This bread is the perfect way to celebrate fall’s apple harvest, but it’s good any time of year! It is truly reminiscent of fried apple fritters with all those chunks of fresh apple in the batter. You’ll need about 3 large apples to yield the 2 cups of chopped apple required for this recipe. The baker’s stand-by, Granny Smith, is great; however you can use whatever variety you have on hand. Juicier apples will impart more moisture into the crumb, which is nice. I have used Gala, Pink Lady, and Golden Delicious with success.
1tablespoonboiled cideror 2 tablespoons apple cider
1tablespoonmilk or cream
1/3cupchopped pecansoptional
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat a 9x5 nonstick loaf pan flour-based baking spray (such as Baker’s Joy or Pam). Alternatively, grease and flour the pan.
Bread batter
In the bowl of an electric mixer (I used a hand-held mixer) cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well with each addition. Mix in the vanilla extract.
In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add it to the creamed mixture, beating on low speed, alternately with the milk. Begin and end with the flour mixture. Set aside.
Apple mixture
Mix the apples, cinnamon, and sugar in a bowl.
Toss to coat.
Cinnamon-brown sugar mixture
Mix the brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecans in a bowl.
Stir well to combine.
Assembly
Spread 1/3 of the bread batter into the bottom of the prepared loaf pan. Top with 1/3 of the apples, and sprinkle over 1/3 of the cinnamon-brown sugar mixture. Tamp the mixture down with the back of a spoon.
Spread another 1/3 of the batter over the apples and brown sugar mixture. Do this with two spoons, placing dollops of batter over the sugared surface (see image in blog post), and spread using a mini spatula if you have one. Top with another 1/3 of apples and another 1/3 of the brown sugar mixture. Tamp down.
Finally, spread the last 1/3 of batter over the last layer (dolloping as before) and finish with the final 1/3 of apples and 1/3 of brown sugar mixture.
Bake for 1 hour, or until the top is deeply browned and crusty and a toothpick tester inserted near the center comes out clean. If the top starts to overbrown, tent with aluminum foil.
Let the bread loaf stand for about 10 minutes before turning it out to a cooling rack.
Glaze and toppings
In a medium bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and 1 tablespoon of boiled cider (or apple cider, if using). Add the milk and mix until a thick pourable glaze is formed (you may need more or less milk, add it a little at a time). Drizzle or pour the glaze over the loaf and sprinkle the center with chopped pecans.
Store the bread covered in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 2 days. Refrigerate for longevity, up to a week. Bring bread slices to room temperature before serving.
Notes
Freeze it! Wrap the cooled, unglazed loaf in plastic wrap and doubled bag in freezer bags with the air removed. It will keep up to 3 months if stored correctly.Thaw bread in the refrigerator overnight. Glaze before serving.
Keyword apple bread, apple fritter bread, boiled apple cider, cinnamon sugar coating, fall bread, quick bread