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
Ingredients
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!
Maggie at The Love Nerds
I am always excited to find a new recipe to make with my homemade apple butter. This looks absolutely delicious!!
Kenneth Goh
Love this recipe. I presume this is a type of quick break. Pin it for my future homework. From DBB.
Britni @ Play. Party. Pin.
I'm really not sure what the difference is between gingerbread cake and a gingerbread loaf but either way this looks delicious!
Kristin King
Haha, I agree Britni! Maybe it is just the pan it gets baked in! But, like you said, either way it is delicious! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
Michelle
That looks great! Definitely want to try it! It's been a long time since we had apple butter too...yum!
PJ @ Planned in Pencil
Sign me up for apple butter cream cheese! I'm pinning, and thanks so much for sharing it at the Pinworthy Project Party!
sarah @ Thank You Honey
Looks amazing!! Thank so much for sharing on Thank You Honey’s Whatever Wednesday Party! Hope to see you this week!
Sarah!
Joanne/WineLady Cooks
I haven't used apple butter in baking as yet. This season I have seen it used in many more recipes. Your recipe sounds delicious and I love the addition of the apple butter cream cheese spread. Thanks for sharing this with Foodie Friends Friday.
Looking forward to seeing you soon.
Joanne