I have been using a lot of apple butter lately. I love it! Honestly, I did not give apple butter much thought at all until a couple of months ago, when I attended a blogger event called Big Summer Potluck and, as a participant, had the opportunity to enter an apple butter recipe contest. I had never considered apple butter as an ingredient before, but it opened up a whole world of possibilities! You can check out two of my apple butter recipes, Broccoli and Snow Pea Salad with Apple Butter Dressing and Sweet Garlic Basil Sausage and Halloumi Kebabs, if you are interested in seeing what else I have cooked up!
Recently Musselman’s sent me some apple butter and offered a new focus…to put a new spin on a classic recipe using apple butter. I decided that I wanted to come up with a recipe that would fit right in with the fall and winter holidays coming up. Musselman’s Apple Butter has such a wonderful blend of apple flavor and aromatic spices, I thought it would make a great ingredient in gingerbread.
I considered making gingerbread cookies or cake, but ultimately went with the idea of a gingerbread loaf. It came out incredibly moist and flavorful, and I didn’t even need to use any oil! Thing 1 and Thing 2 both loved it, as did DH. And it was so easy to make, I will be using this recipe to make teacher’s gifts and to take to holiday parties as hostess gifts this year!
Some other recipe notes: I used white whole wheat flour (for a little extra kick of fiber), and also Zulka Pure Cane Sugar, which is a natural sugar that does not go through the conventional sugar cane refining process and thus retains more of a complex sweet flavor that is closer to the flavor of actual sugar cane. I love the way it tastes!
This loaf was so delicious, we enjoyed a few of the slices without anything on them at all. However, I whipped up an easy spread using Laughing Cow Cinnamon Cream Cheese wedges and apple butter, which was a nice sweet and creamy addition.
For disclosure purposes, a sample of Musselman’s Apple Butter was provided to me free of charge to use in the recipe. I am not being compensated to write about the product, and all opinions are my own.
Apple Butter Gingerbread Loaf with Apple Butter Cream Cheese Spread
Print RecipeIngredients
For the gingerbread loaf:
- 4 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 3/4 cups Zulka Pure Cane Sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup Musselman's Apple Butter
- 1 1/2 cupes milk
- 1 cup pure maple syrup
For the apple butter cream cheese spread:
- 2 wedges Laughing Cow Cinnamon Cream Cheese Spread
- 5 teaspoons Musselman's apple butter
Instructions
For the gingerbread loaf:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C).
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.
- In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, apple butter, milk, and maple syrup.
- Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined.
- Pour batter evenly into two 9x5 inch loaf pans.
- Bake for 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool and remove from loaf pan.
For the apple butter cream cheese spread:
- Place the cream cheese wedges in the microwave for 10-20 seconds until softened.
- Stir in the apple butter, mix thoroughly.
Notes
Nutrition
*** Apologies, giveaway is over ***
And now let’s get to the giveaway! Musselman’s would love to send one of my readers a free apple butter kit, complete with a jar of apple butter, mini loaf pans (great for holiday gifts!) and a recipe card! Enter via the Rafflecopter widget below for your chance!
And you won’t want to miss this great recipe ebook from Musselman’s!
Angela @ Shake Bake and Party
I love apple butter! I’ve been seeing so many delicious recipes using it lately, including yours! 🙂
Kristin King
Awww, thanks, Angela! Yeah, apple butter can be used in so many things! I am really into experimenting with it lately. Thanks for stopping by!
Anita L
Pumpkin pie is a favorite 🙂
Sarah VR
Pumpkin and Apple desserts are a favorite of mine for Fall. This giveaway is delicious!
Pam Gurganus
My favorite fall drink is mulled cider!
Julie
apple crisp and apple nut bread thanks for the giveaway 🙂
Jenny Regenold
Yum! Your photo makes me soooo hungry. Fave Fall foods, Chili, Hot Cocoa, Potato Soup, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Everything Pumpkin!
Bailey-Eileen Dexter-parr
Pumpkin cream puffs!
Mags
My favorite fall food? I don’t know probably soups and I love hot cocoa.
Lori Who Needs A Cape?
Gotta go with Pumpkin Spice Latte…love it!! Pinned this yesterday because it sounds fabulous!!!
Kristin King
Thanks for stopping by, Lori, and for the pin!
manekeniko
I make comfort foods like lentil soup.
angela
Hi! Visiting from Daily Blog Boost. Looking forward to following along!
Angela
LeMoine Family Kitchen
Kristin King
Thanks Angela! It is nice to meet you! 🙂
Christine
Favorite fall food: pumpkin muffins!
Kristin King
Oh, yeah, I LOVE pumpkin muffins! 🙂
Shauna {The Best Blog Recipes}
Yummy! Pinned to my “Bread” board while I was here 🙂
Shauna
htt://thebestblogrecipes.com/
Kristin King
Thanks, Shauna!!
Shannon@MishmashMama
I love apple butter. I will just eat that junk with a spoon. This looks amazing!
Kristin King
Thanks, Shannon!
Kriss MacDonald
My kids don’t know apple butter as it’s not really available in UK but now we’re in the US this would be a great recipe for them to try it.
#wineddown
Kristin King
Oh absolutely! Thanks for stopping by, Kriss!
Michelle @ Our Three Peas
YUMMY! This looks awesome! I’ll def have to try it when I get back from vaca! Pinned 🙂
Kristin King
Thanks, Michelle! Hope you are having a good vacation!
Jersey Girl Cooks
I love gingerbread and will have to try this. Love the cream cheese too. So yummy for breakfast.
Kristin King
Thanks, Lisa! 🙂
Allie
i like pumpkin rolls
miss messy
Wow this looks freaking awesome!! 🙂 It’s definitely gingerbread season. Love that it’s got apple butter.
Kristin King
Thanks Miss Messy. Hope school is going well for you! I will be stopping by soon to see what you are up to! 🙂
Kim Osburn
Hey Kristin,
This bread looks so delish. My all time favorite fall dish would have to be pumpkin bread. Mama would make it in coffee cans ( back when they were metal and you could actually put them in the oven) and give the loaves as gifts. Nothing like it with a hot cup of coffee. I’ll bet this bread will soon become a new favorite too. Thanks for sharing. Kim
Kristin King
Thanks Kim! I agree, the loaves are definitely good as gifts. I love when someone gives me a loaf of pumpkin or banana or zucchini bread! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!