Applesauce Tea Bread

Applesauce tea bread is the no-fuss, low-fat quick loaf that comes together with what you already have in the pantry. Eight ingredients, two bowls, fifty minutes in the oven, and a tender slicing bread perfect for afternoon tea or a quick breakfast.

The complete absence of butter or oil is what defines this recipe. The 8 ounces of applesauce handle all moisture duties, while the egg adds structure and the skim milk loosens the batter for proper pourability. Skip the fat and you save calories without sacrificing tenderness, because the applesauce keeps the crumb moist for days.

A full tablespoon of cinnamon is uncharacteristically bold for a tea bread, and that is the point. With no butter or extra sugar to compete, the cinnamon needs to carry the flavor. The crumb bakes up dense, slightly cake-like, and reads as warm-spiced in every slice.

Kitchen Tips

• Use unsweetened applesauce; sweetened versions throw off the sugar balance and the bread turns cloying.
• Mix wet into dry only until no flour streaks remain. Overmixing develops gluten and produces tough, rubbery slices instead of tender ones.
• Test for doneness with a toothpick at 45 minutes; quickbreads continue to set as they cool, so slightly underdone in the center beats overbaked.
• Cool the bread completely before slicing. Warm quickbreads compress into gummy slices the moment a knife touches them.

Variations

• Stir in ½ cup raisins, chopped dates, or dried cranberries along with the wet ingredients for chewy fruit pockets.
• Add ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans for crunch and richness without adding much fat to the equation.
• Replace half the white flour with whole wheat flour for a heartier crumb and added fiber.