My Dad's Christmas Applesauce Bread
Every Christmas, my family enjoys a special breakfast that includes my Mom's casserole, my Grandma's Chex Mix, and my Dad's applesauce bread. We wouldn't be able to celebrate the holiday without these delicious foods! My Grandma handed out the Chex Mix in the beginning of December so we'd have it all month to munch on,...
Every Christmas, my family enjoys a special breakfast that includes my Mom's casserole, my Grandma's Chex Mix, and my Dad's applesauce bread. We wouldn't be able to celebrate the holiday without these delicious foods!
My Grandma handed out the Chex Mix in the beginning of December so we'd have it all month to munch on, my Dad started baking bread several weeks before Christmas and my Mom made the casserole on Christmas Eve so all she had to do was pop it in the oven while we were all opening presents Christmas morning.
Christmas morning as we were opening our stockings, my Dad would have sliced on a plate for us a loaf of his applesauce bread. Normally eating food in the fancy living room where the tree was, was forbidden... but this one day of the year we were allowed this special treat! YUM!
After all the presents were open, we headed to the dining room where my Mom served us Christmas Casserole, sliced peaches,warm cinnamon rolls, orange juice and coffee. After our bellies were full we'd retreat to the TV room and relax by the fireplace, play with all our new toys and nap. By about 3pm our tummies started rumbling again and it was time to snack on more bread and Chex Mix!
And now, I'm in Germany with my own family making this bread for them and my friends. It just wouldn't be Christmas without it!
What meal time/baking traditions does your family have?
Enjoy!
My Dad’s Christmas Applesauce Bread
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups flour, sifted
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 ½ cups unsweetened applesauce
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Grease and flour a 9x5x3 loaf pan.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar.
- Mix in the eggs one at a time. Mix in the vanilla.
- Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt cocoa and cinnamon.
- In three parts, add the flour. Between each addition, add half the applesauce. Mix only until no more flour is visible.
- Fold in the chocolate chips and the raisins.
- Separate batter into the prepared pans.
- Bake 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center.
- Cool in the pans 15 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze until you're ready to eat it or store it in a ziploc bag or air tight container for up to a week.
I loved reading about your special Applesauce Bread. Its wonderful how certain foods can connect us to special people, places, and holidays. I have never had applesauce cake with chocolate. However, I firmly believe most things are improved by adding chocolate 🙂 I will be trying this very soon. Merry Christmas.
It's not much chocolate.... but it's soooo delish!! Happy Holidays!
I have been baking our families version of applesauce cake (really bread) for as long as I can remember. I have just pulled out two loaves as I type this. Applesauce cake is Christmas to us. It wouldn't be Christmas without it. I make this for all my friends and deliver loaves to them with their holiday packages. I too have a plate of it sliced up while we open our presents on Christmas morning. I also treat myself to a slice each evening after I check off my holiday "to do" list. This cake ages beautiful and gets better each day.
I was so surprised to read your post....our recipe is very similar!
Sheree! That's awesome! I love this bread (actually, the original recipe card calls it cake, but my dad always called it bread)! Would you be willing to share your version with me? I'd love to see how it differs!! Shoot it to me in an email betsy at javacupcake.com. Happy Holidays!
Absolutely....I'll be emailing it to you after this post. And, believe it or not, I've just finished baking another two loaves! This year I baked 12 loaves. As I said earlier, this cake is just Christmas to my family. Mom and I baked it together and now I've taken over the job. Happy to share. Have a wonderful Christmas and Blessed New Year!
I got it!! I'm going to make a batch of it tomorrow! THANK YOU for sharing it with me! xoxo Merry Christmas!