Apple spice loaf – with whole grain flour
Apple see a lot of use in my home. Our fall harvests from the neighborhood trees in a good year can be substantial. The best of these are kept for fresh eating, seconds are peeled, sliced and dried or frozen for pies, apple braids and the like, those that are a bit softer get transformed into apple sauce that we can, and finally the really bruised ones get turned into apple cider on the homestead press.
Apple Spice Loaf with Barley Flour
So we end up using a lot of apple sauce through the season, and this apple spice loaf is one of my favorite recipes. It’s a quick loaf – so it honestly doesn’t take more than five minutes to mix the ingredients, put it into a silicon loaf pan (which means I don’t even need to take the time to butter and flour the pan) making it a cinch to pull together. In spite of being so easy – it is a lovely loaf the blend of apple and spices is lovely. While the loaf is a great accompaniment for a nice cup of tea or coffee it most often serves as a bread substitute in our lunches, adding variety to our brown bags. Made with whole grain flour – and I usually use whole barley flour for quick breads – it fills you up and keeps you satiated.
I think this is a pretty good example of better living today – you get a great rich filling and wholesome loaf, add diversity to your meals that sees you content to skip the cafeteria line for lunches and uses some of the bounty around us. It is also a great example of how easily all this can be pulled together. It honestly takes more time to wash the bowl than it does to prepare the batter and slide it into the oven.
Of course, you don’t need to use your own apple sauce or even flour you’ve produced at home to get a very nice product. So take five minutes to make this apple spice loaf and add some great baking to your lunches.
- 2 large eggs
- 500 ml apple sauce
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3 cups whole grain flour barley or whole wheat work well
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- Preheat oven to 350F. If you are using a metal or glass loaf pan butter and flour the bottom and sides to keep the loaf from sticking. This is not necessary with a silicon loaf pan.
- In one bowl mix the eggs, apple sauce and oil.
- In another bowl mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and soda, sugar, spices)
- With both the dry and wet ingredients separately mixed combine the wet and dry ingredients together.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and put into preheated oven. Cook for 1 hour and test for doneness with a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf. If it comes our dry the loaf is ready to cool. If when you withdraw the toothpick batter is still sticking you will need to return it to the oven until the toothpick comes out dry.
- Cool for at least 10 minutes before removing from loaf pan.