Caramel-Maple Apple Bread

So yesterday, on Facebook, I kept posting about this amazing bread I was in the process of making. I made applesauce, caramel-but-really-tasted-like-maple sauce and finally...the bread!

I think it went without saying that this cooking adventure would make it to my blog sooner or later, however...it is sooner, because of the call for the recipe(s)!  So here we go!

*Sorry, no pictures right now! I'm making some more bread soon, so I can do pictures of that and update this post.*

I started with the applesauce, because the recipe I found said it could take a few hours to cook down, cool, etc.

Stove Top Easy Peasy Applesauce

Ingredients

• 3 pounds cooking apples (a variety is good), cut into ½ inch or 1 inch slices…no need to peel them unless you have an extra hour you want to kill *I used 6-7 small to medium apples from my Mom's tree, and it filled up an old applesauce jar. 
• ½ cup apple juice or cider * I used apple cider vinegar, and added some white sugar to taste 
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 large cinnamon stick (optional)*used two sticks, because I love cinnamon!
• 1 – 2 tablespoons honey (optional)
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions

1.       Combine the apples, apple juice/cider, lemon juice, and cinnamon stick (if using) into a large pot. Cover and simmer for 20 – 25 minutes or until tender (but not mushy). * I cooked mine for about 1 1/2 hours

2.       Transfer warm apple mixture to a food processor (or you can mash by hand with a potato masher) and add honey (if using) and nutmeg. Puree to desired chunkiness. *mine was pretty chunky, but I like it that way.

3.       Serve, refrigerate, or freeze the leftovers!

Then, while that was cooling, I moved on to the Caramel sauce!

Easy Caramel Sauce

2011 Ree Drummond, All Rights Reserved

Prep Time:

10 min

Inactive Prep Time:

10 min

Cook Time:

10 min

Level:

Easy

Serves:

1 1/2 cups

Ingredients

·                                 1 packed cup brown sugar *used light brown sugar

·                                 1/2 cup half-and-half * I used Sweetened Condensed Milk, which might be why it tastes like Maple instead!

·                                 4 tablespoons butter

·                                 Pinch salt

·                                 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions

Mix the brown sugar, half-and-half, butter and salt in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook while whisking gently for 5 to 7 minutes, until it gets thicker. Add the vanilla and cook another minute to thicken further. Turn off the heat, cool slightly and pour the sauce into a jar. Refrigerate until cold.

That took awhile to cool, but it smelled great in the house! :) 

Then I had to wait for both the applesauce and the Caramel/Maple sauce to cool enough that I could use them in the bread recipe! So without further ado, here's the bread recipe!

Apple Breakfast Bread

Rated: Submitted By: Jennifer Photo By: Fit&Healthy Mom Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 1 Hour Ready In: 1 Hour 30 Minutes Servings: 10

"Warm sweet apple bread is perfect for breakfast or for a snack. I have enjoyed this recipe many times."

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup butter 1 cup sugar 2 eggs 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 2 apples - peeled, cored and chopped

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan.
2.	In a bowl, mix the butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. Beat in the eggs.
3.	In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cloves. Mix into the butter mixture until moistened. Fold in the apples. Transfer to the prepared loaf pan.
4.	Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2012 Allrecipes.com

Printed from Allrecipes.com 9/6/2012

*I used 1/4 butter and added 1 full cup of the applesauce

*I used 1 cup of brown sugar, not white, and cut the cooking time to 45 minutes. 

*I only used one apple, however, I'll use two the next go around!

Once the bread dough was made, I place it in the oiled bread tin, spread the Caramel sauce on top, and baked it. I'm thinking of making a simple crumb mixture to top the sauce and bread with next time...because well...you know it wasn't yummy enough already, it needs the extra sugar. ;)

Enjoy!!!

Ps, both my husband and son loved it! J kept coming up to me, trying to grab mine, telling me he wanted more. It's good to see that a son loves his Mommys cooking! ;)