Dried Apricot-Pear Loaf

Preheatoven to 350° F.

Place the nuts in a small baking pan. Bake, stirring once, 5 to 8 minutes or until nuts are lightly toasted. Maintain oven temperature. Set the nuts aside to cool.

Finely chop the cooled nuts. Coat an 8 x 4 loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside.

Combine the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt in a large bowl and whisk to mix well.

Combine the canola oil, buttermilk, and eggs in a medium bowl and whisk to mix well.

Add the oil mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until moistened. Gently stir in the apricots, pear, and walnuts.

Spoon batter into prepared pan, smooth top of batter, and bake 35 to 40 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center of the loaf comes out clean.

Cool the bread in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

Remove from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack before slicing. The bread can be covered in an airtight container and stored at room temperature up to 3 days or frozen up to 2 months.