Apricot Bread

I was on the computer this morning and learned that today is national Apricot Day.  Who knew that there was a holiday especially for the apricot?  It made me think about a great recipe that I have for apricot bread in the bread machine.  This bread is yummy!!!  Here it is again in a slightly updated format:

Apricot Bread

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup apricot preserves
1/4 cup butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
3 1/2 cups bread flour
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

Follow the instructions that came with your bread machine in terms of which ingredients to put in the bread machine first.  Use the white bread setting with the crust set to light.  I used the medium setting on the below loaf and you can see that it came out a little too dark.

Because different preserves have different consistencies, it’s a good idea to check on this bread after five or ten  minutes of kneading.  Just pop the top of the bread machine and see how the dough is doing.  It should be a smooth, round ball.  If it’s too dry add liquid a tablespoon at a time until it looks right.  If it looks too wet,  add flour a tablespoon at a time until it looks OK.  Most of the time though, the above amounts should be just right.