1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3/4 cup cubed apple*
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 egg
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour one standard loaf pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, brown sugar, salt, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and baking soda. Then mix in the egg, buttermilk, and oil. Stir until a thick batter forms. Fold in the apple. Pour into the prepared pan and bake about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean.
*I used Cripps Pink apples, if you are using a tart apple like a Granny Smith, you might want to add a little more sugar.
My thoughts:
Quick bread indeed. I was trying to decide what to do with the leftovers of 1/2 gallon of buttermilk I bought to use when I made sherbet and blue cheese dressing a couple of weeks ago. The expiration date is Friday and I didn’t want it to go to waste. So at about 1 PM, I went into the kitchen took a look at what ingredients I had on hand, and by 1:45PM I was taking this bread out of the oven. The apples add sweetness and moisture to the bread, so you don’t need to add much oil or sugar and the whole wheat flour and the low fat buttermilk makes it pretty healthy all around. Of course, I still have about quart left of the buttermilk, so you might be seeing it again. A half gallon really is a lot!
What a great chunky looking bread.
Have you ever tried the substitute for buttermilk with 1 cup milk and 1 Tbs lemon juice or 1 cup milk and 1 tbs white vinegar? I was constantly tossing buttermilk out and then I found this sub… it works just like the real thing.
I have tried the substitute, and while it is okay for baking, I find that you really need the real thing for something like the blueberry-buttermilk sherbet where a lot of the flavor comes from the buttermilk or in uncooked foods like the blue cheese dressing.
Buttermilk is generally good way past its posted expiration date. I have successfully used it in baking up to a month after its date.
I smiled when you said you still had leftover buttermilk. I never can finish it when I buy it either! I agree that it’s great for baking; and I love it in salad dressings.
What are these Cripps apples? I’ve never heard of them. Are they like Pink Ladies, which are tart? I can’t wait to try this bread; it looks so chewy and delicious.
so funny, i’ve been thinking of making apple cake too! some apples i bought last week aren’t that great for eating, so i’m sure they’d be wonderful for baking instead. yum!
Susan: Cripps Pink are a variety of pink apple. In fact, I think it is just the more old fashioned name for the “pink lady” or a very close relation.
That looks fabulous!
And ditto on using BM past its date. I do that, too. Until a certain point … it’s easy to tell when it goes “bad”.
And I mostly buy it for one thing: cornbread! (And pancakes, of course.)
Woah, that looks like it’d make great french toast. What’s the texture of the bread like?
Ellie: It is a fairly dense crumb.
Another “Go For It” on expired buttermilk. I think you have pancakes in your future …
i recently used real buttermilk for the first time instead of the alternate method like rachel. boy, the real stuff is good! great looking bread rachel.
My mom only uses buttermilk after it gets past its expiration date to make her coffee cake. I suppose it doesn’t make a difference, but she thinks it does and why ruin it for her? Point being that it ain’t bad past the date.
Oh my! What a wonderful looking apple bread – yum!
FYI: You can freeze buttermilk for up to 3 months. But it’s only good for cooking and baking…
I made this recipe today, and while the texture and moistness of the bread were good, it wasn’t quite as apple-y, sweet, or spicy as I had hoped for. I used 1 Granny Smith apple, put in one more tablespoon of brown sugar, to negate the possible tartness. Everything else was as per the recipe though. I think next time I will use a full teaspoon of the cinnamon, allspice, and ground ginger. Still, it’s very good with some butter/margarine, and a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar. I also think it would be good with apple butter and cinnamon sugar.
Nicole, my guess is that you didn’t use enough apple! My bread had apple in very bite! It also was supposed to be a mild bread, not spicy at all, to let the buttermilk/apple flavors shine through. If you want a spice bread, adding extra spices makes perfect sense!
Actually, 1 Granny Smith apple cubed came out to about 1 cup of apple. The bread came out nice and full of apples like the loaf in your picture. Maybe I’ll try a different apple variety next time. Thanks for your help and suggestions! 🙂