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.
📋 Recipe Card
Apple Butter Gingerbread Loaf with Apple Butter Cream Cheese Spread
Ingredients
For the gingerbread loaf:
- 4 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 ¾ cups Zulka Pure Cane Sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 eggs
- ¾ cup Musselman's Apple Butter
- 1 ½ 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.4 cups white whole wheat flour, 1 ¾ cups Zulka Pure Cane Sugar, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 4 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1 ½ teaspoons ground cloves, 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, apple butter, milk, and maple syrup.2 eggs, ¾ cup Musselman's Apple Butter, 1 ½ cupes milk, 1 cup pure 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.2 wedges Laughing Cow Cinnamon Cream Cheese Spread
- Stir in the apple butter, mix thoroughly.5 teaspoons Musselman's apple butter
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate. The nutritional values for your final dish may vary based on measuring differences and products used.
*** 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!
Shauna {The Best Blog Recipes}
Wow, this gingerbread loaf sure does look delicious! Saw your link over at The Weekend re-Treat Link Party #38 and shared it on our FB page this morning 🙂 Also pinned while we were here too!
Shauna @ The Best Blog Recipes
Kristin King
Oh, thanks Shauna! That was so nice of you. And thanks for stopping by as well! 🙂
Natasha @ Epic Mommy Adventures
Just love this recipe! I have never seen anything like it...it looks delicious!
Thanks so much for sharing on Turn It Up Tuesdays! We love having you! 🙂
Kristin King
Thanks Natasha! I appreciate you stopping by!
Diane Balch
My husband and daughter made a bunch of apple butter this year and I never thought to put it into a loaf pan. Pinned the recipe. Thanks for sharing it with us on foodie friday.
Kristin King
Thanks Diane!
Colette
I've never even hear of Apple Butter before but this sounds lovely!
#FriendlyFriday
Kristin King
Thank you!
Easy Life Meal & Party Planning
Your bread sounds and looks delicious. I'm with you I have never given much thought to Apple Butter and when you mentioned Apple Butter dressing that sounded fantastic. I guess I will have to give it some attention! Thank you for sharing on the Four Seasons Blog Hop. Have a great weekend and hope we see you next week.
Kristin King
Thanks for stopping by! Will definitely come back next week!
Kim
I love that the apple butter replaces the oil. Pinning this for when I get ready to make some gingerbread!
Kristin King
Thanks, Kim! I love when I can eliminate an ingredient like that without sacrificing deliciousness! Thanks for stopping by!
Tammy
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe at One More Time Events... I just made some apple butter once it is gone I would love to try this recipe.
Kristin King
Thanks for having me at One More Time Events! And thanks for stopping by! 🙂
Jen @Making Our Life Matter
I love their apple butter. I will definitely have to remember this recipe for when we have our baked goods bonanza at work during the holidays!
Kristin King
Yeah, they really do have the best apple butter. Thanks for stopping by!
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!
Jenny Regenold
Yum! Your photo makes me soooo hungry. Fave Fall foods, Chili, Hot Cocoa, Potato Soup, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Everything Pumpkin!