Apple Bread

Sometimes I screw up a recipe so bad it becomes something good. One big-a$$ wrong becomes a right, I suppose. This is just another one of those times that's true for me.

Generally speaking, sugar is considered a "wet ingredient." In some recipes it doesn't matter. In muffins and quick breads it does. Dry ingredients go together and wet ingredients go together. Then the marry to make carb-loaded euphoria. Well, when you do it the wrong way with quick breads, you end up with something dry as hell. And, at least for me, that always leads to experimentation.

Only once have I ever thrown something away instead of trying to salvage it with experimentation. It's just not something I do. You shouldn't either. Be brave. Experiment. In the kitchen (and elsewhere - but that's not the point of this post.)

Ingredients:

3 C flour

2 tsp apple pie spice

1 Tbsp cinnamon *see Moose Tracks

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 C sugar

1/2 C vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 C applesauce (that's 2 of the kid-sized cups)

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp rum or rum extract (optional)

1 tsp orange peel (optional)

2 C apples - cored, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 C walnut pieces

Preheat oven to 350

Mix together all the dry stuff.

In a separate bowl combine oil, eggs, vanilla, applesauce, extract and orange peel

Stir it all together

Fold in apples and walnuts.

Divide mixture between two greased 8"x4" bread pans

Bake for 40-45 min or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Let sit on wire rack for 10 min.

Remove from pan and enjoy.

Moose Tracks:

Most autumn-flavored things are enhanced by a few drops of rum extract. I personally don't drink, and don't often have alcohol hanging around the house. So I use extract. But, when my own desire to bake and my orders from customers mean I'm likely to be doing lots of pumpkin and/or apple baking, I buy a nip of rum for this sole purpose. Go ahead, add a few drops to your next pumpkin pie. I promise - you won't regret it.

Spice... especially spiced breads or cookies... the recipes just don't do it for me. I don't want a hint of spice, or an after-flavor of "hmmm... maybe that was cinnamon." Spice it up! Recipes like this are the perfect place to try a bit more spice. Or maybe even a different spice. Cloves, all spice, cinnamon, nutmeg. You can't go wrong with any combination of those (in moderation. The whole bottle would likely be "wrong" for a few loaves of bread.)
Orange peel - I used the dried stuff from little glass jars in the spice aisle. I keep a stock of lemon peel and orange peel on hand. A bit of citrus brightens up fruit and/or vegetable quick breads like you wouldn't believe. Trust me on this one.