Summer is a favorite time of mine, as a reader, in the blogging world.  Regardless of what the blog focus is, at some point, writers tend to share some sort of piece of their summer family vacation and I positively love it.  It helps me get to know the writer and feel like a little part of their world-its so fun to get a glimpse into their personal lives beyond their everyday writing.

I do not do this.  Mainly, because we do not take summer vacations.  WHA WHA WHA.  But one thing I can guarantee is that you can always…and I mean ALWAYS…count on an early fall post at the apple orchard.  I mean seriously, who needs vacation, anyway?  A day in the middle of nowhere…surrounded by beautiful eats, scenery and fall spirit is a getaway that fills me up to the max.

So, as you may have gathered, it was a successful trip to Minnesota Harvest…by far our favorite picking spot.  My guess is that we consumed an average of 6,459 pounds of apples while picking between the four of us.  My current challenge is to find a way to tire my family of these balls of sweet, juicy perfection but my gosh its just not happening….the most popular phrase in our home right now is appo peez, mama.

Now to the good stuff.  This bread.  I made it yesterday afternoon.  We did not begin consuming it until after dinner last night for dessert.

It is currently gone.

There are only 2 tiny bellies, 1 medium belly and 1 large belly in this house.

Do the math.

The recipe is the result of an accident.  I made a “streusel” in an effort to add a crumbly topping to the bread.  But my butter to sugar ratio was off.  So guess what happened instead?

The “streusel” slowly melted into the middle of the bread.  So basically, we’re talking  streusel swirl throughout the entire loaf.

Dream weaver.

My guess is that this bread will be made at least 3 more times before the end of the week over here.  Pure appley, spice-ish, streusely perfection.

Apple Streusel Bread

*notes: If you do not have oat flour on hand its a piece of cake to make your own: just place rolled or old fashioned oats (gluten free oats to ensure this recipe is gluten free) in a food processor or blender and process until it becomes a fine, flour-like texture.  Also, brown sugar can be used in place of coconut sugar.  Lastly, any apple will work here…I prefer a sweet, slightly tart variety like Pink Lady.

Ingredients

1 1/2 Cups Oat Flour

1/2 Cup Almond Meal

2 Teaspoons Baking Powder

1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

3/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg

1/4 Teaspoon Allspice

1/4 Teaspoon Salt

1/2 Cup Unsweetened Applesauce

1/3 Cup Pure Maple Syrup

1/4 Cup Full Fat Greek Yogurt

4 Tablespoons Butter, melted and slightly cooled

2 Whole Large Eggs + 1 Egg White

1 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

1 1/4 Cups Shredded Apple, shredded on a box grater

1/4 Cup Chopped Walnuts, optional

3 Tablespoons Coconut Sugar

For the Streusel

1 Tablespoon Butter, melted

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.  In a small bowl whisk together the oat flour, almond meal, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, allspice and salt.  Set aside.

In a large bowl whisk together the applesauce, maple syrup,  yogurt, butter, eggs + whites and vanilla.  Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredient and stir to combine.  Stir in apple and walnuts, if using.  Pour into prepared baking pan.

For the streusel, in a small bowl combine 2 Tablespoons coconut sugar with the 1 Tablespoon of melted butter.  Drizzle the mixture onto the batter in the prepared pan.  Sprinkle the top of the batter with the remaining 1 Tablespoon coconut sugar.

Bake for 55 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted into the center and comes out clean.  Cool before slicing.