Apple Bread

If you were to ask; what was my all time favorite sweet, I would undoubtedly answer "APPLE BREAD".  I could easily eat this recipe morning, noon and night.  If it wasn't 200 calories a slice I most likely would be eating it with every meal.  I am not a fan of ALL apple bread, just my family's recipe (which I am being told comes from the Gold Medal cook book, though I have a few of those and can't seem to find it in any of them).  Due to my absolute LOVE of this bread, I try to only make it when I have fresh picked apples.  I make some fresh applesauce to use and cut up some beautiful fresh picked apples - ah fall, what a wonderful season!

Apple Bread

• 3 c Apples, peeled and chopped
• 3 c Flour
• 2 1/2 c Sugar
• 1/2 c Oil
• 3/4 c Applesauce*
• 4 Eggs, beaten
• 4 t Vanilla
• 2 t Cinnamon
• 1 1/2 t Baking Soda
• 1/2 t Baking Powder
• 1 t Cloves
• Sake of Salt

1. Preheat the oven to 325 F.  
2. Grease the bottoms only of two loaf pans. (You will notice in the pictures that I made one loaf and one "cake" like loaf.)
3. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.  If you are using a Kitchen Aid, I normally add the oil and eggs on top of everything else and mix on medium speed for about a minute.
4. Divide batter between your pans and place in the oven for about an hour.  You can tell the bread is done the same way you would check a cake.  If it springs back when you touch it then it is done.  
5. If you have the will power then wait for the breads to cool before cutting into them, you will get a much cleaner cut.  **
6. Enjoy

*As I stated earlier, I make homemade applesauce to use in this recipe.  I normally make a large batch and just put aside the 3/4 of a cup for use in the apple bread, however I have definitely made applesauce just for use in the recipe as well.  I believe the original recipe called for 1 1/4 c of oil - that is a bit much for my taste so I have adapted the recipe for applesauce use.  You can use all oil, homemade applesauce, or store bought applesauce.  If you use store bought applesauce you probably want to make sure it is unsweetened.

** You will see int he pictures below that the loaf pan is on it's side.  Like with most cakes/breads, it is a smart move to place the loaf pan on each of it's sides while cooling to prevent the bread or cake from settling and sticking to the bottom of the pan.  This is ESPECIALLY wise with this recipe.  I do not do it with the ceramic pan due to the fact that the bread is normally served cake style from that pan.  

Based upon getting 24 equal slices out of your bread, the calories per slice come in at 198.