Banana Apple Bread

This insanely decadent bread recipe comes from The Sweet Melissa Baking Book. I knew it would be both divine and unkind to my waistline. Turns out I was right-on about both. A pound later and I decided it was worth it because this was heavenly.

I've had many variations of banana bread, but good ole' mom's is always best. I'd never heard of pairing apples and banana together in a loaf, but wowee! So let's get down to business, shall we?

Grab these ingredients:

For the apples:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 Granny Smith apples; peeled, cored, and cut into half inch pieces
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the banana bread:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon kosher salt
8 tablespoons (or one stick) unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
¼ cup fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups very ripe mashed bananas (roughly 3 or 4 depending on size)

First, position a rack in the center of your oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter and flour a 1 1/2-quart loaf pan.

Preheat a skillet over medium-high heat. First add the butter and let it melt.



Next, add three tablespoons brown sugar to your pan.



Heat 'til bubbling. Oh man, YUM.



Add your two cored, peeled and diced apples and sprinkle on the 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon.



Sauté until golden and tender, about 5 minutes.



At this point, you'll probably snatch one or two of these diced apple beauties up and eat them. Go ahead, it's cool. Just be careful; them babies are HOT! I burned my finger.

Stir in the vanilla. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

Now let's move on to the bread part. Equally as important just not as yummy smelling.

Grab a medium bowl and add your 2 cups flour.



Next, dump in the teaspoon of baking soda.



Then the 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon.



The 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves


Let's take a brief pause to make fun of my 1/4 teaspoon scoop. Can you see it? Here, let me show you a better picture:


I have no idea when or how this happened, but I do know that I've had it for four years exactly like this. I suppose I'm so cheap that I can't spend the dollar on a new set. Is that sad? Surely this can't be accurate anymore. ANYWAY.

Next you'll want to add the 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt. I'll spare you the close-up measuring scoop pictures with the blurry background as you're probably laughing behind my back about it by now anyway. Just try to remember that I'm trying my hand at photography and food pictures are FUN! And I have an obsessive personality. Again, ANYWAY. Moving on.

Next, grab your stick of butter and cut it up.



Throw it in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment and cream it with your cup of granulated sugar until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.



Add the two eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup orange juice and one teaspoon of vanilla.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three batches, alternating with the orange juice mixture, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each flour addition. Are you getting excited? You should be.

Stir in the mashed banana goodness and mix until combined.

Then stir in the reserved apples.

Don't those apples look straight-up ridiculous? I decided that if I had to choose one thing to live off of for the rest of my life, it would be sauteed apples, dripping in butter and cinnamon. I might be really fat, but I'd be happy.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes before unmolding onto the rack to cool further.

ENJOY THIS SINFUL DESSERT.

PS - This freezes well. Just make sure to eat it within three or four weeks. Any longer than that and I'd be scared to try it.