Apple Bread
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted and measured
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp fresh ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
Pinch ground allspice (about 1/16th tsp)
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
6 Tbsp packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 medium baking variety apples
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325°, spray a 9×5″ bread pan with cooking spray, set aside.
Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and spices together into a small bowl. In a stand mixer bowl beat the butter and brown sugar till fluffy, add in the molasses, vanilla and then the eggs, one at a time till beaten in. Scrape down the bowl sides. With the mixer on low add in half of the flour mixture till incorporated, then the applesauce and then the last half of the flour.
Peel the apples, tossing the peels into a small saucepan. Core the apples, discarding any seeds and add the cores to the pan. Dice the apples into small 1/4″ pieces, stir into the batter. Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Take out, let cool a bit and run a butter knife gently around the edges. Turn over and pop out, flip back over carefully and let cool on a wire cooling rack.
To make the glaze:
Take the pot with the peels and cores, add the sugar and water, bring to a boil over medium high heat and let simmer for 10 minutes. Take off the heat, strain into a bowl and let cool. When the bread has started to cool use a pastry brush to baste the bread, covering the top and sides equally. You will need to do a couple of applications to let it soak in. To prevent a huge mess place wax paper under the cooling rack to catch the drips.
~Sarah