Hard Apple Cider Bread

Everyone in my family has a total weakness for bread.  We could eat it morning, noon, and night!  I love making my own bread, like pizza dough, but I’m not always patient enough (or have planned ahead enough) to wait for the dough to rise.  One night I thumbed through my Joy of Cooking cookbook and took a peek at their quickbreads.  They had a recipe for beer bread that looked pretty yummy and we gave it a try.   It was great, and from start to finish was done in an hour!

As apple season came along, I started thinking about trying a variation on this bread with hard apple cider.  For those who haven’t had it, hard apple cider is an alcoholic cider, similar to a light beer, but with a sweet fruity taste.  I’m not much of a beer person, but I really do like hard cider!

The cider bread turned out great!  I mixed in a cup of diced honey crisp apple, and a tablespoon of molasses.  It’s plenty savory for dinner, but is also delicious for breakfast with a little coconut butter on it.  Win win!  Only problem is that you will eat it up so quickly you will need to make more!

This is a perfect bread to make for some of these cold, dark nights!  The outside is a little tough and crispy while the inside is soft and chewy.  It actually snowed here last night, although it is mostly gone already.  Seattle snow doesn’t stay long.  But it’s still dark, cold and damp—might need to make another loaf this weekend!

^^^ Toddler approved.

* all pics taken on my iPhone!

Hard Apple Cider Bread, adapted from Joy of Cooking
2 cups flour (I use 1 c each of whole wheat flour and whole wheat pastry flour)
½ c old fashioned rolled oats
2 T sugar
2 t baking powder
½ t baking soda
½ t salt
1 c diced apples (peel on is fine)
12 ounces hard apple cider*
1 T molasses

*The chemistry of the alcohol is part of what makes the bread rise.  I haven’t tried this with water or apple juice, and I’m not sure that it would work well.  It may work with something like ginger ale—if you do try it please let me know how it goes!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease a 6 cup loaf pan (about 8x4x4 inches) with coconut oil.

Mix the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl (with room to foam up from the cider).  Add the apples and toss to coat.  Mix the cider and the molasses well.  Add to the dry ingredients and fold together until thoroughly mixed.

Pour into prepared pan.  Place in oven and bake for 35-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted ALL the way in comes out dry (the top will be cooked but the bottom will still be wet until the very end).  Let cool in pan on rack for 5 – 10 minutes before unmolding.  Slice and serve.  Extra bread will keep 2-3 days.

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