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Dessert

Apple Butter Bread

A moist bread made with apple butter, raisins, and walnuts.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Flour and raisin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,075 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Apple Butter Bread

Oven350°F
Time55 to 65 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. Combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl.

  2. In a small bowl, mix 3/4 cup apple butter, apple juice, butter, and egg together.

  3. Fold in the raisins and chopped nuts.

  4. Add the apple butter mixture to the dry ingredients and blend together.

Layer and bake

  1. Pour half the mixture into a loaf pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray.

  2. Gently spread the reserved 3/4 cup apple butter over the batter.

  3. Pour the rest of the batter over the apple butter mixture and spread evenly over the top to cover.

  4. Bake at 350°F for 55 to 65 minutes or until done.

Variations

  1. For the "my mistake loaf", put all apple butter in the wet ingredients and blend into the dry ingredients.

  2. Cut up dried pineapple pieces and add with the nuts instead of raisins.

  3. Pour the whole batter into the loaf pan and bake as above.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

962Calories
22 gProtein
22 gFat
175 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Apple1 medium (182g)95
Apple Juice1 medium (182g)95
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Walnut1 walnut half (4g)26
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,075 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Wheat + walnuttop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together246 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-hexanal (fruit).

  3. Flour + wheattop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,373 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Flour + walnuttop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,873 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

All-purpose flour
Provides the starch structure that holds the loaf together as it bakes.
Apple butter
Adds moisture, concentrated apple sweetness and flavor throughout the loaf.
Egg
Binds the batter and helps give the loaf its set, tender crumb.
Baking powder
Releases gas in the batter so the loaf rises and becomes light.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness, moisture and a caramel-like depth of flavor.
Butter
Adds fat for tenderness and rich flavor in the crumb.

The step that matters

Layering the apple butter. Spreading the apple butter between two batter layers keeps it from sinking to the bottom or burning on the surface. Its sugars and moisture can scorch on the pan edges if the layers are uneven, so spread gently and cover it fully.

Swap the raisin

The recipe marks raisin as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, wheat, sugar, apple, butter, egg, walnut):

  1. Figfits better
  2. Vanillafits about as well
  3. Raisinthe original
  4. Pearfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, wheat, sugar, apple, butter, egg, walnut. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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