The last couple of days, I’ve had to remember to grab a jacket before leaving the house in the morning. It’s getting darker earlier in the evening. There are more and more apples appearing on grocery store shelves.
It seems as though fall has officially arrived, and so on this rather lazy Sunday morning I went on the hunt for a new recipe to deliciously usher it in. This quick bread has fall written all over it (or, I suppose, baked right into it). It’s full of apples (in the form of applesauce), cinnamon, and oats, and — bonus! — will make your house smell like autumn while it’s baking.
I’d recommend enjoying a slice of this bread with a cup of tea or coffee. It would make a great hostess gift, too, for get-togethers this season. Just split the batter between a few small loaf pans and you’ll have adorably tasty gifts!
A couple of things in particular that I love about this bread:
1. It’s not too sweet. Unlike many quick breads, this actually feels like an appropriate breakfast option. (Don’t you kind of feel like you’re doing something wrong when you have banana bread for breakfast? Feels more like cake or something.) This is an exception in the best way.
2. In most other recipes I’ve tried with a glaze or frosting element, the glaze/frosting to cake ratio is way off. I often end up with WAY too much glaze/frosting than cake to put it on, and just have to toss the extra. This recipe, though, makes just the right amount of glaze for the bread. (It’s the little things, right?)
Okay — let’s get to it:
Ingredients (for bread)
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup plain non-fat Greek yogurt
- 1 cup applesauce
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Ingredients (for glaze)
- 2/3 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 1/4 cup applesauce
- Sprinkle of cinnamon
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease two loaf pans. (I used one tiny pan and one slightly larger than average one, but you can split the batter between two standard-sized pans instead.)
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, oats, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder, and set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine sugar, oil, eggs, yogurt, applesauce, and vanilla.
- Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients by hand until just combined.
- Divide batter between your two loaf pans and bake for 30-35 minutes (small loaf pans) or 40-45 minutes (larger loaf pans), or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Once you’ve removed the bread from the oven, prepare the glaze by whisking together the powdered sugar (be sure to sift it first so the glaze isn’t lumpy!), applesauce, and cinnamon.
- After the bread has cooled for a while, remove the loaves from their pans and transfer to a cooling rack, then spoon glaze over the top. (Be sure glaze sets completely before slicing.)
Happy fall!
