Cinnamon Swirl Apple Bread

 

And once again, looong time no blog! Another month and a half has gone by since my last post. Oops! I know I said this last time, but honestly, life has never been busier. We finally moved into our new house (yay!) a few weeks ago, so the process of moving, unpacking, and attempting to get settled has been taking up much of our time. Not to mention the crazy busy schedules we keep in normal life...and also not to mention getting ready for baby!!! Every day, the to-do list only grows and doesn't get shorter. Blogging is always on my list but somehow it always gets pushed to the bottom, sadly.

 I have enjoyed baking a number of Barbershop goodies thus far in our new kitchen, and so far, so good! Everything's been turning out great. Oh, and here are a few pics of the new kitchen. :) There are a few final touches we need to do still (paint some of the trim white, touch up some paint spots under the cabinets, etc.) but it's pretty much DONE!!

One of the first recipes I wanted to share with you is this delicious cinnamon swirl apple bread that I made last weekend after we went apple picking. I made these cute little mini loaves to give to some of our new neighbors. But don't worry, we kept a couple for ourselves too. :) Ya gotta taste test, right?! This quick bread recipe is easy, moist, and flavorful. And oh-so-fall-like. I am in full fall baking mode these days, and I love it. Everything I've made over the past two weeks has been with either pumpkin or apples!

The recipe is from A Kitchen Addiction. And I followed the recipe pretty closely too (usually I tweak a few things). I did not add the glaze on top of the bread, but feel free to if you'd like that added touch of sweetness. The bread was plenty sweet on its own, we thought. But, sometimes a glaze can really make a bread come together. So, the glaze is your call!

Ingredients:

For the bread:

-1 cup whole wheat flour

-1 cup white whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour

-3/4 cup sugar

-2 tsp. baking powder

-1/2 tsp. baking soda

-1/2 tsp. salt

-1 tsp. cinnamon

-1/4 tsp. nutmeg

-1/8 tsp. ginger

-1/8 tsp. cloves (this was my addition)

-1 cup low fat buttermilk

(feel free to use powdered buttermilk; follow the package's instructions)

-1 egg

-1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

-1 and 1/2 to 2 cups chopped apples (peeled or not; your choice)

For the swirl:

-2 Tbsp. sugar

-1 Tbsp. brown sugar

-2 tsp. cinnamon

-1/2 tsp. nutmeg

-1/8 tsp. ginger

-1/8 tsp. allspice

For the glaze:

-1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

-1 Tbsp. milk

Instructions:

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray (or mini loaf pans). In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. In a large bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, and applesauce. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and stir until just combined. Fold in chopped apples. In a small bowl, mix together the "swirl" ingredients.

Pour about 1/3 of batter into the loaf pan. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the cinnamon sugar swirl mixture. Repeat with the remaining batter and swirl mixture until both are gone. Carefully swirl a knife through the batter crosswise.

If using the traditional 9 x 5 loaf pan, bake for about 50 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. If using mini loaf pans, start checking for doneness around 20 minutes or so. Allow bread to cool on wire rack for 20 minutes before removing from pan. If using glaze, mix together the sugar and milk, and pour glaze over warm bread. Makes 1 large loaf or about 10 mini loves. Enjoy!

The other great quality of this bread that I didn't mention earlier? It will make your home smell deeeelicious. Just. Like. Fall.

 

I made a couple mini bundt cakes as well for the hubs and me. Those were what we taste tested to make sure the recipe was worthy of sharing with our new neighbors. First impressions are important, you know! I wouldn't want to give a new neighbor anything sub-par for their first Barbershop treat experience.

Here's a picture of me at 34 weeks pregnant. Wow! I can't believe how quickly this baby is coming... Our due date is a month from today, in fact!

And of course, there's the hubs, attempting to be funny with his pumpkin baby belly... :)

I made an awesome applesauce recipe in the crock pot (!!) this past weekend. Hope to share that one with you next. And hopefully it'll be sooner than a month and a half from now...