Pumpkin puree and finely chopped apple slices keep this bread naturally moist, while cinnamon and cloves give it that classic, comforting taste and aroma. What better way to savor fall than to bake with apple and pumpkin? And it is a bonus to have a bread that is sweet enough to be considered a treat, yet wholesome enough to be considered a hearty, healthy snack. The recipe makes two loaves, so keep one loaf and give the other away, or keep both loaves!
I adapted this recipe from one I found in my Hollyhocks & Radishes cookbook by Bonnie Stewart Mickelson. Since I did not have quite as much pumpkin puree as the recipe called for, I added some chopped apple slices to make up the difference, and the combination is delicious. It is a very mild bread, and my husband, who is not a huge fan of a strong pumpkin flavor, prefers this adaptation. My kids love it too, as do some of their friends (I often pack extra in their lunches so they can share).
This past few days the weather has really turned, and it has been chilly and breezy outside. It is dark earlier in the evenings, and dark when I take the kids to school in the mornings. Suddenly the inside of the home becomes more appealing, and we spend more time inside. We crave cozy things like baking bread, hot tea and blankets, soft lamps and candles. I get to wear my favorite rain boots out and about, and tromp around in the woods taking pictures of the colorful leaves before they fall, and as they fall.
I was leafing through a cookbook the other day and saw a recipe for ice pops. When I saw it, I realized how far away summer seems now! Instead of dreaming up fun flavor combinations for homemade ice pops, after a busy day spent going all kinds of different directions, nowadays we are sitting down in the evenings with a cup of hot tea. Even my kids are getting into drinking herbal tea, and I love using that as an excuse to drink a cup with them and try to find out what’s going on in their lives, though I don’t think I ever really find out as much as I’d like to. This pumpkin apple bread goes perfectly with tea, by the way.
I hope you all have a great weekend! Stay warm and cozy! I am sharing this recipe over at Angie’s Fiesta Friday, co-hosted this week by Judi @ cookingwithauntjuju and Maggie @ Spoon in a Saucepan.
Pumpkin Apple Bread
Ingredients:
- 2/3 cup of unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup of light brown sugar
- 1 and 2/3 cups of white granulated sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 and 1/2 cups of pumpkin puree (if you prefer to use all pumpkin and no apple, just use 2 cups of pumpkin puree)
- 1/2 cup of apple, peeled and finely chopped
- 2/3 cup of water
- 3 and 1/2 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons of baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon of ground cloves
- 1 cup of chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and the sugars. In a small bowl, beat the eggs and then add them to the butter/sugar mixture. Add the pumpkin, chopped apple, and water. Stir well until thoroughly combined.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and ground cloves. Stir with a fork until well combined. Stir the dry ingredients into the bowl with the pumpkin mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. Fold in the nuts, if you are using them.
Pour the batter into the greased loaf pans, distributing the batter evenly between the two pans. Bake in your 350-degree oven for about one hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.
Let the bread cool for about 10 minutes in the pans, then gently turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
This recipe is adapted from one found in Hollyhocks & Radishes by Bonnie Stewart Mickelson.
I adapted this recipe from a blueberry muffin recipe I found years ago in Real Simple Magazine. Over the years I have changed and substituted things, as our tastes and choices have evolved. The original recipe calls for orange juice and blueberries, but since we are currently in the midst of a beautiful fall, I wanted to reflect the season. Adding chopped apples instead of blueberries and the apple cider instead of the orange juice takes these muffins to a new level of deliciousness. And what are baked apples without cinnamon? Of course I had to add cinnamon.
The fall color around here is so beautiful, and I’m not sure we have even reached the peak of the color yet, since there is still quite a bit of green out there. I hope you all have a great weekend, and hope you get a chance to get out and enjoy the glorious colors. My son has two soccer games and we have out-of-town friends and my ex-pat cousin and her sons coming into town, so we will have lots of chances to savor the season. I am so looking forward to all of it! But now I must clean my neglected house! At least it smells really good in here, like apples and cinnamon. These muffins are wonderful. I hope you give them a try! I am sharing a plate over at Angie’s 
If left to my own devices, I would probably eat way too much bread and cheese. So it’s really nice when I can find a super-healthy, clean eating recipe that I love, a dish that can energize my body and help me work hard and stand strong. The balance of flavors in this salsa is wonderful. A bit of sweetness from the mangoes and honey is mixed with a bit of zing from the lime juice and cilantro. It is a great snack, salad topper, or side dish.
I adapted this recipe from my husband’s beloved “Thrive Energy Cookbook” by Brendan Brazier. I was drawn to it because my grocery store has had mangoes on sale for the past couple of weeks, so we have had mangoes in our fruit bowl waiting to be used. Now that I have found this salsa, I expect it will become a regular in our rotation, because it is so delicious, easy, and versatile. I used thawed frozen corn instead of fresh, and substituted honey and olive oil instead of the agave nectar and hemp oil called for in the Thrive recipe.
In any case, although I am very rusty, it feels good to have that part of my life back again, and I know my dad would be glad about it too. I stumbled across a really pretty song that I am now working on, called 
