SPIRAL APPLE BREAD WITH CARAMEL APPLE GLAZE

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