Apricot Bran Bread with Cinnamon

I tend to notice I let the ingredients control me when I choose recipes. Mostly if I have something in the house that I want to get rid of or use in a recipe I search for a recipe. I made this because I had dried apricots I needed to get rid of.

Ingredients

boiling water
1 cup finely chopped dried apricots
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups bran cereal, such as All Bran
1 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup vegetable oil
sugar or sugar-cinnamon mixture

Directions

Grease a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan. Heat oven to 350°.

Place chopped apricots in a bowl and pour enough boiling water over them to cover. Let stand for 10 minutes, then drain well. Sprinkle with the 3 tablespoons of sugar; stir to coat and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. In a separate bowl, mix together cereal, milk, eggs, and oil; add to the flour mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Gently stir in chopped apricot mixture.

Spoon batter into the greased loaf pan and sprinkle with a little additional sugar or a sugar-cinnamon mixture. Bake for about 60 minutes, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.

Source