Cinnamon Apple Surprise Bread #BreadBakers

Cinnamon apple surprise bread is made with two batters, one cinnamon and one flavored with applesauce. Together they make a fun and tasty sweet loaf! 

If you love apples and cinnamon together in a sweet bread, pick a day when you are lounging at home and are not in a rush to make this. It’s baked in two parts. First comes the apple bread, which I colored with no-taste red to make sure the apple shapes would pop out. 

The second batter is then spooned around the apple bread cutouts to create the surprise. Is it a bit of a production? Absolutely. Was I super pleased with the effect? You betcha! 

One great thing is that you get to snack on the leftovers of the apple bread part way through. We all decided that I should make that part again, just to eat plain. So good. 

Cinnamon Apple Surprise Bread

This bread took a bit longer than I thought it would to bake because I guess the already baked, chilled “apples” in the middle delayed the baking of the cinnamon batter. Just be patient and if yours starts to brown before it’s baked through, cover it with foil. 

 

Ingredients

For the apple bread:

3/4 cup or 94g all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup or 56g butter, softened

1/2 cup or 100g granulated sugar

1/4 cup packed or 50g brown sugar

2 oz or 56g ricotta, at room temperature

1/4 cup or 60ml sour cream

1 egg

1/2 cup or 130g thick applesauce

1/2 teaspoon no-taste red food gel (optional but necessary for the surprise effect) 

For the cinnamon bread:

2 1/4 cups or 280g all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup or 200g granulated sugar

1/2 cup or 113g butter, softened

2 eggs

8 oz or 225g ricotta

1/4 cup or 60ml milk

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. Line a 8x8 in or 20x20cm baking pan with baking parchment. I like to put a little butter in the corners and a smear of butter in the middle because it helps anchor the parchment. 

To make the apple quick bread, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.

In another bowl cream the sugars and butter together with a mixer on medium until fluffy. Add in the egg, ricotta, sour cream, applesauce and food coloring and beat again until combined. 

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and fold well to combine. 

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth it out with a spatula. 

Bake 18-20 minutes in your preheated or until a wooden skewer comes out clean. 

Cool completely in pan on wire rack. 

Freeze for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, for the cinnamon quick bread, prepare a 9x5 in or 13x23cm loaf pan by lining it with baking parchment. 

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. 

In a large bowl beat the sugars and butter together with a mixer until fluffy and pale yellow. Add in the eggs, ricotta and milk and beat till combined.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and fold well to combine. 

Using a 2 1/2-inch apple cookie cutter, cut 9 apples out of the chilled apple bread. Remove the extra bits around the apples. These make an excellent mid-bake snack. 

Spread about 1 inch or 2cm deep of the cinnamon batter in the bottom of the prepared loaf pan. 

Stand the apple cutouts close together lengthwise down the center of the loaf pan. I ended up using only eight of them to leave room for the cinnamon batter at both ends. 

Carefully spoon remaining cinnamon batter on the sides and gently spread it over the “apples” in loaf pan. I found this easier to do with a damp spatula since the batter is pretty thick. 

Bake about 45-50 minutes or till the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. 

Loosen sides and remove from pan. Cool completely. 

Wrap and chill overnight before slicing.

Enjoy! 

This month my Bread Baker friends are sharing bread with surprises inside at the instigation of our host, Kelly of Passion Kneaded. Check out all the creative recipes we are sharing below. Many thanks to Kelly for this fun theme and her behind the scenes work! 

• Broccoli Bread from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Cheesy Chicken Stuffed Bread from Making Miracles
• Cinnamon Apple Surprise Bread from Food Lust People Love
• Giraffe Print Bread from Ambrosia
• Leopard Print Milk Bread from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Paw Print Bread from Passion Kneaded
• Peek-a-boo Panda Bread from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Picasso Floral Surprise Loaf from A Messy Kitchen
• Sourdough Coconut Swirl Bread from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Swirl Sourdough Whole Wheat Bread (Chocolate, Garlic & Herbs) from Cook with Renu
• Whey Watermelon Bread from Sneha's Recipe

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakershome page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Pin this Cinnamon Apple Surprise Bread! 

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Wholemeal Soda Bread #BreadBakers

Wholemeal soda bread is simple to make, quick to bake and toasts up like a dream. It’s perfect for sandwiches or just smeared with butter and jam. 

This recipe is adapted from one by Irish chef and founder of Ballymaloe Cookery School Darina Allen. She calls it Mummy’s Brown Soda Bread. I found it in several places on the internet, one with a note that at 82 years old (published in 2007) her mother Elizabeth O’Connell still made this loaf every day. 

Of course, that meant I had to find out if the ole gal was still baking now at a possible 95 years old, which led me to the most wonderful tribute to Mrs. O’Connell who sadly passed away on April 17, 2008. Chef Allen speaks of making this very bread as a young child in a mom-sewn apron, forming her own little loaf from a piece of her mother’s larger ball of dough. 

By all accounts, Mrs. O’Connell was a remarkable woman. Widowed at 36, she gave birth to her ninth and last child a month after losing her husband. She cooked them wholesome, healthy food, using produce from her kitchen garden, milk from the family cow and chickens she raised. Chef Allen recounts that her mother was still baking this soda bread, even after suffering a stroke, with her “good hand.” What a woman! I wish I could have met her. 

Wholemeal Soda Bread

I called this bread wholemeal soda bread since that is what whole wheat flour is called in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Here in the US, it’s known as whole wheat flour, of course. 

Ingredients

1 tablespoon white vinegar

About 1 2/3 cups milk

1 3/4 cups or 210g wholemeal (whole wheat in the US) flour

1 3/4 cups (218g) unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda 

2 tablespoons butter, cut in cubes 

1 egg

Method

Preheat the oven to 425°F or 220°C and line a baking pan with baking parchment or a silicone liner. 

Put the tablespoon of white vinegar in your measuring cup then fill it to the 1 2/3 cup or 393ml milk. Set aside to sour. 

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, salt, and baking soda. 

Add the butter in small cubes and rub it into the flour mixture with your fingertips until it resembles bread crumbs. 

Make a well in the center.

In another bowl, whisk the egg with the sour milk and pour most of the liquid into the flour mixture. 

Using one hand like a claw, bring the flour and liquid together gradually. I used my Swedish whisk and I recommend you do too, if you have one. They sure make mixing dough less messy. 

Add more of the sour milk mixture, if necessary. The dough should be quite soft, but not too sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and gently bring it together into a round about 2 inches or 5cm thick. I used a floured scraper for the shaping. Transfer it to your prepared baking pan.

 Use a sharp knife or a lame to  cut a deep cross on top. Chef Allen calls this blessing the bread. Next poke a small hole in each quarter. These are to allow the fairies to escape. 

Bake for  in the preheated oven 15 minutes then turn down the heat to 400°F or 200°C and bake for about 30 minutes more. 

When it is done, the loaf will sound slightly hollow when tapped on the bottom.

Remove from the baking pan and place on a wire rack to cool.

Enjoy! 

Check out all the other lovely brown breads my Bread Baker friends are sharing today. Many thanks to our host Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. 

• Anadama Bread from Passion Kneaded
• Boston Brown Bread from Pastry Chef Online
• Brown Sandwich Bread from Anybody Can Bake
• Copy-Cat Cheesecake Factory Brown Bread from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Copy-Cat Outback Steakhouse Bread from Making Miracles
• Golden Braid of Bern from What Smells So Good
• Irish Brown Bread from Palatable Pastime
• Molasses Rye Slider Buns from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• No Knead Sprouted Wheat and Flax Seed Sandwich Bread from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Sourdough Molasses and Honey Brown Bread from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Traditional Steamed Brown Bread from A Messy Kitchen
• Whole Wheat Rolls from Magical Ingredients
• Whole Wheat Sourdough Sandwich Bread from Ambrosia
• Wholemeal Soda Bread from Food Lust People Love

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Pin this Wholemeal Soda Bread! 

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Sweet Peach Cornbread #BreadBakers

The juicy fresh Georgia peaches inside and on top of this sweet peach cornbread make it super moist and absolutely delicious.

I was scrolling through my Facebook feed a couple of weeks and I saw post about something called The Peach Truck. Apparently it’s a thing! Order ahead and they bring fresh Georgia peaches right to your city. This is NOT a sponsored post but here's the link, if anyone is interested. https://thepeachtruck.com/pages/preorder. We need to support our farmers now more than ever.

Braving the queue, I wore my mask and stayed well apart from my fellow peach buyers, of course. Then I picked up 25 pounds of sweet Georgia peaches!

For the last couple of days we’ve been eating peaches straight over the kitchen sink because they are so juicy and sweet. I swear, it’s the only neat way to eat them. I’ve frozen them sliced with some sugar. I’ve made sweet jam and spicy jam and we still have about 25 peaches left!

Sweet Peach Cornbread

You should use fresh sweet peaches when they are in season but you can certainly substitute canned peaches out of season. The sweet in the recipe title refers to the peaches. With only a half cup of sugar, the cornbread is not overly sweet.

Ingredients
2 large yellow peaches (average weight 5 1/2 oz or 156g)
1 cup or 125g all-purpose flour
1 cup or 180g fine yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup or 100g sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup or 120ml buttermilk, at room temperature
1/2 cup or 113g butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs, at room temperature

Method
Slice one of the peaches and roughly chop the other one. (The sliced will bake on top of the cornbread, the chopped will go in the batter.) Sprinkle one tablespoon of the sugar each over both peaches and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C and grease a 9x9 inch or 23x23cm baking pan or line it with baking parchment.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, the balance of the sugar and salt.

In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, cooled butter, eggs and vanilla.

Pour any juice that has formed in the chopped peach bowl into the wet ingredients and stir those peaches into the dry ingredients bowl to coat them with flour. This will help keep them in the batter instead of sinking to the bottom of the cornbread.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just mixed.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and spread evenly.

Arrange the sliced peach on the top of the batter. Drizzle on any juice that formed in the sliced peach bowl.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the cornbread comes out clean.

Allow to cool slightly before slicing and serving.

Enjoy!

This month my Bread Baker friends are baking with corn in some form or another. Check out all the lovely recipes they are sharing today.

• Bacon Country Bread with Corn from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Corn Bread from Sneha's Recipe
• Grits Sandwich Bread from Pastry Chef Online
• Honey Skillet Cornbread from Making Miracles
• Hot Water Cornbread from Palatable Pastime
• Iowa "Corn" Pancakes from A Messy Kitchen
• Polenta Rosemary Garlic Sourdough Bread from Spiceroots
• Polenta-Crusted, Kernel-Dotted Sourdough from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Sourdough Cornmeal Dinner Rolls from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Southwestern Chicken Skillet with Cornbread Topping from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Studded Golden Cornbread from What Smells So Good?
• Sweet Peach Cornbread from Food Lust People Love
• Yeast Corn Breakfast Bread from Ambrosia

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the Bread Bakers home page.

Pin this Sweet Peach Cornbread!

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Margy's Best Banana Bread #BakingBloggers

Truly a recipe that has stood the test of time, Margy’s best banana bread is a tender, rich and flavorful loaf, made with butter as well as sour cream. Plain or toasted, it is the perfect snack at the office or at home.

Back before my mom retired, her boss used to bring this freshly baked banana bread into their office and everyone would clamor for a slice. They all insisted that she share the recipe as well. It was that good.

My mom raved to me about it as well, so of course, I needed the recipe too. I don’t often bake banana bread because of the problem I talked about when I shared my light and fluffy banana cake recipe. Didn't stop me from wanting a tried and tested recipe though. That's how I roll.

Bottom line, it took me years to get around to making this and now I regret all the wasted years in between.

Margy’s Best Banana Bread 
This one-bowl recipe makes clean up a breeze, easily done even as the loaf is baking in the oven. It goes great with both a hot cup of tea or coffee. And honestly, even a cold glass of milk. My mother loves it toasted and slathered with butter.

Ingredients
6 tablespoons or 85g butter, plus extra for greasing loaf pan
1 cup or 200g sugar
2 eggs
2 large ripe bananas, mashed with a fork
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups or 190g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup or 60ml sour cream

Method
Grease and flour loaf pan (or line it with baking parchment) and preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Beat together butter and sugar until fluffy and light yellow. Add the eggs, bananas, vanilla and salt.

Combine the dry ingredients in a sieve and sift them into the butter mixture, alternating with sour cream, ending with the last of the dry ingredients.

Stir well in between each addition to combine.

Pour the batter into your prepared pan.

Bake in your preheated oven for 50-55 minutes or until the banana bread is golden and a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool completely before slicing to serve.

Enjoy!

This month my Baking Blogger friends have created a variety of delicious recipes for you. Check them out below. Many thanks to our group leader and host, Sue of Palatable Pastime. 

• Banana After School Snack Cake from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Banana Oatmeal Muffins from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Brown Sugar Banana Cake from Cookaholic Wife
• Chocolate Sunflower Seed Breakfast Muffins from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Dulce De Leche Banana Cake from Sneha's Recipe
• Hummingbird Muffins from Veggies First Then Dessert
• Margy's Best Banana Bread from Food Lust People Love
• Peanut Butter Banana Baked Oatmeal from Making Miracles
• Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Bars from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Raw Banana Baked Chips from Cook with Renu
• Roasted Banana Ice Cream from Caroline's Cooking
• Sourdough Banana Bread from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Triple Chocolate Banana Bread from Palatable Pastime

Baking Bloggers is a friendly group of food bloggers who vote on a shared theme and then post recipes to fit that theme one the second Monday of each month. If you are a food blogger interested in joining in, inquire at our Baking Bloggers Facebook group. We'd be honored if you would join us in our baking adventures.

Pin Margy's Best Banana Bread!

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Cranberry Pecan Quick Bread #BreadBakers

Made with jellied sauce, this cranberry pecan quick bread is full of tart cranberry flavor, rich nutty bits with just enough sweetness to be perfect with a cup of hot tea or coffee.

Last week I was tidying up the pantry. It’s such a great feeling to have all my cans in a row, organized by type. You know, beans together, tomato products side by side. Jalapeños in the back, along with the capers. Not such a great feeling was realizing that I had four, count them, four cans of jellied cranberry sauce. Part of expat life is buying seasonal items whenever you see them, because it’s likely that a holiday will roll around, and that special ingredient you must have will not be available.

But even I have to agree that keeping four cans of jellied cranberry sauce in stock is overkill, especially when pantry space is limited. Inspired by this recipe on the Ocean Spray website (because it uses an entire can - no one wants a half cup of leftover cranberry sauce in June), I am now down to three cans. I loved this cranberry pecan quick bread so much that can number three is earmarked for another loaf.

This is not in any way a sponsored post but I did use Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce. Just so you know, in case you have a can or three lurking in your pantry.

Cranberry Pecan Quick Bread

The original recipe called for whole berry sauce but in our family it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving or Christmas without the jiggly slices, served straight from the can. In my adapted recipe, you need the moisture of the jellied cranberry sauce to balance the added oat bran.

Ingredients
2 cups or 250g flour
1/2 cup or 70g oat bran
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2/3 cup or 132g brown sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 14-ounce or 397g can jellied cranberry sauce
1/2 cup or 120ml canola or other light vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup or 130g roughly chopped pecans

Method
Preheat your oven to 350ºF or 180°C. Prepare your loaf pan by greasing it or lining it with baking parchment.

Gently break up the jellied cranberry sauce with a fork, making sure to leave some of it in bigger pieces. Set aside a small handful of the pecans and a couple of tablespoons of the cranberry sauce for topping the batter with before baking.

Whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl.

In another smaller mixing bowl, gently mix together the beaten egg, cranberry sauce, oil and vanilla. You want to keep the cranberry chunks chunky, as much as possible.

Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Fold them together until just mixed.

Sprinkle on the pecans and fold again to distribute the pecans throughout the thick batter.

Spoon the batter evenly into prepared loaf pan. Top with the reserved jellied cranberry sauce and chopped pecans.

Bake until golden brown and a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, 50-55 minutes. If bread begins to brown too quickly, cover it loosely with foil and continue to bake until it is done.

Leave the loaf to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15-20 minutes. Remove the loaf from the pan and transfer it to the wire rack. Cool completely before slicing.

Enjoy!

This month I am hosting our Bread Bakers event with the theme Quick Breads. Although quick breads can take many forms, they have in common the use of other leavening agents instead of yeast to get rise we want in a baked good. I challenged the bakers to bake in loaf pans, rather than making muffins or the like. Check out what a great job they did by clicking on the links below:

• Banana Nut Bread from Sneha's Recipe
• Cheddar Bacon Chive Quick Bread from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Chocolate Quick Bread from Sara's Tasty Buds
• Coconut Sweet Bread from Passion Kneaded
• Cranberry Pecan Quick Bread from Food Lust People Love
• Espresso Banana Quick Bread with Espresso Streusel from All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Irish Soda Bread from Anybody Can Bake
• Keto Low Carb Coconut Flour Bread from Cook With Renu
• Lady Grey Date Nut Bread from A Messy Kitchen
• Lemon Blueberry Bread from Palatable Pastime
• Lemon Pistachio Loaf from Ambrosia
• Summer Shandy Beer Bread from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Zucchini Bread from Simply Inspired Meals

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Pin this Cranberry Pecan Quick Bread!

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Mexican Cornbread Waffles #BreadBakers

Mexican cornbread waffles are super cheesy and spicy, the perfect breakfast or dinner any day of the week. Cooking the batter in a waffle iron gives it the most wonderful golden crunchy exterior.

Years ago, when were living in Kuala Lumpur and our internet connection was still dial up, my elder daughter was systematically searching for and baking cornbread recipes, looking for the perfect one. While each was edible, she deemed none of them perfect. She was old enough to be in the kitchen on her own so I wasn’t aware of her quest until she was already few recipes into the project. “Just email your grandmother,” I said. “She makes the best cornbread.”

And that was true, until I met my friend, Sheila, when we moved to Cairo back in 2013. My mom still makes the best classic cornbread but Sheila turned up at some social event with a pan of the best cheesy cornbread I’d ever eaten. It was packed with sharp cheddar cheese, onions AND peppers. The third secret ingredient was creamed corn. Game changer! Most importantly, Sheila is a sweetheart so she willingly shared the recipe.

Mexican Cornbread Waffles

Since then, I’ve baked that batter a number of times, once even putting it in bacon cup muffins. I can’t even tell you how good it was baked in crispy bacon! I knew that batter, with a few small adjustments, would make awesome waffles as well. I was not wrong.

Ingredients - for 10 waffles
1 cup or 180g yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup or 32g flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon double acting baking powder
1 cup or 226g sour cream
1 1/4 cups or 330g creamed corn
2 large eggs
1/4 cup or 60ml canola oil, plus extra for greasing the waffle iron
1 medium onion
2-4 jalapeño peppers and/or chili peppers
10 1/2 oz or 300g extra sharp cheddar, grated

Optional for serving:
Your favorite chili con carne: Check out two of mine here and here.
Thinly sliced onions
Grated sharp cheddar
Sliced jalapeños

Method
Chop your onion and your peppers finely. Mix the yellow cornmeal, flour, salt baking soda and baking powder together in a large bowl.

In another smaller bowl, whisk together the sour cream, creamed corn, eggs and oil. Add in the chopped peppers and onion. Stir well.

Fold your wet ingredients into your dry ingredients until just mixed.

Now add in the grated cheddar and stir well until combined.

Heat your waffle iron and brush the interior with a little oil to grease.

Bake the batter according to manufacturer’s instructions, being careful not to over fill the waffle iron. I like to leave mine in for a little longer after the little “ready” light comes on to get crunchier edges.

Serve as is, I’m telling you, they are fabulous even plain.

Or top with a couple of spoons of chili con carne and garnish with more cheese, onions and jalapeño slices.

Enjoy!

This month my Bread Bakers group is sharing cheesy bread recipes at the instigation of our host, Sue of Palatable Pastime. Make sure to check them all out!

• Brazilian Cheese Bread by All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Buttermilk Cheddar Quick Bread by Food Above Gold
• Caramelized Onion and Cheese Bread by Ambrosia
• Cheddar Beer Bread Rolls by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Cheese Babka by Passion Kneaded
• Easy Cheesy Pull Apart Rolls by I Camp In My Kitchen
• Irish Cheddar Scone with Scallions by Baking Sense
• Mexican Cornbread Waffles by Food Lust People Love
• Mini Chilli Cheese Parathas by Sizzling Tastebuds
• Pancakes Huancaina by The Schizo Chef
• Spicy Cheese Bread by Gayathri's Cook Spot
• Stuffed Mini Cheese Chicken Burger Buns by Sneha's Recipe
• Wholemeal Cheese Bombs by Cook with Renu
• Vanilla-Mascarpone Popovers by Culinary Adventures with Camilla

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Pin these Mexican Cornbread Waffles!

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