This fig and walnut bread is aromatic and full of flavour. Who needs "raisin toast'?
Who remembers raisin toast?
During my high school years I ate it religiously at every morning recess.
Slathered in butter (or margarine more like it!) it provided the necessary sustenance to combat the long school day ahead.
Today I'm doing an “advanced” version of raisin bread.
Fig and walnut bread.

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I was in a “bread mood" recently and wanted something special to indulge for a weekend brunch.
I love watching the process of flour, water and yeast transform into a living thing. And as much as I would like to say that waiting for dough to rise is "therapeutic" and "great for the soul" the reality is I'm a lot more impatient!
But it was all worth it in the end.
I experimented with a few different versions of this bread substituting dried cranberries and pecans and even using maple syrup to sweeten the dough.
There's a nice hit of cinnamon along with some ground cloves to bring it all together and I've used a combination of white and wholemeal spelt flours.
It's a little dense and even though I didn't photograph it, it toasts beautifully.
If you have a few spare hours over the weekend I encourage you to have a go making this gorgeous fig and walnut bread.
Enjoy the weekend!
Cheers everyone!
📖 Recipe
Fig And Walnut Bread
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Conversions
Ingredients
- 300 ml water, warm
- 7 g dry yeast
- 60 ml molasses, Greek grape molasses preferably (see second note)
- 350 g spelt flour, white
- 200 g spelt flour, wholemeal
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch ground cloves
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 150 g dried figs, roughly chopped
- 100 g walnuts, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 200 deg C and grease an 8.5″ x 5″ loaf tin and set aside.
- Combine the warm water with the yeast and molasses and set aside for 10 mins until the mixture is bubbling and frothing.
- In a large bowl combine the spelt flours, spices and salt. Make a well in the centre and add the frothy yeast mixture. Using your hands, mix until you have a sticky, yet pliable dough. (Use a little extra flour if necessary to bring it together). Place the dough back in the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and allow to rise for approx. 1 hour.
- Once doubled in size, add the figs and walnuts and proceed to knead the dough on a well-floured surface for 5-6 minutes. Place the dough in the baking tin and cook in the oven for 10 mins. Reduce the temperature to 180 deg C and cook for a further 30-35 mins until golden. (Tapping the base should also make a hollow sound).
- Allow the bread to cool completely on a wire rack before cutting and toasting.
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Nutrition
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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Simone van den Berg says
O yes! I've done the toasted raisin bread so many times and I still love it! With butter, not margarine.. lol... This looks totally fabulous Peter. i don't think I ever made bread like this myself so need to try for sure!
Maureen Shaw says
I love raisin bread but this fig and walnut bread is certainly a step above that. Gorgeous!
milkteaxx says
yummm figs in bread!!
Rosa says
A gorgeous loaf and delicious combination! Your loaf would be perfect with cheese.
Cheers,
Rosa
supal {chevrons & éclairs} says
Done... making this to have for breakfast tomorrow. I'm such a fan of figs and I bet this is delicious lightly toasted with some whipped (melting) butter! x
Lizzy (Good Things) says
This sounds absolutely divine, Peter! Truly yummy.
Meeta K. Wolff says
Yes I too loved and still do my raisin toast and mine was slathered in butter and sometimes I drizzled honey on top. Good stuff. Loving this version ... for grown ups!
JJ - 84thand3rd says
Oh this sounds so good! I always end up with such dense bread when I use spelt, this looks fab I'll have to give it a go! Quick question, did you not let it rise a second time in the tin before baking? Just knead in the fruit and nuts, put in pan and bake? (also do you knead it on the first mix before the rise or just enough to form a ball?) Thanks!
Sara (Belly Rumbles) says
Sadly raisin toast is only perfect when slathered with copious amounts of butter. And OMG it is soooooo gooood! Thus the reason why I try to avoid it these days. Fig and walnut bread, yup I adore so much. My problem is I avoid slathering it with butter and slather it in creamy mild blue cheese instead. No wonder my hips are so well fed.