With a soft, tender crumb, this delicious Spiced Applesauce Bread is one of my personal favorites.

Throughout the year of 2020 I kept hearing variations upon the phrase “When things get back to normal…”. The reality of a pandemic is that it is a learning process for society as a whole to learn what the new normal looks like going forward, very much akin to a person diagnosed with a chronic illness learning what their lives shift to for their own new normal. When I was diagnosed with NMO, I overcompensated for the things I could not control (I.e. my body fighting against itself with multiple relapses, adjusting to vision loss in both eyes, and then readjusting to fluctuating vision and other symptoms that cropped up due to environmental factors, physical factors, and emotional factors that could all affect my daily capabilities). This is something that I have seen other individuals cope and manage with their own health journeys, and now can see in the larger picture of society adjusting (willingly or begrudgingly) to the perimeters set by a global health crisis.

One of the immediate responses to the multiple rounds of quarantining was an incredible outburst of home kitchens being used much, much more than they have been. People were suddenly cooking three square meals a day, and experimenting with baking. Novice bakers were having such an output of the humble little loaves of banana bread that flour was very difficult to procure during the panic buying in the beginning. While I have done my fair share of banana based baking, one of the things I was super drawn to during the time was perfecting a perfect, humble little Spiced Applesauce Bread.

This Spiced Applesauce Bread is super simple to throw together. Chances are, you have everything in your pantry already to make this.

For whatever reason, in my world, Spiced Applesauce Bread is ideally a homely little loaf. It does not stand up as a toweringly tall loaf, nor does it stay squat and dense as some incarnations can be. The crumb is soft an tender, yet does not quite veer into cake territory, with enough density to keep it firmly in the quick bread category. The spices are warm with cinnamon and nutmeg, and hug your senses with their familiar comforts. It does not preen, and it does not posture; instead it holds steadfast, like a lighthouse for those ships that are slightly off their path.

This recipe went through a number of iterations before I finally settled on this one, it’s best version of itself. I tend to use my own, homemade applesauce for it as I have a tendency to ‘rejuvenate’ slightly dented apples into applesauce fairly frequently, but store bought would work perfectly fine in this recipe. To help achieve that super soft, velvety texture I ended up using both milk and a flavorless oil, and the butter is there for flavor. To help the bread rise up to be the loveliest little loaf it can be, I experimented with the bake times, the heat levels, and ultimately settled on starting off at a slightly higher temperature to help the bread rise and keep its shape, but then lower the temperature to help ensure the bread baked evenly throughout without getting too crisp on the edges. I use two bowls to make this, but you can use a single bowl if you are trying to save dishes - I just find it easier to measure out all my dry ingredients to ensure I get them all in there.

This Spiced Applesauce Bread is quick to come together, makes your house smell incredible, and the resulting quick bread is the ideal little snack, breakfast, or dessert. It’s sweet without being overly sweet, and the texture is just shy of being like a fine crumbed cake. The spices harmonize and sing sumptuously on your palate, and the edges beg to be dunked in either a frosted glass of milk or a soothing cup of tea. During the times when things are most uncertain, whether it be a pandemic, medical situation, a messy move, or perhaps just a trying day on Zoom conferences, the simplest things can turn that train around to help you power through the day. For myself throughout this past year, stress baking, and in particular, stress baking this Spiced Applesauce Bread has certainly allowed me to keep my sanity and allow for a little bit of normalcy in uncertain times.

Spiced Applesauce Bread

Author: Iris Anna Gohn

Servings: 1 9x5 loaf; 12 slices

This Spiced Applesauce Bread comes together incredibly quickly. I tend to use my homemade applesauce to bake this bread, however feel free to use a store bought applesauce in lieu of making your own if you’re pressed for time.

I love this bread as written, but you can top it with a variety of things - the crunch of Turbinado Sugar crystals are always a lovely addition, as is a nice little Streusel topper. It doesn’t need it, but experiment and do what feels right to you.

I always bake my quick breads with the parchment paper having “wings” - overhang of the parchment paper so that it makes it incredibly easy to lift the loaf out of the pan to cool. It’s not necessary if you don’t have parchment paper, but it is something that I’ve found that makes my life easier when dealing with trying to get a hot loaf out of a pan without burning myself.

Ingredients

2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
2 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp Ground Cloves
1/4 Tsp Ground Nutmeg
1/4 Tsp Allspice
1/2 Tsp Fine Sea Salt
6 Tbsp melted cooled Butter (I use salted butter, if using unsalted add an extra 1/8 Tsp Salt)
2 Tbsp flavorless Oil, such as Canola or Grapeseed
1 Cup granulated White Sugar
3 Tbsp Whole Milk, room temperature
2 Tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
2 Eggs, room temperature
1 1/4 Cup Unsweetened Applesauce, room temperature

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease and line a 9x5 loaf pan with nonstick spray and parchment paper. Set aside.
Melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat and set aside. Alternatively, you could melt the butter in a microwave safe bowl.
In a medium bowl, add the dry ingredients, the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and salt and whisk together so everything is incorporated and the flour is aerated well. Set aside.
In a large bowl, add the sugar, butter, and oil. Whisk together until everything is combined well. Add in the vanilla and milk and whisk to combine.
Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking well until the mixture looks light and fluffy. Once the wet ingredients are fluffy, add in the applesauce and stir to combine.
With a spatula, fold in the dry ingredients until everything is combined. Be careful to not overmix, you want to make sure the flour is just incorporated. If you overmix the resulting bread will be denser and tougher.
Add batter to the prepared loaf pan, then put in the oven. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.
Once 15 minutes has elapsed, drop oven temperature to 350 F and continue to bake for 35-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf slides out clean. (My oven typically goes a couple minutes above 40 minutes, but everyone’s ovens run a little different)
Once the toothpick slides out clean, let the bread cool in the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container once completely cooled.