Praline-Apple Bread (Southern Living)

**Picture coming soon (Have the picture; need to find the disk!)

As promised I'm sharing the recipe I tried for Apple Bread. I personally didn't give this a 5 star, but many of the friends I shared it will loved it and asked me for the recipe. I thought it would be sweeter, more like a Banana Bread or Zucchini Bread. One friend suggested it might be that the apples I used might not have been as ripe or juicy as another variety. (I can't tell you what variety it was because they were off my sister-in-laws tree and they don't know what kind there are-came with the house;-) ) Give it a shot and if you have suggestions and thoughts on how to improve this bread, please share! Maybe I should have tried the Granny's!

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans, divided (I cut cost here and only used 3/4- 1 cup)

1 (8 oz) container sour cream

2 large eggs

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups finely chopped, peel Granny Smith apples (about 3/4 lb)

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Bake 1/2 cup pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 6 to 8 minutes or until toasted and fragrant, stirring after 4 minutes.

Beat sour cream and next 3 ingredients at low speed with an electric mixer 2 minutes or until blended. Stir together flour and next 3 ingredients. Add to sour cream mixture beating just until blended. Stir in apples and 1/2 cup toasted pecans. Spoon batter into greased and floured 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup chopped pecans; lightly press pecans into batter.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour to 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted comes out clean, shielding with aluminum foil after 50 minutes to prevent excessive browning. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack.

Bring butter and brown sugar to a boil in a 1 quart heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stirring constantly; boil 1 minute. Remove from heat, and spoon over top of bread; let cool completely (about 1 hour).

Note: To freeze bread, cool completely; wrap in plastic wrap, then in aluminum foil. Freeze up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.

Southern Living Magazine September 2009 P. 120

Oreo Banana Bread-Picky Palate

My kids loved this and we thought it was tasty. I had a hard time getting it out of my little loaf man (like a muffin tin), but in a small loaf pan it wasn't as much of a problem. I opted not to use the glaze and we enjoyed it all the same. I asked Jack his honest opinion of it and he said, "I thought when you told me it had oreo's in it that it was going to be SO GOOD, but it was just okay and it probably isn't worth the calories." YIKES am I rubbing off on my husband!? Since when did men start worrying about the total number of calories in comparison to how things taste! I thought it was good. I like that the chocolate was just enough and didn't overpower the banana bread flavor itself. If you haven't checked out the Picky-Palate you might find it to be a fun experience. This gal is creative and I love her writing style when she post.

Cookies and Cream Banana Bread from Picky-Palate

1 1/2 sticks butter
1 Cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
4 medium size ripe bananas (or 3 Large bananas)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 Cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
15 Oreo cookies, broken into pieces

1 Cup powdered sugar
2-3 Tablespoons heavy cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand or electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until well combined. Slowly beat in egg, bananas and vanilla until combined. Place flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt into a large bowl. Slowly add to wet ingredients. Stir in Oreos until just combined.

2. Scoop dough into 16 very mini loaf pans or 2 bread pans that have been sprayed with cooking spray. Muffin tins would work great too. Bake for 28-35 minutes if you are using the mini pan or 45-55 minutes for the normal bread pan. Toothpick comes clean from center.

3. Whisk powdered sugar and cream in a medium bowl until a nice drizzling consistency is reached. Drizzle over top of each bread and serve. Makes 16 mini loaves or 2 full loaves.
__________________________