In The Kitchen With Aubrey: Apple Bread



Perfect gift-giving bread!

 Aubrey loves to help me bake, and I love to have his help!  It's a fun activity for both of us, and he really enjoys feeling like a "big boy" and is so proud of the things we make.  Today was super windy here, so it wasn't a good day to be outside.  We decided to bake instead, using one of Aubrey's favorite ingredients... apples!  I used this recipe to make two mini-loaves and a half dozen muffins.  I plan to freeze one of the loaves and figure we'll have it for breakfast one morning next week when my brother-in-law is here visiting.  The other is for our sweet neighbor, who shares her amazing produce and homemade salsa with us. 

I highly recommend baking with your children.  They are never too young to help.  As some of you know, I am working on a homeschool pre-school curriculum with Aubrey, and this is a great activity to reinforce the things we are learning... counting (he counts out the cups of sugar, flour, etc), teamwork, and sharing with our friends.

I have some promising recipes to try out next week, and some are not Southern Living or Cooking Light (gasp!)  I'm finally revisiting recipes in my "Dave's Dinners", "Bon Appetit", and "Real Simple" cookbooks, and will share some next week.  Until then, enjoy!

Apple Bread (Southern Living)

Ingredients

• 1 (3-pound) bag small apples (12 to 14 apples)
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped pecans, toasted  **(I substituted walnuts because I was out of pecans)

Preparation

1. Peel and finely chop enough apples to equal 3 cups. Set aside.
2. Stir together sugar and next 3 ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Stir together flour and next 3 ingredients; add to sugar mixture, stirring just until blended. (Batter will be stiff.) Fold in finely chopped apples and 1 cup pecans.
4. Divide batter evenly between 2 greased and floured 9- x 5-inch loaf pans. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pans, and cool on wire racks.



The muffins came out well too