APPLE PIE BREAD

Fresh apples grated then simmered with honey until soft, made into a sweet quick bread spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.

INGREDIENTS

Apple Pie Bread :

• 3 large apples, peeled
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/3 cup butter, at room temp
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt*
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
• Glaze
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk or cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch of ground ginger

INSTRUCTIONS

Apple Pie Bread:

1. Using a box grater, shred 3 large, peeled apples or enough to yield 1 1/2 cups packed firm.
2. Add apples (with any rendered juice) and honey to a small saucepan then cook, covered, over medium heat for about 30 minutes or until the apples are mostly tender (a few crisp bits here and there are fine), stirring occasionally. Remove from heat to cool to room temperature.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch loaf pan; set aside.
4. Whisk butter and sugar together for 30 seconds.
5. Whisk in mayo, vanilla, eggs and spices until well combined.
6. Stir apples into batter.
7. OPTIONAL STEP: Sift flour, salt and baking soda together. Sometimes I get little white nuggets of flour and/or baking soda in the bread if I don’t sift it but it’s completely optional.
8. Stir in flour, salt and baking soda until just combined.
9. Pour batter into prepared pan then bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
10. TIP: Toast the pecans in a small pan when you take the bread out (while the oven’s still hot!). Cook for about 5-7 minutes or until fragrant and just starting to brown.
11. Cool bread completely in the pan then turn out onto a serving plate (if using a fluted/decorative pan, invert upside down).
12. Sprinkle pecans over bread then drizzle with glaze.

Glaze:

Combine all ingredients then stir until smooth. Add more powdered sugar or cream as needed to adjust thickness.

Notes

• I actually use about 3/4 teaspoon salt (a very scant teaspoon) and think it’s PERFECT but wasn’t sure if it would suit everyone’s fancy so I reduced it to 1/2 teaspoon in the recipe.
• Any quality, traditional mayo will work (Duke’s, Hellmann’s, Kraft, Blue Plate, etc). Don’t use Miracle Whip or anything sweet and tangy like it.
• You can add chopped pecans to the batter if you’d like! Add 1/2 cup or so when you mix in the flour.
• Letting the apple bread cool in the pan helps it stay moist so try to be patient and let it cool before slicing into it.
• Don’t use a whisk to stir in the flour and only stir it long enough to combine it into the wet ingredients. Stirring develops the gluten in the flour which will create air pockets in quick breads like this and make it tough.
• Pour the batter into the pan as soon as it’s ready then bake it immediately. The longer the batter sits wet, the more gluten develops which will also make the bread tough.