I made y’all some bread.
Some big, fat, in your face, whole wheat apple bread. It’s the kind of bread that will kick your morning coffee in the face… with love and respect.
I like to do things with love and respect… even if it’s yelling at the Los Angeles traffic gods… or channeling my snarky side while on the phone with the IRS. If I say it’s done with love and respect… totally ok, right?
I love when sweet treats are also filled with things like whole wheat, and walnuts and flax seeds. It’s full of health, despite the butter and sugar. This bread is tastes like home… if your home were in, say… rural Oregon.
I like the combination of grated and coarsely chopped apples in this recipe. You get all the flavor and moisture of the apples combined with big ol’ chunks too. Delightful. Walnuts are great in this recipe and flax seeds add all kinds of health. If you don’t happen to have flax seeds on hand. No worries. You can leave them out.
Make this bread. It has cinnamon and apples in it. Really… that’s all you need to know, right?
Quick note: I only needed two apples for this loaf. The third apple I ate with my face.
Ingredients. Essential.
Apples. Walnuts. Flax Seeds.
Sugar topping gets crusty and extra yummy when baked. For serious.
This is the part that includes your face. Insert bread into face.
Oh! One more thing… if you like crazy healthy breakfast treats, you might also enjoy these Gnarley Muffins. I posted this waaaay back in the day when I had only been at this whole blogging thing for a month. The pictures? Pretty bad.
Apple Walnut Flax Seed Bread
makes one 9×5-inch loaf
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
generous pinch freshly ground nutmeg
2/3 cup buttermilk (if you don’t have buttermilk, try these substitutions)
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup grated apples
1/2 cup coarsely chopped apples
1 tablespoon flax seeds
3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, divided
cinnamon and sugar for sprinkling
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease and flour a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg.
In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, melted butter and vanilla extract.
Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Add the grated apples, chopped apples flax seeds and half of the chopped walnuts. Fold to incorporate thoroughly.
Spoon batter into prepared pan and top with granulated sugar, cinnamon and the rest of the walnuts.
Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes then invert onto a cooling rack to cool before wrapping.
Serve slightly toasted with butter. Yumtastic.
Karen
YUM! I was going to bake something as a little thank-you gift for someone this weekend…now I know what to make! I LOVE apples and walnuts together, great recipe!
Linda T. from NJ
Oh this looks soooo good!! The crust looks amazing, delicious and downright sinful. I am making this one this weekend for sure. The weather will be a little cooler here and this will smell wonderful cooking as it warms up the house. I can taste it now with a cup of coffee as I sit having that peaceful moment.
jacquie
that looks wonderful. i haven’t used flax seeds much – what do they taste like? i was also thinking about adding some wheat germ in for a little bit of extra nutrition boost and some nutty/earthiness. how do you think that would work? wonder if i should take some of the flour out then ….
Amy
I’ve read that it’s a bit hard for our bodies to digest all of the great nutrition in whole flax seeds, so it’s better to grind them first in a food processor or blender. Either way, I’m making this bread this weekend!!
Stacey
thanks for the tip. i’ll do that for sure.
Elisabeth
Looks awesome and sounds super healthy! Stuff bread into face? will do.
Rachael
I must investigate this and my running friends will hate me for it…Being a baker myself I love to mix and match, would it be possible to take out half the buttermilk and replace with mashed banana??
Stacey
do it!!
sarah Friedrich
That looks really yummy! Too bad I can’t have it right now, I just got my wisdom teeth out. :(
Sarah
I love eating with my face! :-)
Stephanie
Oh yummy! I love apples and I love walnuts. Why do you always make things I adore? I like you. :)
Phoo-d
Including grated apple and apple chunks is a brilliant idea! I love the walnut topping too. Flax seeds are such a nice addition to breakfast goods, I sneak them in all the time.
Katrina
Joy! This looks lovely! I don’t like walnuts, could I make it with pecans??
jaclyn@todayslady
This bread looks like pure comfort food! I wish I had it with my coffee right now!! Love the idea of using grated and chopped apples!!! Yuuummmmm I want this!!
Oooh and I just remembered that there’s a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar on top! Even better!!
Wendy (The Local Cook)
Ooooh, yummy! I love cinnamon bread, and with apples and flax I can say it’s healthy!
Sara
With respect, this looks fantastic Joy!! I am so adding this to my “to do” list. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful recipe!
Jodi
I love your blog – it makes me so hungry. I actually love it so much that I have nominated you for an award. https://wp.me/pNHSk-2z – for more information on it. Keep up the good work – you inspire me to bake!