Healthy Cinnamon Apple Bread

I baked with applesauce for the first time!! The texture it brings to this cinnamon apple bread is insaneeeee. Don't expect some giant apple flavor to take over your tastebuds, it's pretty subtle but still so sosossoso good. I really love this one because even though one of the main components is apple, there aren't any apple chunks involved in the recipe. I hate apple chunks in any baked good, the texture of this bread is the same as like banana bread/pound cake! Aka, amazingly moist.

If you don't know by now, I have a weird obsession with baking healthy treats. It's usually at the start of a new season when I bake the most. Sooooo, this  recipe is actually *vegan* because the applesauce replaces the eggs and I use oat milk instead of cow's milk. It's also gluten free because I used oat flour/gf all purpose flour and then it's nut free too, obviously, no almond flour used in any of my recipes due to my nut allergy! Oh and I used maple syrup instead of sugar so it's naturally sweetened. AHH, SO FUN TO BAKE HEALTHY THINGS THAT STILL TASTE THIS GOOD!

**Everyone's oven works differently and reaches different temperatures at different times so be patient with it and keep checking it throughout the suggested cooking time! It's a little harder for gluten free flour to rise, so if you have options, use a more narrow than wide bread pan.

Also, one more thing. It looks sort of ombre colored and I believe that is because I overdid it with the olive oil I used to brush the sides of the loaf pan. I am always scared that the loaf is gonna stick to the pan so I tend to over do it and that can sometimes lead to the edges of the loaf browning due to the heat and amount of oil seeping into the bread. Just an FYI.

What you need:

• 1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/2 cup melted vegan butter - I used soy free Earth Balance
• 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/2 cup oat milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup gf all purpose flour (I used Pamela's)
• 3/4 cup oat flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder

Optional Frosting:

• 2 tbsp vegan butter (room temp)
• 3 oz vegan cream cheese
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon 

What to do:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and prepare a loaf pan by either lining it with parchment paper or greasing the sides with grape seed oil or extra virgin olive oil spray.
2. Add all of the wet ingredients to a large bowl and mix.
3. Add all of the dry ingredients into a medium sized bowl and mix.
4. Add the dry ingredients into the wet and then mix until combined and a batter is formed.
5. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 35 minutes. The batter should be pretty thick!
6. After 30 minutes, check on your loaf, cover it with tinfoil to prevent too much browning at the top and turn the heat down to 350 degrees. Cook an additional 15 minutes and then check the center with a toothpick to see if it's done or not. If it's not done, continue to cook for 5-10 minute increments. 
7. If you're going the frosting route which I highly recommend, make it at any point and keep covered at room temp until the loaf is done baking and cooled.
8. Let the loaf cool completely before removing it form the loaf pan and adding the frosting or else the frosting will totally melt and slide off of the loaf!