Apple Bread and The Apple of My Eye~

 
It's officially fall on the 21st! I'm a little melancholy that summer is at an end but fall means a whole new arena of ingredients for cooking and baking. Apples are high on the list of those ingredients for me.

I haven't had much time for baking lately :) Being a new grandmother is consuming in so many ways! Our daughter and new grandson were discharged from the hospital today so I had a time to try a new recipe this morning that I found in the new Penzey's fall magazine for apple bread.

It was sweet and good and tasted just like Fall to me.

Here is the true Apple of My Eye :)

For an interesting background of the phrase 'Apple of My Eye' click here.

Apple Bread
Recipe courtesy of Penzeys
Printable Recipe

4 Cups apples, peeled, cored and chopped, 4-5 large apples
4 large eggs, beaten
1 Cup vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
3 Cups all-purpose flour
2 Cups granulated white sugar

Topping:

3⁄4 Cup all-purpose flour
1⁄4 Cup sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1⁄2 Cup butter (1 stick), room temperature

Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly grease two standard bread loaf pans and set aside.

Peel, core and slice the apples. Cut into good-sized chunks, about 1 inch in size. In a large bowl, beat the eggs with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the oil and beat until combined. Add the vanilla, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Beat until thoroughly mixed. Next, add the flour and sugar and mix on low just to blend. Turn the mixer to high and beat until mixture is smooth. The batter will be very thick.

Fold in the chopped apples, mixing by hand so the apples do not get broken up. Divide
the mixture between the two pans. Since the batter is so thick, it is easiest to
spoon the batter into the pans.

To prepare the topping, combine flour, sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut the butter into the mixture with a fork until all ingredients are moist and crumbly. Sprinkle equal amounts of topping on each loaf.

Bake for about 1 hour on the center rack of the oven. The loaf should feel fairly firm when touched in the middle; if not, bake an extra 5-10 minutes.Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pans.

My Notes~ I baked the bread in a mini loaf pan and found it wasn't fully baked after 1 hour and needed another 10 minutes. I also found it slightly too sweet for my taste and would reduce the sugar next time.