I’ve been working hard at mastering this recipe; I think I’ve finally nailed it (man, what a good feeling)! The original recipe came from my colleague; she brought her version into work and wow’d everyone. The next day, multiple copies of the recipe floated around my workplace. Eager to make it myself, I grabbed a copy and began making a few tweaks.
And then, the “Dietitian” in me came out.
The original recipe called for only white all-purpose flour and ½ cup of butter. In an effort to increase the fibre content of the loaf I opted to use a bit of whole-wheat flour. Secondly, instead of butter, I used a combination of applesauce and canola oil. But really, you could use the butter if you love that flavor and want to boost the fat content a bit. It really is a versatile recipe.
Note: if you use butter; be sure to really cream it into a smooth consistency for a good quality product.
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup canola oil (or any oil you prefer)
- ¼ cup applesauce, unsweetened
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup whole wheat flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- ½ cup milk (or milk alternative)
- 1 apple, chopped (I used Granny Smith for tartness)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease your loaf pan.
- Mix brown sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon in a small bowl, set aside.
- In another medium sized bowl beat white sugar, applesauce and oil using a hand blender or beater. Beat until smooth and then one by one add in the eggs and vanilla.
- In a large bowl, blend flours, baking powder and baking soda.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Your batter should be smooth, and wet. It won’t look like a whole lot but that’s okay. Don’t over mix!
- Pour ½ the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Next, add ½ the apples and ½ the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture.
- Lightly pat the apples into the batter
- Pour remaining batter of the apple layer, top with remaining apples and finish off with the sugar and cinnamon topping.
- Bake in your oven for approximately 30 – 40 minutes, or, until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
After it’s done, hide it somewhere special so your husband doesn’t gobble it down (sorry babe, xoxo). It’s that good.
– With Love, Carrots and Cake,
