Monday Meals: Apple Bread {Breakfast for Dinner}

Every once in awhile, we have breakfast for dinner. It is a happy occasion, and there is much rejoicing. In our household, breakfast for dinner is usually a much more elaborate affair than breakfast at breakfast-time. We have eggs, bacon, sausage, hashbrowns, fruit, and… oh yes, APPLE WALNUT BREAD!!! 

I am not going to go into detail of how to make most of the meal, since everyone has different preferences, but the bread is something to behold. It is pungent and aromatic, along with being exceptionally flavorful and mouth-watering.

Here are the ingredients. Yes, there are a lot, but it will be worth it, I promise.

Actually, most of them are spices. The recipe was for zucchini bread in our “Better Homes & Gardens” cookbook, but there was an option for apple, which is what we went with.

Before getting started with the mixing process, it’s a good idea to toast the nuts. We usually use walnuts, but pecans would be great too. Just spread them all out on a cookie sheet and bake for 5 minutes at 350 degrees. (You can preheat your oven at the same time!) This brings out the flavor of the nuts when you add them to the batter!

Also, chop the apples. I chop them up pretty finely.

All right, time to start mixing! Start with all the dry ingredients. That’s more than half of them, but it’s a lot of quarter teaspoons and such, so it really isn’t that much. We adjusted the original recipe by making it half white/half whole wheat flour, and also half white/half brown sugar. We added some extra spices too.

Once they’re all mixed together, make a “well” in the center.

In a separate bowl, add the wet ingredients. We substituted applesauce for the oil in the original recipe – not only is it healthier, but it gives a much better flavor, especially for something called “apple bread”!

Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients.



The last thing to add is the nuts!

Then put it in a loaf pan… 

…and stick it in the oven for 50 minutes or so. 

Allow 10 minutes or so of cooling time as well before slicing.

Enjoy!

Apple Bread (recipe adapted from Better Homes & Gardens)

¾ cup all-purpose flour

¾ cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. allspice
¼ tsp. cloves
1 beaten egg
½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 apples, finely chopped
¼ cup applesauce
½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted (spread on cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 5 minutes)

1. In a medium bowl, combine first 9 (all the dry) ingredients. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture; set aside.
2. In another medium bowl, combine egg, sugars, apples, and applesauce. Add apple mixture to flour mixture; stir until just moistened (batter should be lumpy). Fold in nuts.
3. Spoon batter into greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for at least 10 minutes.