Apple Spice Bread

     It really is Autumn! I was beginning to believe it was never coming to Charlotte. I think the reason  my seasonal breads did not work out well the last time is because it was 85 degrees and my brain was still in summer mode. But this week was textbook fall weather and I was able to perfect my Apple Spice Bread recipe! (I know I said it would be on here on Friday but I had a little hiccup in my recipe storage and just got it back.) I have mentioned before that I do not have much of a sweet tooth but this bread is the perfect companion to a mug of hot cider or spiced tea. I love to add something a little tart to make it feel a little less heavy so I am including the recipe for Apple Butter that I literally just threw together in a saucepan with an extra apple I had. This is by no means a 'healthy' recipe. I know some of you may be tempted to tell yourself that it is healthy because it has apples in it. It is not as bad as some desserts and does have some of your daily serving of fruit, however, it does still have a cup of sugar per loaf. Anyway, enough about nutrition. Let's get bakin'!

What You Will Need:

For the Bread:

3 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Kosher Salt
2 tsp ground Cinnamon
1 tsp ground Cloves
1 tsp ground Nutmeg
2 cups Sugar
1 cup plain Apple Sauce
1/4 Vegetable Oil
3 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
3 large Granny Smith Apples, grated

For the Apple Butter:

1 tbsp unsalted Butter
1 large Granny Smith Apple, diced small
1/2 cup granulated Sugar
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Then, in a mixing bowl (not the bowl for your stand mixer), combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.

When any recipe calls for nutmeg I always use whole nutmeg and grate it fresh. It mellows out really quickly and I like it spicy! I love my Microplane zester for this. If you have one, use it. If not you can use any small zester or grater you have around.  

Mix it all together with a rubber spatula or silicone spoon, then set it aside.

Next, this time in the bowl for the stand mixer, mix the sugar, eggs, apple sauce, oil, and vanilla.

Mix them on medium speed until all the ingredients are combined.

Next comes the apples. Peel them and cut them squarely off the core. (Go ahead and cut all four because you are not going to want to come back just to cut one apple for the apple butter.) If you are like me and like to do things the hard way, grate the apples on the largest size on a standing cheese grater. If you prefer the easy way, put them in a food processor! I thought of that after the fact. Put the grated apples in a bowl and prepare to finish the batter.

Now, slowly add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients with the mixer on LOW. If it is on too high you will have flour everywhere except the bowl. When the flour is combined, add the apples and stir until just combined. It should look like this:

Split the batter evenly between two greased, standard-sized loaf pans. Tip: Be sure to wipe off the drips from the sides of the pan so they do not burn. Like the pan on the right, not the one on the left.

Place in the preheated oven and bake for 50-55 minutes. It should be a lovely golden-brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean. Tip: Another good indicator of doneness is a hollow sound when you tap on it with your finger.

Let them cook in their pans for ten minutes, then remove and let cool a few more minutes on a cooling rack. 

While they are cooling, let's make apple butter! It's super simple. 

Brown the butter in a small sauce pot. Add the apple, sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Let it cook until you can smash it easily with a fork. Then, shockingly, smash it with a fork until it is smooth. The end! 

Slice the bread, top with some of the warm apple butter, then sit by the fire and think autumny thoughts...

Sweetened Condensed Version:

For the Bread:

3 cups All-Purpose Flour

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Kosher Salt

2 tsp ground Cinnamon

1 tsp ground Cloves

1 tsp ground Nutmeg

2 cups Sugar

1 cup plain Apple Sauce

1/4 Vegetable Oil

3 Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

3 large Granny Smith Apples, grated

For the Apple Butter:

1 tbsp unsalted Butter

1 large Granny Smith Apple, diced small

1/2 cup granulated Sugar

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

1 tsp Cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Stir and set aside. 

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer combine sugar, eggs, apple sauce, oil, and vanilla. Mix until combined.

3. Grate apples. With the stand mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixer to the sugar mixture. When the flour is combined add the apples. Stir until JUST combined.

4. Split the batter evenly between two greased loaf pans and bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes then remove and place on cooling rack until ready to eat. 

5. For the apple butter, brown the butter in a small sauce pot over medium heat. Add apples, sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon. Cook until apples are soft then smash with a fork. 

6. Slice bread, top with apple butter, and enjoy!