Last week the banana bread was such a hit, that i decided to divert from my normal path of apple pie and try something new. last week it seemed the success of the banana bread being moist and rich was due to the addition of sour cream in the batter. for some reason, sour cream and bananas go together in my mind, but apples and sour cream don't. i have heard of folks using applesauce in place of fats in baking recipes, and while i am not trying to cut fat here, i thought that would be a good place to start experimenting.
O! did that smell good! this was starting out in the right direction.
continuing with the batter i added eggs as a binder, white and brown sugars, spices, and flour (your standard white unbleached all-purpose). while its been suggested that apple sauce can replace fats, i wanted something luxurious here. is there a luxurious pastry that doesn't contain butter? didn't think so, so i added a stick. the result of this bread was a soft and moist, large crumb quick bread that had my husband dancing in front of the oven. guess i got him to eat those apples after all.....
6 small Apples (or 3 Large) 1 1/2 Cups Milk 3 Eggs 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice 1 teaspoon Baking Power 2 Teaspoons Baking Soda 1/2 Teaspoon Salt 1 Cup Brown Sugar 1 Cup White Sugar 1 Table Spoon each: Cinnamon,Nutmeg,Ginger 1 Stick Softened Butter 3 Cups Flour Oatmeal For sprinkling Honey for Drizzling optional add-in's: raisins, craisins, oatmeal | Preheat Oven to 375 Degreees Cut apples from the core and puree with milk, lemon and cinnamon. i just used a standard blender for this, and i believe it enhanced the texture and moistness of the bread greatly pour puree (and resist eating it all up with a spoon, this mixture is wonderfully aromatic) into the bowl of your stand mixer (or a bowl if you use a hand mixer) and begin adding eggs, lemon juice, BP, BS, Salt, Sugars, Spices, Butter and optional add-ins. mix until combines and THEN add flour. combine well, scraping down the sides as needed to incorporate all the flour in. your batter should be sticky but not tacky. if the mixture is on the dry side and you cannot get all of the flour to incorporate, add 1/4 cups of butter milk (or whole milk mixed with 1 teaspoon vinegar) until the mixture loosens slightly. Grease 3 Small Loaf pans and pour in evenly. sprinkle the tops of the loaves with oatmeal and a drizzle of honey. place loaf pans in the oven and bake 45 min, check every 5 minutes there after and remove when knife or toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean this loaf should have a thick moist crumb and smell like apple pie |