As I was looking through old recipe books trying to figure out what to do with a few leftover apples…I went to my “go to” Betty Crocker recipe book that was given to me as a Christmas gift in 1998. This book is near and dear to my heart with all of my finger smudges from baking in the past and all of the sweet memories of being a young wife and mother. You can tell the recipes that I had made the most with all of the pages folded over…flour still sticking to them like a ghost from times so long ago.

It’s so easy now to just “google” a recipe or follow a blog (like mine!) but there is nothing more treasured than an old cookbook – it’s like a visit again with an old friend. My husband’s family still has a few of his mother’s recipes on old index cards with her thumbprints and finger smudges. The writing is now a little faded. But it’s a treasure. A keepsake that can never be replaced.

Now onto this wonderful Apple-Cinnamon Bread.

It’s delicious. It’s simple. It’s timeless.

Apple Cinnamon Bread 🍎

Ingredients

2 Medium Cooking Apples, chopped (I used McIntosh)

1 Cup Granulated Sugar

1/2 Cup Shortening (I used a stick of unsalted butter)

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 Cups All-Purpose Flour

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1 teaspoon Baking Soda

1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/2 cup chopped Walnuts (I used Pecans)

1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Directions

Preheat Oven to 350 Degrees

Grease the bottom of a loaf pan

Cut the apples into fourths, then core, peel and chop to measure 2 cups.

In a large bowl with a wooden spoon, combine the sugar, shortening (or butter), vanilla and eggs. Mix thoroughly.

Stir in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Mix very well until smooth. The batter will be thick.

Stir in the chopped apples, walnuts (or pecans) and raisins (optional)

Spread the batter into the greased loaf pan.

In a small bowl, mix 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon together. Sprinkle over the batter.

Bake for 50-55 minutes until a toothpick test (from the center of the bread) comes out clean.

Immediately remove the bread from the pan to a cooling wire rack. Cool. Store the bread tightly covered.

(Recipe Source: Betty Crocker’s Best of Baking: More than 350 of America’s Favorite Recipes, 1997)