Apple  walnut  Pull Apart loaf is lightly sweet –  perfect  for laid back  breakfast  or  to take  along on a picnic.    This is  one  way of  capturing  the fall flavors  in  a  bread!    The  warm  aromas  fill the  house  as  it  bakes    and  it  is a  good  thing  that  one  does  not  have  to wait  for  it  cool to room temperature  to dig in !  Warm is  the  way to go 🙂 .

Pull apart  breads   come in all   flavors  ,  ready  for   breakfast ,  lunch,   dinner  or  any time  in between .   These  are  meant  to be  shared , no  slicing required.   Honestly this is one  bread  that  tastes heavenly when warm ,  don’t  bother  with  cooling  racks  and  such.    Get  it  out  off the  oven  ,  cook in  the  pan  for a  few  minutes  and onto the  table  it  is !

Perfect  for  those  laid  back Sunday mornings   with just a   mug  of  coffee  or .. pretty much  any drink that  you  fancy …

If your  neighborhood stores  sell  bread  dough –  this  is quite  easy to  make ! Now  I prefer  home  mad e dough  –  so much better . You can make this  as  50 %   whole  wheat  and  lean ,  but  still very light and  delicious.

This is  a  little  wet  dough.   Not  too wet, just a  little  stickier  than the usual   bread  dough.    I add  the   grated  apples  to  the   dough ,  and  that  adds  to the  moisture  content  of  the  dough.   If  it  turns  out  to be  too wet   increase  the   flour .

Pull apart  breads  are  fun to make  and   a  hit   every  time  we  make  it.   Often  times  I   make a  double  batch of  the   dough  and   make  a  plain  loaf  and  one  with the  fillings.  The  plain  loaf  is a   little  tart  and  very  soft  and  spongy.  You can  definitely get  a  hint  of  apple.

There is no set  rule  to   how    thick or  thin   the sections  have  to be. The  ones  in  the  picture  above  are   fairly thick ,  as  I was   going  for filling  sandwiched    sections.

Notes :

• To get  a better  oven  spring  try the  following  method . About  10 minutes  before  baking  place a  sheet pan  in the  lower  rack   and preheat the  oven to 400°F (200 °C) .  To bake   place  the  loaf pan  in the  middle  rack  and place a  few  ice cubes  in the  sheet pan .  Close  the  oven  door  and   reduce  heat  to  375 °F (190°C)  and  bake  for   10 minutes .   Reduce  the  heat  to 350 °F (175 °C)  and  bake  for   20 to  25  more  minutes  until   done .
• If  there is  brown  sugar  sprinkled  on top,   you might   want  to  cove  the   top of  the  bread   with  an aluminium  foil  to prevent  over  browning   during  the   last  10 minutes or  so of  baking .
• This  recipe  can be  made   without  using  the   egg ,   I would   recommend    substituting    the  egg  with  2 tablespoons of  butter / oil  and   and  adding  few  extra  tablespoons  of  liquid  during   kneading .
• To make a  vegan  version   follow  the  egg  substitution  above   and  replace   milk with   water / almond  milk .
• This   recipe makes a  lightly  sweet  loaf . Increase  the   sugar to  your  taste .  For  added  sweetness  finish  with a  simple glaze  .

Here is the recipe for apple walnut pull apart bread.

4 from 1 vote

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Apple Walnut Pull Apart Loaf

Prep Time

30 mins

Cook Time

40 mins

Total Time

2 hrs 30 mins

 

Pull apart  or  tear  and  share  breads  are  perfect  for  casual gatherings  or family meals. This wonderful bread filled  with   grated  tart  apples  and   walnuts .   Serve  it  at  tea time   or  for  breakfast  as a  special treat.  

Course: Bread, Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Servings: 1 Loaf

Author: Syama

Ingredients

For the dough

• 1 1/2 - 2 C All Purpose Flour Notes
• 1 1/2 C Whole Wheat Flour
• 1/2 - 3/4 C Water / Milk As Needed
• 1 Egg Large
• 2 Tsp Active Dry Yeast
• 3/4 Tsp Fine Sea Salt
• 3 Tbsp Sugar Divided Use
• 1 C Apple Grated Notes

For Filling

• 1/2 C Walnuts chopped
• 1/4 C Brown Sugar
• 1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
• 3 Tbsp Unsalted Butter unsalted

For Glaze (optional)

• 1 C Confectioner's sugar
• 2 Tbsp Water/Milk
• 1/4 Tsp Vanilla extract

Instructions

Make the dough :

1. Heat   milk/water  until it  is  just  warm  (100 - 100 F).  Take  1/4 C  water and  dissolve  1  tbsp  sugar  in it . Sprinkle  the yeast  on  top and  set  aside for  5  to 10 minutes  until the  yeast  become  bubbly . 

2. Mix the 1 1/2  ap flour,  ww  flour , sugar and salt in a large bowl . Coarsely grate the apple .Make a well at the center of the flour mix , and add the yeast mixture , followed by the egg , grated apples and the  activated  yeast  mix. Knead to form a soft dough adding the remaining liquid , one tablespoon at a time.

   If  using  a  machine  knead   for  up to 4  minutes  using the  dough  hook . If  the  dough seems  very tacky  add the  add  the  remaining  flour. 

   Follow t he  same  process  if  kneading  by hand.  Once  the  dough  has  come  together it  takes  about  10  minutes of  kneading by hand.   Add the  remaining   flour  if  needed.  
   

3. Oil a medium bowl and transfer the dough ball into it .Turn the dough so that all sides are evenly coated in oil . Cover with a wet kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place till doubled - about 1 hour .

Prepare the filling :

1. Chop the walnuts coarsely . Soften  3 tablespoons of unsalted butter . Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon well .

Assemble :

1. Coat the  insides of a 9 X 5 loaf pan with butter. Punch down the dough .Lightly flour a kneading surface . Roll out the dough into 10  X 12 rectangle . Spread  the softened   butter  on the  dough  rectangle.

2. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar and  the  chopped walnuts on top. Cut the dough into two 5X 12 rectangles (notes).  Cut each rectangle into 4 equal pieces. Fold each piece along the middle and brush the tops with butter . Arrange the pieces side by side in the loaf pan with the ends facing up . If there is any leftover filling , sprinkle it on the top .Cover with a plastic wrap and let rise on a warm place till almost doubled , about 30 to 45 minutes .

Bake :

1. Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C) and bake for 30 to 40 minutes until done (Refer to notes). Cool in the pan for 5 minutes . Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely .

Glaze :

1. Whisk together powdered sugar , milk and vanilla for glaze . Drizzle over the cooled bread .

Recipe Notes

• Use  unbleached  all purpose  flour  preferable  organic.
• Use  any  firm kind of  apples like Granny Smith
• The  amount  of   moisture  that   flour  can  absorb varies  as  well as  the  amount  of  moisture  in the apple.  Add   more  flour  to the  dough as  needed. 
• The  shaping  instruction  are  for  the   pan  size  used .  Tailor  it  to the  number  of  sections  wanted  and  the  pan  size   used. 

Make ahead 

The  shaped  dough   can  be    covered  and  kept  in the   fridge  for  overnight   rise.   Take out   and  set  out  on the  counter    while  the  oven  is  preheating.  Bake  as  usual !

If you try this recipe, I would  love  to hear  about it ! Leave a COMMENT, RATING , share a photo and TAG me on INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK  OR  GOOGLE+  

Originally published in Dec , 2015.