WW Recipe of the Day: Skinny Apricot Poppy Seed Quick Bread
This week our 38 Power Foods Group begins its exploration of fruit with apricots.
Slices of Weight Watchers Apricot Poppy Seed Bread
Every week a small group of bloggers is working its through Power Foods: 150 Delicious Recipes with the 38 Healthiest Ingredients (affiliate link) by Martha Stewart and the editors of Whole Living Magazine.
If you are an apricot fan, be sure to check out what these other participating bloggers have cooked up:
- Alyce @ More Time at the Table
- Ansh @ Spice Roots
- Jeanette @ Jeanette's Healthy Living
- Jill @ Saucy Cooks
- Mireya @ My Healthy Eating Habits
- Sarah @ Everything in the Kitchen Sink
- Casey @ Bookcase Foodie
- Bambi @ Adobo Down Under
What Makes Apricots Power Foods?
Delicious and naturally low in calories, apricots are good sources of vitamins A, C and potassium, as well as a variety of anti-oxidants (lutein, zeaxanthin and beta cryptoxanthins).
Dried Apricots
Dried apricots are a healthy alternative when the season for fresh ones (May through August here in the US) has past. Ounce for ounce, they have more fiber than fresh.
Recipe Notes
Since the season for fresh apricots has past, I decided to go with a recipe using dried apricots, so imagine how excited I was to find this recipe for Apricot-Poppy Seed Quick Bread in the newest cookbook to hit our Weight Watchers Centers here in Arizona: I Love Leftovers: 175+ Delicious Recipes to Serve Now or Later (affiliate link).
I'm a huge fan of muffins and quick breads. They're probably one of the easiest things to bake. And baking them yourself at home gives you control of what's in them, a big advantage if you are following the Weight Watchers Freestyle program.
This recipe for apricot-poppy seed quick bread is low in fat and sugar and brimming with diced dried apricots. It calls for poppy seeds, but all I had was King Arthur Flour's Artisan Bread Topping, a mixture of flax, poppy, sesame, and caraway seeds, which I used instead.
It also calls for white wheat flour, low-fat buttermilk, and just ½ cup brown sugar to keep the calories in check while boosting nutrition.
How Many Calories and WW Points in this Quick Bread?
According to my calculations, each slice has 192 calories and:
8 *SmartPoints (Green plan)
7 *SmartPoints (Blue plan)
7 *SmartPoints (Purple plan)
5 *PointsPlus (Old plan)
To see your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, Click here!
I thought the bread was tasty, but a little dry, and I'm partly to blame. The instructions said to bake the bread for about 55 minutes. I used the time to take Francie for a walk and didn't check it sooner, so it baked a few minutes more than it should have.
Weight Watchers Skinny Apricot Poppy Seed Quick Bread
I also think the recipe may have a little too much flour in it, so then next time I make it, I'll decrease the flour to about 2 cups and begin checking it for doneness after 45 minutes in the oven.
This quick bread is not very sweet, which is fine with me. I've been enjoying it as part of my breakfast the past couple of mornings and think it would be delicious as an afternoon snack with a cup of tea.
Since a full loaf of bread, even if it's lighter and healthier, is too much for our little family to have hanging around, I shared some of it with my mom.
Just heard back from Mom and here's what she had to say, "It's delicious and definitely a keeper! Noticed the fresh lemon flavor (maybe zest or juice) It was GREAT!!" Enjoy!
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Apricot Poppy Seed Bread
Ingredients
- 2-½ cups white whole wheat flour
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds (I used King Arthur Flour's Artisan bread topping, a blend of flax and seeds, instead)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1-½ cups low-fat buttermilk
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- ⅓ cup butter melted and cooled (I used MELT spread instead)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons apricot brandy or dry sherry
- 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
- 1-½ cups diced dried apricots
Instructions
- Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Spray a 9x5-inch loaf pan (affiliate link) with nonstick spray and then dust it with flour (I used Baker's joy spray with flour already in it.)
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, brown sugar, butter, eggs, brandy and lemon zest.
- Pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture and stir until well blended. Stir in the apricots until they are distributed throughout the batter.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan (affiliate link) and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 45 - 55 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let the bread cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove the bread from the pan and let it cool completely on the rack.
Equipment
Recipe Notes
Recipe Source: I Love Leftovers: 175+ Delicious Recipes to Serve Now or Later (affiliate link) by Weight Watchers
*Points® calculated by WW. *PointsPlus® and SmartPoints® calculated by Simple Nourished Living; Not endorsed by Weight Watchers International, Inc. All recipe ingredients except optional items included in determining nutritional estimates. SmartPoints® values calculated WITHOUT each plan's ZeroPoint Foods (Green plan, Blue plan, Purple plan) using the WW Recipe Builder.
Links to More Great Weight Watchers Friendly Apricot Recipes:
- Low Fat Banana Bread with Dates and Apricots
- Baked Oatmeal with Dried Apricots
- Apricot Dessert Quesadillas (Weight Watchers)
- Apricot Oat Breakfast Bars (Weight Watchers)
- Zucchini Apricot Muffins (New York Times Recipes for Health)
- Mini Whole Wheat Apricot Muffins (Cooking Light)
Post Sources:
Martha is the founder and main content writer for Simple-Nourished-Living.
A longtime lifetime WW at goal, she is committed to balancing her love of food and desire to stay slim while savoring life and helping others do the same.
She is the author of the Smart Start 28-Day Weight Loss Challenge.
A huge fan of the slow cooker and confessed cookbook addict, when she's not experimenting in the kitchen, you're likely to find Martha on her yoga mat.
This post contains affiliate links to products I like. When you buy something through one of my Amazon links or other (affiliate links), I receive a small commission that helps support this site. Thank you for your purchase!
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Alyce Morgan
I've been meaning to try an apricot quick bread; this one looks beautiful, Martha. I'm just glad the weather has cooled enough to bake. Pretty hot in St. Paul today, though. Enjoy the weekend!
Mireya Merritt
I hate to say it, but it's beginning to look like Christmas (or the Holidays to be politically correct). Yay, this is the time for sweet breads and dried fruits, and you bread sure has good flavorings in it. I like that touch of brandy.
Ansh
How beautiful is this bread, Martha! Looks like beautiful jewel studded bread. I will make this soon! Thank you for posting a wonderful quick bread recipe.
Minnie@thelady8home
The bread looks delightful. Apricot brandy, now that's a neat touch. It does not look too dry from the pictures.
Weight Loss
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about apricot poppy seed quick
bread. Regards