Like eating candy atop a delicious fall loaf—Praline-Apple Bread

Can you imagine a layer of praline candy that crowns a bread absolutely packed with the goodness of fresh apples? That was the happy outcome of a new find—a recipe for Praline-Apple Bread. I was prowling around the Internet to see what I might still turn up for some more fall apple fixin’s. This 2009 listing on www.myrecipes.com caught my eye. Saturday morning-type fare, it seemed to call to me. Wow, was it a wonderful addition to our weekend!

In following the recipe I made an interesting substitution. The secret to a moist bread was said to lie in the 8-ounce container of sour cream to be added to the mix. I had on hand only about 1/3 of the 1 cup of sour cream necessary. Hubby had some fat-free vanilla yogurt that he uses for his smoothies. His sacrifice of his yogurt (that I added on top of the existing sour cream to make a 1 cup measure) kept him from having to make an emergency dash to the grocery. I normally am not very gutsy when (off-the-cuff) subs are concerned and don’t like to take risks for fear of a bad outcome, but if moistness was the goal, then yogurt seemed that it might add that attribute.

I shouldn’t have worried. This turned out to be a terrific loaf with the smoothest texture and most amazing flavor imaginable. And the butter/brown sugar topping, stirred to a 1-minute boil and then poured over the bread once-removed from the pan, hardened into a glaze that was like biting into a creamy praline. (The recipe said this appeared two Septembers ago in Southern Living.)

We dined happily ever after.

Praline-Apple Bread

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans, divided

1 (8-ounce) container fat-free sour cream

1 cup granulated sugar (or sugar substitute)

2 large eggs (or 1/2 cup egg substitute)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1 1/2 cups finely chopped, peeled Granny Smith apples (about 3/4 pound apples)

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake 1/2 cup pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan for 6 to 8 minutes or until pecans are toasted and fragrant. Stir after 4 minutes. Beat sour cream and next 3 ingredients at low speed with an electric mixer for 2 minutes or until blended. Stir together flour and next 3 ingredients. Add to sour-cream mixture. Beat until just blended. Stir in apples and 1/2 cup toasted pecans. Spoon batter into a greased and floured 9-inch-by-5-inch loaf pan. Sprinkle top with remaining 1 cup chopped pecans. Lightly press pecans into top of batter. Bake loaf at 350 degrees for 60-65 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into center emerges clean. (After 50 minutes of cooking shield top of bread with aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning.) When loaf is done and before removing it from its pan, place pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Then remove bread from pan to wire rack. For glaze bring butter and brown sugar to a boil in a 1-quart heavy saucepan over medium heat; stir constantly; boil 1 minute. Remove from heat and spoon over top of bread. Let cool completely, about 1 hour. (To freeze, cool bread completely, wrap in plastic wrap, then in aluminum foil. Freeze up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.) Makes 1 loaf.