Lovingly adapted from
InspiredbyCharm.com to make gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan. But all kinds of
yummy.
Makes 1 loaf
Bread
2 cups all-purpose
gluten-free flour with added gum (I used 2/3 cup EACH millet flour, brown rice
flour, and cornstarch PLUS 2 tsp xanthan gum)
¾ cup warm milk of choice
(I used coconut milk)
2 tbsp unsalted butter,
vegan butter spread (like Earth Balance), or palm shortening, melted
2 tbsp sugar
1 ½ tsp instant yeast
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
2 apples, peeled, cored
and sliced
Topping
¼ cup unsalted butter or
vegan butter spread, melted (I used olive oil spray)
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ cup sugar
Glaze
2 tbsp unsalted butter or
vegan butter spread
¼ cup packed brown sugar
1 tbsp apple cider
½ cup powdered sugar,
sifted
Place flour, sugar, salt,
cinnamon and yeast in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Stir to combine
ingredients.
In a small bowl, add
melted butter/shortening into the warm milk. Then with mixer on low, add this
mixture to the flour mixture until combined.
Mix on medium for about 4
minutes, then transfer dough into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover loosely with
plastic wrap or a tea towel and let rise in a warm area for 45 minutes or until
doubled in size-ish.
Lightly grease an 8-
or 9-inch round pan. Starting at the
center of the pan, place a dollop of dough, as big or as little as you want.
Then put a few apple slices around the dollop. You can overlap them – I did.
Take another apple slice and spread some dough on one side with a knife or spatula
and place against one of the other apple slices already in the pan. You can
make them a little offset from each other or perfectly symmetrical – your choice!
Do this in whatever pattern you like. It’s fun! Keep doing this until you are
close to the edge of the pan, making sure to leave about ½ cup of dough for the
edge of the bread. Using the last of the dough, spread small amounts around the
outer side of the apples that are closest to the edge of the pan and smooth
with a spatula or knife or leave rustic, if you like that.
This is after the second rise and baking. Yum. The dough will fill in any gaps as it rises.
Cover loosely with
plastic wrap and let rise for 20 minutes. I like to warm my oven using the warm
setting and then turn it off and place my dough in there for a final rise. If I
do this, I just use a tea towel to cover it – no plastic in the oven. Both
options work well, depending on where the dough is being proofed.
Toward the end of the
rising time, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, if the dough isn’t already in
it. If the dough is proofing in there, then remove the pan at the end of the
rising time, leaving the towel on top of it, and then preheat the oven to 350
degrees F.
Bake for 20-25 minutes,
until golden brown-ish. (Gluten-free stuff doesn’t brown all that well,
depending on what flours you are using. To get a more golden crust on your
bread, you can try several things: egg wash, spray with olive oil or a bit of
butter/vegan butter, or a vegan cream wash will all help the crust brown. But
seriously, how brown do you need something to be? It will still taste delicious
either way!)
For the topping: Mix
cinnamon and sugar together in a small bowl or use a premade cinnamon-sugar
mix. Once the bread is removed from the oven, brush loaf with melted butter or
spray with olive oil and then sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
Let cool in the pan for
about 10 minutes, then remove from pan and place on a cooling rack to finish.
While the bread cools,
melt butter in a 1-quart saucepan over medium heat. Stir in ¼ cup brown sugar. Heat
to boiling, stirring constantly; reduce heat to low. Boil and stir 2 minutes. Stir
in cider. Heat to boiling; remove from heat. Cool to lukewarm, about 30
minutes.
Gradually stir powdered
sugar into glaze mixture. If the glaze becomes too stiff, stir in additional
cider, ½ tsp at a time. If the glaze is too thin, add more powdered sugar. Once
the bread is completely cooled, drizzle glaze all over it, then eat. Yum.
The bread will last for
about two minutes – it’s that good. But if you do have leftovers (really?!),
then place those sad little bits in an airtight container until someone finishes
them off, which will be in about two more minutes. If they last longer than
that, you might be able to hold onto the leftovers for about 3 days, but as
with all gluten-free yummies, the texture may change. Just reheat them for a
little bit in a microwave or oven and they should be delicious once again. Or
just eat it all that night. You choose. J
