Fresh apples grated then simmered with honey until soft, made into a sweet quick bread spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.
JUMP TO RECIPEWhen I first published my new banana bread recipe with the SURPRISE! SECRET! INGREDIENT! of mayo, I waxed poetic (to the point of being annoying) about how shocked I was that the mayo made the bread so insanely super moist and tender.
Then I used the base recipe to make pumpkin bread, which was equally amazing and moist but I didn’t rant and rave about the mayo so much because even I was getting tired of hearing myself talk about the miracle of the SURPRISE! SECRET! INGREDIENT!
I’m still 100% as excited about discovering what a difference the mayo makes but I figure y’all are over hearing about it so I won’t go on and on about it now.
OK, maybe just one time! I don’t know enough about cooking chemistry to tell you why but the mayo does something to the batter to make it insanely moist and tender. I think maybe it’s to do with the oil being emulsified but I dunno. All I know is IT WORKS and has me making all sorts of new sweet quick breads!
Since it’s apple season and the weather is finally turning cooler, I wanted to try to make apple bread! But not typical apple bread with the big chunks of raw apple in it, something more akin to banana bread where the fruit is almost pureed and mixed throughout the batter.
I’ve never really loved more traditional apple bread with the big chunks of raw apple throughout. I’m always kinda expecting the apple chunks to hold big sweet pops of flavor but they don't - they're really no sweeter than the bread. So you have a mouthful of this mashy texture with no big payoff like you get with chocolate chips, raisins, nuts, cranberries, etc.
So… So, I decided to grate the apples into finer pieces then cook them a bit with a little honey to soften them up so they would mix into the batter more like bananas do in banana bread. Which reminded me very much of apple pie!
With apple pie in mind, I decided to add a little nutmeg and ground ginger (instead of just cinnamon), which are the spices I like to use in apple pie! Use whichever spices you like best. If you just want to use cinnamon, that’s A-OK! Feel free to add a little clove, allspice or cardamom too!
The pecans and glaze are completely optional. I decided to dress this one up a bit and use a decorative pan which just begged for something pretty on top! You can also mix the nuts into the batter (add when stirring in the flour mixture).
HOW TO MAKE APPLE PIE BREAD
- Grate about 3 apples then cook on the stove with some honey until softened.
- Combine sugar with wet ingredients, spices and apples.
- Stir in flour, salt and baking soda.
- Bake and cool.
- Top with pecans and simple glaze (optional)
- Boom, done!
Recipe for Apple Pie Bread
Be sure to check out my recipes for SUPER MOIST Banana Bread and Pumpkin Bread as well!
Apple Pie Bread
Ingredients
- 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)
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk or cream
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of ground ginger
Instructions
- Using a box grater, shred 3 large, peeled apples or enough to yield 1 1/2 cups packed firm.
- 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.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch loaf pan; set aside.
- Whisk butter and sugar together for 30 seconds.
- Whisk in mayo, vanilla, eggs and spices until well combined.
- Stir apples into batter.
- 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.
- Stir in flour, salt and baking soda until just combined.
- Pour batter into prepared pan then bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- 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.
- Cool bread completely in the pan then turn out onto a serving plate (if using a fluted/decorative pan, invert upside down).
- Sprinkle pecans over bread then drizzle with glaze.
- Combine all ingredients then stir until smooth. Add more powdered sugar or cream as needed to adjust thickness.
Notes
- 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.
I hope you've bought some stock in mayo so you are ready when it takes off! This looks fabulous.
ReplyDeleteCan you leave it out on the countertop knowing it has mayonnaise in it or will it be ok since it’s been baked.
Deletethis is one of the best breads I have ever made and I make a lot of quick breads! The flavor is insane and the level of moistnous (I think I made that word up) is unbelievable! I highly recommend this recipe to all of your followers, they will be glad they made it!
ReplyDeleteMy coworkers LOVED this!!!! It was so moist. I never would have thought to use mayonnaise!
ReplyDeleteInstead of cooking on the stove for 30 minutes or so, could you microwave the apples to speed up the time? or bake them ahead of time?
ReplyDelete