Apple Bread for Your Holiday Sideboard

Pumpkin pie is a holiday staple and I know that I, for one, would be disappointed to leave the Thanksgiving table without having had a large slice of it. I would never, however, turn down additional dessert offerings and this fresh apple bread is a terrific complement to any harvest celebration.

The recipe is from Ken Haedrich's now-out-of-print book, A Passion for Bread. If you're lucky enough to find a copy of this hand-lettered gem, pick it up. You'll find more than 30 recipes for yeasted breads, 20-plus quick breads, and half a dozen unyeasted breads. In the almost 30 years I've owned it, I have never had a recipe fail.

While you can make this bread in either a regular, standard-sized loaf pan or three mini pans, it bakes more evenly in the smaller pans.

Fresh Apple Bread
from A Passion for Bread
by Ken Haedrich

2 large apples, cored and chopped
2 1/2 c whole wheat or whole wheat pastry flour (preferred)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
2 T cinnamon
2 eggs, beaten
1 c apple juice
1/2 c honey or maple syrup
1/3 c oil or melted butter
handful raisins
handful chopped walnuts

Prepare the apples and set aside. Preheat oven to 350F.

Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon. Add the apples, raisins, and walnuts. (Tossing them with the dry ingredients prevents them from sinking to the bottom.)

Blend liquids in a separate bowl and add to the dry. Stir just until smooth.

Pour batter into three greased mini-loaf pans or one regular-sized pan. Bake for 1 hour, until a toothpick emerges dry.