Heart-healthy fruit & nut loaf

Written by Catherine Saxelby on Tuesday, 23 June 2009.
Tagged: cholesterol lowering, healthy cooking, healthy heart, healthy recipe, healthy snacks

Ready In: 65 minutes
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 55 minutes
Serves: 1 loaf (12 slices)

This moist and delicious loaf will help keep your heart healthy & your cholesterol low. It's low in saturated fat and rich in fibre from the fruit, nuts and oat bran, while the walnuts boost your omega-3 intake and the sterol spread lowers cholesterol absorption.

Ingredients

1 ¼ cups (225 g) self raising flour
1 teaspoon mixed spice
158 g chopped dried apricots
½ cup (80 g) chopped pitted dates
½ cup (75 g) chopped dried apricots
½ cup (60 g) walnuts, roughly chopped
¼ cup (30 g) oat bran
125 g sterol spread, melted
1/3 cup (80 mL) low-fat milk
2 eggs
1 tablespoon rolled oats (for top, optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly spray a 10 x 20cm (4 x 8in) loaf pan with oil.

2. Sift flour and spice together into a large bowl. Stir in fruit, nuts and bran.

3. Whisk together margarine, milk and eggs. Lightly mix into dry ingredients until well combined.

4. Spoon mixture into prepared pan. Sprinkle top evenly with oats. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until cooked when tested. The loaf is cooked when a clean skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean and dry.

5. Cool in pan for 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to complete cooling. Serve sliced with extra spread if you like.

Variations

125 mL of extra-virgin olive oil can be used in place of the sterol spread.
Sterol spreads look like margarine and are sold at the spreads section of your supermarket. Look for the brands like Heartactive and Pro-activ.