Spiced Apple Bread
I’ll never forget the first time that I made this recipe. We had just gotten back from our first time apple-picking and I, feeling inspired, came back with 40 lbs of apples. I therefore needed more things to do with them than just making pie. I started researching all different kinds of apple applications and came upon a recipe for apple bread. I was floored. I had, at that time, never heard of using apples in quick-breads. Sure, we’ve all made the banana breads, zucchini breads and even some of us have made pumpkin bread, but apples?? I was intrigued and then got to testing. It blew me away and knocked banana out of the top spot for my favorite quick bread. I started making tons of the stuff and shared it with my family and friends and it has now become a tradition that I make loaves of apple bread for everyone during apple season.
Like most quick-breads this recipe starts with the dry ingredients. There’s a lot of spice in this bread which is one of the things which makes it so darn good. I love the warm combination of the cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger when combined with the apples. They are a classic pairing that instantly transports me into the fall spirit when I take a bite. I also use both baking powder and baking soda because this bread has yogurt in it and the acid in the yogurt will combine with that tiny bit of soda to give a great rise to our bread for an awesome texture.
I see a lot of people makes cakes, breads and muffins which have all kinds of mix-ins in it. I see people putting dried fruits, nuts and chocolate chunks into all manner of baked goods. Often, however, the result is that those mix-ins, being quite heavy, sink to the bottom of whatever you’re baking during baking. It looks bad and makes it so not every bite has some of those delicious add-ins to it. To combat this, we mix our nuts and dried cranberries in the dry ingredients beforehand. Coating them in flour will give them an extra lift during baking and ensure that you have an even distribution.
The wet ingredients use a favorite ingredient of mine in baking, yogurt. I always try to get a plain yogurt to use. For the photo-shoot that goes with this post I was able to find the plain stuff, however for the video I couldn’t find the plain so I substituted vanilla flavored instead. In this recipe it works out, but I would be cautious of making that substitution willy-nilly. The vanilla flavored yogurt has extra sugar in it and that could throw off other recipes, but, as I mentioned, in this one it seems to work out fine.
Now to the star of our recipe, the apple. Make sure to get a good baking apple for this as other apples will disintegrate pretty quickly and you might as well be adding apple sauce instead (though maybe an idea for a future recipe) I tend to use either granny smith or pink lady apples, but any apple that’s good for baking will do. The apple should be shredded and I do so by using the large holes of a box grater and shredding the peeled apple with the core on. I find that having the core to hold onto while I’m shredding prevents my fingers from getting torn to bits as I try to get the last of my apple shredded. You’ll also have to squeeze out the excess liquid from the apples before mixing them into the wet ingredients. All that extra apple juice will make your bread soggy, which would be….sad.
The time has come to mix together all your dry and wet stuff together in a big bowl. This is the moment when those spices start to sing. You’ll be able to smell all the aromas emanating from your bowl as you mix. It’s merely a teaser of what’s to come. As always, you want to just mix together your dry and wet until you don’t see any dry spots of flour. Don’t overmix. This will, as I’ve mentioned countless times, make your bread tough. If you are pouring out your batter and notice a tiny dry spot, don’t panic. This is better than overmixing.
Pour your batter into your standard loaf pan and bake until a toothpick comes out clean from the center. A word about the naming of quick-breads. They are called that because they’re quick to put together compared to a yeasted bread which needs to be kneaded and then rise twice before baking. The name does not mean that they bake quickly. It will take 55-60 minutes for your loaf to bake through. If you are an impatient sort, you could also divide this batter up into a 12 cup muffin tin and make apple muffins. They only take somewhere in the 15-20 minute range to bake.
The final product of this bread is stunning in the flavor department. I promise you that you will not regret making it, and that your friends and family will be forever in your debt if you’re willing to share. It’s such a simple, easy recipe, and makes a great gift during the holiday season. I’m not kidding when I say that I make 10-20 of these loaves every apple season, and I know that one bite will have you doing the same.
Remember, you don’t have to be a professional to make magic in your kitchen.
Joe the Blue Wizard
Spiced Apple Bread
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 Cups (180 g) Flour
- 3/4 Cup (150 g) Sugar
- 1 Tsp. (5 g) Baking Powder
- 1 Tsp. (2.5 g) Cinnamon
- 1/2 Tsp. (3 g) Kosher Salt
- 1/2 Tsp. (1 g) Ground Ginger
- 1/4 Tsp. (1.5 g) Baking Soda
- 1/4 Tsp. (0.5 g) Ground Nutmeg
- 1/2 Cup (65 g) Chopped Pecans
- 1/2 Cup (65 g) Dried Cranberries
- 1/2 Cup (120 mL) Vegetable Oil
- 1/2 Cup (120 mL) Plain Yogurt
- 2 Large Eggs
- 1 Tsp. (5 mL) Vanilla Extract
- 1 Large Apple, peeled, shredded and squeezed
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a standard loaf pan by lining with parchment paper to form a sling.
- Whisk together in a large bowl the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, ginger, baking soda, and nutmeg.
- Toss nuts and cranberries in the dry ingredients to coat and set aside.
- In a small bowl whisk together the oil, yogurt, eggs, vanilla and shredded apple.
- Add the wet ingredients into the large bowl with the dry ingredients.
- Stir with a spatula or spoon until just combined and there are no dry spots.
- Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and smooth the top.
- Bake in oven for approximately 55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the bread.
- Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing using the parchment paper sling.
- Allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.
- Slice and serve.
Calories
210Fat (grams)
13.9Sat. Fat (grams)
2.1Carbs (grams)
22.6Fiber (grams)
2.6Net carbs
20Sugar (grams)
17.9Protein (grams)
2.1Sodium (milligrams)
145.6Cholesterol (grams)
32.3