Spiced Apple Quick Bread

Today, the sky is grey, and I see evidence of rain that fell in the night while I slept. Fall is on its way! These are the days that spur on my baking, and I think it is a perfect day to fire up the oven and try some new recipes.

My sister Julie knits. She sews and quilts beautifully. She makes bedazzling beaded jewelry, and sometimes she bakes.

Yesterday, when I was on the phone chatting her up, I let her know that I’d picked over 40 lbs. of apples from my orchard. Set with the tasks of using them in a relatively short amount of time, she gave me the suggestion of dehydrating some, and trying her recipe for. this moist, delicious apple bread. Fresh apples are grated, rather than chopped, and this promotes a more uniform distribution of the apples throughout the batter. She was kind enough to share the recipe, and I pass it along to you here. It really is easy to make, and quite a nice treat to have with some coffee in the morning, or as a snack in the mid-afternoon. I hope you enjoy it.

When I baked up the batter into loaves, my home smelled so deliciously warm and inviting. I couldn’t even wait to for the bread to cool until I gave it a slice. I do recommend that if you are serving to guests, wait to slice the loaves until they are cooled. You will get a nicer presentation. This is a great make-ahead bread that freezes beautifully. Just wrap well in plastic wrap and it will store in your freezer up to 6 months.

INGREDIENTS

Bread Batter

• 4 c. grated apple (Granny Smith, Braeburn or Honey Crisp)

• 2 c. sugar

• 1 tsp. salt

• 1 T. cinnamon

• ½ tsp. nutmeg

• ½ c. vegetable oil

• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten

• 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

• 1 c. chopped, toasted pecans or walnuts, optional

• 3 c. all-purpose flour

• 1 T. baking powder

• ½ tsp. baking soda

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350° F. 

Butter and flour two 8” x 4” bread pans. Set aside.

Peel and core apples.  Using the large holes on a metal box grater (or if you have a grater attachment on your food process) shred the apples

In a large bowl, fold together shredded apples, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt, and allow mixture to sit for 15 minutes.  Sugars will liquify and bring out the juices in the apples. 

Stir in oil, eggs, vanilla and pecans mixing thoroughly. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and powder. Stir dry ingredients into the apple mixture, just to combine. (Do not over mix, as this will give you a tough crumb.). Pour into prepared loaf pans.

Bake 55-60 minutes.  Top will be golden brown and spring back when touched.  Use a toothpick to test the center, making sure it comes out clean when inserted.  Cool on a metal rack for 10-15 minutes. Then turn breads out of pan onto rack to cool completely before slicing.  Each loaf yields 14-16 slices, unless they are “healthy” slices, then you’ll get about 10 per loaf.

OPTIONAL ADDITIONS: Try adding 1 cup dried cherries or golden raisins to the batter before adding the dry ingredients.

This batter can be baked as muffins too! Makes 18 jumbo muffins or 28 standard muffins. Bake jumbos for 30- 33 minutes, and standards for 22-24minutes