Apple Bread with Praline Topping

Apple Bread with Praline Topping - a quick bread recipe with apples, prunes, and toasted pecans topped with a caramel praline topping.

'Tis the season for all things apple! Although fall isn't my favorite time of year, I do look forward to the change of seasonal ingredients.

Apples, pears, pumpkins, and squash come into markets, and we gradually make the change from salads and cool beverages to soups, stews, and steaming cups of cocoa.

We're fortunate here in north Georgia to have many very productive apple growers. In a week or two, the leaves will be golden and the roads literally clogged with sightseers.

This Apple Bread with Praline Topping is one of my favorite ways to use fresh fall apples. It's a delicious, moist, quick bread full of fresh apples, prunes, and pecans. If you don't think you want to include the prunes, you can increase the volume of apples, but I encourage you to give them a try.

Prunes get a bad rap for causing gastric upset, but that's really only if you overindulge. They're just dried plums after all, and if you eat them in moderation, you shouldn't have any problems at all. They add a nice moistness to the bread and just a bit of a variation in flavor.

There's also a good amount of toasted pecans, and then, just for good measure, I topped the whole thing with a sweet, buttery, caramel-y praline topping. Yum.

How to Make Apple Bread with Praline Topping

Make the Apple Bread Loaf

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously, grease and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan and set aside.

Prep the apples and prunes. I don't bother with peeling the apples, but suit yourself on that account. You'll have about 1 ½ cups of chopped apples and about a ⅓ to ½ cup of prunes.

Place ½ cup of the chopped pecans in a shallow baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 6-7 minutes or until toasted. Stir once halfway through baking. Set the pecans aside to cool.

Beat together the sour cream, sugar, eggs, and vanilla on low speed until well combined.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture beating on low speed until just blended.

In a small bowl, toss the apples, prunes, and toasted pecans with one tablespoon flour. Tossing the fruit and nuts in flour will help keep them suspended in the wet batter. Otherwise, they could all sink to the bottom, and that's not what you want.

Stir the floured apples, prunes, and pecans into the batter.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared loaf pan.

Sprinkle the top with the remaining pecans very lightly pressing them onto the batter. I almost forgot to snap a photo of the pecan-topped batter before it started baking, so I stuck my camera in the oven and grabbed a quick shot. Hope you can see what it should look like.

Bake for 1 hour or until a tester inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Check after about 40-45 minutes and if the top is beginning to brown too much, lightly cover with aluminum foil to prevent overcooking.

Cool the loaf in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and replace on the cooling rack.

Make the Praline Topping

In a heavy saucepan, bring the butter and brown sugar to a boil over medium heat. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Do not overcook (the topping will harden too much if overcooked). Remove from heat and immediately spoon the topping over the top of the loaf.

I place a sheet of foil under the rack before pouring over the icing. I say it 's for easy cleanup. It's really to catch the drips for the "cook's treat." :-)

Let cool completely before slicing and serving.

Tips and Substitutions

The sour cream in the recipe gives a rich, moist texture to the loaf but can easily be substituted with Greek yogurt if you prefer and the pecans may be swapped out for walnuts.

Storage

To keep the loaf fresh, wrap it securely in foil and store at room temperature.

Other Apple Bread Recipes Curated for You

• Apple Pie Bread from My Baking Addiction
• Spiral Apple Bread with Caramel Apple Glaze from Inspired by Charm
• Apple Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread from Half Baked
• Pumpkin Apple Bread from Baked by Rachel
• Apple Strudel Bread from Bread in 5
• Apple Cheddar Bread from Gimme Some Oven

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Apple Bread with Praline Topping

Apple Bread with Praline Topping - a quick bread recipe with apples, prunes, and toasted pecans topped with a caramel praline topping.

5 from 2 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Breads

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Servings: 12 servings

Calories: 407kcal

Author: Lana Stuart

Ingredients

For the bread:

• ▢ 1 ½ cups finely chopped apples (recommend: Honeycrisp)
• ▢ 8 large prunes coarsely chopped (optional)
• ▢ 1 ½ cups pecans chopped, divided
• ▢ 8 oz. sour cream
• ▢ 1 cup sugar
• ▢ 2 eggs
• ▢ 1 tblsp vanilla extract
• ▢ 2 cups all-purpose flour plus 1 tablespoon
• ▢ 2 tsp baking powder
• ▢ ½ tsp baking soda
• ▢ ½ tsp ground cinnamon

For the topping:

• ▢ 8 tblsp butter (1 stick)
• ▢ ½ cup light brown sugar firmly packed

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously, grease and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan and set aside.
• Place ½ cup of the chopped pecans in a shallow baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 6-7 minutes or until toasted. Stir once halfway through baking. Set the pecans aside to cool.
• Beat together the sour cream, sugar, eggs, and vanilla on low speed until well combined.
• In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture beating on low speed until just blended.
• In a small bowl, toss the apples, prunes, and toasted pecans with one tablespoon flour. Stir the apples, prunes, and pecans into the batter. Spoon the mixture into the prepared loaf pan and sprinkle the top with the remaining pecans very lightly pressing them onto the batter.
• Bake for 1 hour or until a tester inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Check after about 45 minutes and if the top is beginning to brown too much, lightly cover with aluminum foil to prevent over cooking.
• Cool the loaf in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and replace on the cooling rack.
• In a heavy saucepan, bring the butter and brown sugar to a boil over medium heat. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Do not overcook (the topping will harden too much if overcooked).
• Remove from heat and immediately spoon the topping over the top of the loaf. Let cool completely.

Notes

Tossing the fruit and nuts in flour will help keep them suspended in the wet batter. Otherwise, they'll sink to the bottom of the loaf. 

The sour cream in the recipe gives a rich, moist texture to the loaf but can easily be substituted with Greek yogurt if you prefer and the pecans may be swapped out for walnuts.

To keep the loaf fresh, wrap it securely in foil and store at room temperature.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1g | Calories: 407kcal | Carbohydrates: 51g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 58mg | Sodium: 233mg | Potassium: 188mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 31g | Vitamin A: 471IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 97mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is calculated by software based on the ingredients in each recipe. It is an estimate only and is provided for informational purposes. You should consult your health care provider or a registered dietitian if precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.

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Lana Stuart

Lana Stuart is the cook and occasional traveler here at Never Enough Thyme. Lana has been cooking since she was tall enough to reach the stove and started this blog in 2009 to share her delicious home cooking recipes. You'll find about 700 recipes here so there's sure to be something your family will like!
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