to add all the wet ingredients along with the orange juice, but it doesn't have orange juice in the ingredients listing (except for the marmalade). How much orange juice should be added to the batter?
Vaishali
Hi Denise, I mistakenly listed it under the glaze-- I've moved it up now. 🙂
Simi
Hi vaishali, this sounds delicious! How much orange juice is needed for just the cake? Just checking as I don't see it in the ingredients listed for the cake. Thanks!
Vaishali
Hi Simi, it's 1 cup. I had mistakenly listed it under the glaze ingredients. It's in the right place now! 🙂
Jakki
Hello - love your recipes. The method says to add orange juice to the wet ingredients, but orange juice isn't mentioned in the ingredients list for the loaf - only for the glaze. So is it the pulpy orange that is supposed to go in the mix?
Vaishali
Thanks, Jakki, and yes, you guessed it right-- I mistakenly left it under the marmalade glaze bit. I've moved it now.
Maureen
I am not seeing orange juice in the cake part of ingredients. How much should be there?
Vaishali
Sorry, it got mixed up under the marmalade glaze instructions -- I've moved it up. It's 1 cup.