Yummy Apple Bread

It's officially Fall and to celebrate the season I made a delicious apple bread from Southern Living. This bread was so rich, it was practically a dessert! Of course, that was probably the reason that Van liked it so much.

I substituted walnuts for pecans since I already had those in the pantry. I also added two teaspoons of cinnamon to give it a little more flavor. The Southern Living recipe can be found here.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts, divided
• 1 (8-oz.) container sour cream
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  
• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped, peeled Granny Smith apples (about 3/4 lb.)
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Bake 1/2 cup walnuts in a single layer in a shallow pan 6 to 8 minutes or until toasted, check after 4 minutes.

2. Beat sour cream, sugar, eggs and vanilla at low speed with an electric mixer 2 minutes or until blended.

3. Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Add to sour cream mixture, beating just until blended. Stir in apples and toasted walnuts. Spoon batter into a greased and floured 9- x 5-inch loaf pan. Sprinkle with remaining walnuts; lightly press into batter.

4. Bake at 350° for 1 hour to 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, shielding with aluminum foil after 50 minutes to prevent excessive browning. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack.

5. Bring butter and brown sugar to a boil in a 1-qt. heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly; boil 1 minute. Remove from heat, and spoon over top of bread; let cool completely (about 1 hour).