Sunday, February 5, 2012
Caramel Apple Bread
I'm having a lot of fun with my bread machine lately. Today I tried Apple Pie Bread which I made into rolls and added caramel and pecans. You will need the following ingredients:
For the bread
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup frozen apple juice concentrate
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
3 Tblsp brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 Tblsp vital wheat gluten
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 1/2 cups bread flour
1 cup finely chopped apple
For the caramel topping
1/2 cup melted butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp light Karo syrup
2/3 cup chopped pecans
Slightly warm the buttermilk and frozen apple juice concentrate in a 2 cup glass measuring cup in the microwave. Stir in the yeast and brown sugar. Allow to stand until foamy.
Place all dry ingredients in a large bowl. (or your bread machine) Add the liquid and stir well. Do not add the apples yet. Knead until smooth and elastic. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled.
Peel and finely chop an apple to make 1 cup. I used my Ninja food processor to cut the chunks really small. Note: Do this after the bread has risen so the apples will not turn brown before you are ready to use them.
Lightly dust your work surface with a small amount of flour. Punch the dough down and roll into a rectangle. Spread the chopped apples over the dough.
Starting with the long edge, roll the dough up tightly and pinch the edges to seal. Cut the rolls about 1/2 " wide using a string. Lay the string under the dough, cross it at the top and pull tightly. This makes a nice cut without smashing down the dough.
In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Add the brown sugar and corn syrup. Bring to a rolling boil. This only takes a minute or so. Divide caramel between two 9" cake pans. Sprinkle chopped pecans on top.
Place the rolls on top of the caramel. Note: Since this was my first time experimenting with this recipe, I used only one pan, cut the rolls too thick, and placed them too closely together. The center rolls did not have room to raise properly and were a little doughy. You will probably be placing about 7 rolls per pan rather than the 12 shown.
Bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees. Invert the pan onto a plate while still warm.