Spiced Apple Bread

The first full week of school for the grandchildren. Teddy in third grade, Anna in kindergarten, Ben in pre-K in Portland. The family has entered the September rhythm — lunches packed, buses caught, homework started, the annual recalibration from summer's chaos to fall's structure. I don't miss school. I taught for thirty-eight years and September was always the hardest month — new students, new schedules, the illusion that everything would go according to plan. It never did. The best teaching happened when the plan fell apart and you had to improvise, and the students learned more from the improvisation than from whatever you'd prepared. Hemingway would have understood. You write the outline. The story has other ideas.

I made apple crisp. The first apples are in — Macintosh, from the orchard on Route 116, tart and crisp and perfect for baking. Peeled, sliced, tossed with cinnamon and sugar, topped with oats and butter and brown sugar, baked until the apples bubble and the kitchen smells like September should smell. Vanilla ice cream. Always vanilla ice cream. This is not negotiable. Apple crisp without vanilla ice cream is just warm fruit with a hat. The ice cream makes it a dessert.

Helen started a new quilt. She quilts in the fall and winter — has for years, producing quilts for every grandchild, every bed, every occasion that requires warmth and color and the evidence that someone spent hours creating something by hand. This one is for James, who will outgrow his crib quilt by spring. The fabric is blue and green — "boy colors," Helen says with quotation marks I can hear even though she doesn't make them. She knows the colors are arbitrary. She picks them anyway. Helen is a woman who holds two truths simultaneously and is comfortable with both. I've been married to this for thirty-eight years and I'm still impressed.

I walked the property on Saturday morning. The sugar maples are starting to turn — the first blush of red in the upper canopy, like a signal fire that September is official. Six months until tapping. The sugarhouse waits. I wait too. September is about waiting — for the leaves to turn, for the air to sharpen, for the garden to surrender, for fall to fully arrive. We wait. We eat apple crisp. We watch the maples. Soon.

The apple crisp was already gone by Sunday — Teddy and Anna had seen to that when their parents stopped by — but the orchard apples were still sitting on the counter, and a kitchen that smells like cinnamon and warm fruit two days running is not something I’m inclined to argue with. This spiced apple bread uses the same Macintosh apples, the same cinnamon, and produces something you can slice and hand to a grandchild without negotiating about vanilla ice cream. Helen approved. That’s the only review that matters.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 55 min | Total Time: 1 hr 15 min | Servings: 12 slices

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
2 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups peeled, finely diced tart apple (about 2 medium Macintosh)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
1 tablespoon coarse sugar, for topping

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan and dust lightly with flour, or line with parchment paper.
Mix dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Set aside.
Mix wet ingredients. In a large bowl, beat eggs with granulated sugar and brown sugar until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Stir in oil, sour cream, and vanilla extract until smooth.
Combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined — do not overmix. Fold in the diced apple and nuts if using.
Fill and top. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread evenly. Sprinkle coarse sugar over the top.
Bake. Bake for 50–60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If the top browns too quickly, tent loosely with foil during the last 15 minutes.
Cool. Let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Nutrition (per serving)

Spiced Apple Bread — The Kitchen Smell That Makes September Official