Ingredients for the apples:
- 1½ cups apples, peeled and chopped
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1½ tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1¾ cups flour
Ingredients for the batter:
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp. ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 stick butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce, room temperature
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- ½ cup whole milk, room temperature
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray.
- Stir the apples, brown sugar and cinnamon together. Set aside.
- For the BATTER: Whisk the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Beat the butter and granulated sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.
- Add the eggs and then beat on medium speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed.
- Beat in the applesauce and vanilla extract on medium speed until combined. Mixture will look chunky.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
- Turn the mixer on low speed, and with the mixer running, slowly pour in the milk. Beat just until combined — do not overmix. You may need to whisk it by hand to make sure there are no lumps at the bottom of the bowl. The batter will be sticky and slightly thick. You’ll have about 3 cups of batter.
- Pour and spread about 1/2 of the batter into the bottom of the prepared loaf pan. Spoon apples and any cinnamon/brown sugar juices leftover in the bowl evenly on top. Pour and spread remaining batter on top, making sure to scrape out every last drop of batter. Using a knife, swirl the batter down the center of the loaf pan.
- Bake for 60-75 minutes, loosely covering the bread with aluminum foil after 30 minutes to help prevent the top and sides from getting too brown. This is a large heavy loaf, so your bread may take a bit longer. A toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf will come out clean when the bread is done. Begin checking at 60 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool completely.
