Spiced easy Christmas loaf with yogurt and olive oil

I had such little time recently that I haven’t made anything nice in ages!

Life is so busy but I had to find the time to make at least one Christmas treat.

So here I am. This is a really nice easy Christmas cake which you can make in 20 minutes. It is also healthy as it has got not too much sugar, it is infact halfway between a cake and a sweet bread. Made with Greek yogurt, olive oil, chocolate chips, nuts and spices it really is a good guilt free treat for Christmas.

I like my cakes to be simple and I am not a fan of icing therefore I have only sprinkled a little vanilla sugar on top, but of course, you can drizzle your loaf with melted chocolate or with icing if you like. It will be nice either way.

I wish you all a wonderful Christmas time and may all your wishes come true in the new year!

• Prep Time : 20 minutes
• Cook Time : 45 minutes
• Yield : 8

Ingredients

• plain flour (gluten free if you wish) – 240 g – 2 cups
• baking powder – 2 tsp
• eggs – 3
• olive oil – about 100 ml – 3.4 fl oz or more if needed
• Greek yogurt – 250 g – 1 cup
• cinnamon – 2 tsp
• nutmeg – the tip of a teaspoon
• orange juice – of half an orange
• orange peel – of 1 orange
• vanilla essence – 1 tsp
• brown sugar – 90 g – 1/2 cup
• chocolate nibs or chips – 2 tbsp
• almonds – 3 tbsp

Instructions

In a bowl whisk the eggs with the sugar.  Add the cinnamon, the nutmeg, the vanilla, the orange juice and the orange zest.

Mix well, add the olive oil and the yogurt. Add the sifted flour with the baking powder, the almonds roughly chopped and the chocolate chips. Mix well.

Pour the mixture into a a 1Kg or 2.2 lbs loaf pan and line it with parchment paper.

Bake at 180C or 350F for approximately 45 minutes. Check with a toothpick after 40 minutes. You might need to leave it in the oven a little longer.

Remove it from the tin, let it cool down and sprinkle it with powdered sugar or drizzle it with melted chocolate.

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