Dutch Apple Bread

Went apple picking for the first time ever with the little human over the weekend. Now we have a giant bag of apples and what better way to use them up than APPLE BREAD? Crumbly top, pound cake like consistency, and not too sweet! The little chunks of apple add a delightful texture. Feel free to add a glaze if you’d like. I’m sure I have a recipe somewhere on this site.

Don’t use mealy apples! Something firm and tart. Green apples.

I also learned a few things about baking today. Creaming butter and sugar is an important step! It can take up to 5min to get the right consistency. Fluffy and light. Not grainy and dense. And don’t use warm butter. Apparently warm butter doesn’t trap air well. Sit butter out on the counter for a bit. I wouldn’t nuke it. Don’t let the eggs sit in the butter/sugar mixture (I had to wait for R to pick up some vanilla extract for me). The egg gets gross.

Yea. I was never good at chemistry. You live and you learn.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup granulated sugar (I used turbinado)
• 1/2 cup butter (one stick), softened but NOT melted/warm
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• pinch of ground cloves
• 1 1/2 cups of tart apples, peeled, cored, diced (or sliced)
• optional: 1/2 cup chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts?)

TOPPING:

• 5 tsp butter, cold
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 2 Tbs granulated sugar
• 2 Tbs light brown sugar
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and butter up an 8 to 10inch bread pan.
2. With a paddle attachment on your stand mixer, cream softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy. This can take 5min. Color will physically lighten. Don’t over do it, or it’ll warm the butter and you’ll loose all that air you just trapped. With a silicone spatula, scrape off sides. Mix a couple times more.
3. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, spices.
4. In batches, add the dry mixture to the wet mixture. Continue to mix with paddle attachment until well incorporated.
5. Add apples (and nuts if using). Mix
6. Pour into bread pan.
7. Wipe out mixer bowl. Switch to wisk attachment. Add topping ingredients. Mix until crumbly. Spread over top of bread batter.
8. Bake 50-60 min or until toothpick comes out clean. (200F internal temp)
9. COOL then serve! Optional glaze. I didn’t bother.