Sorta Sweet Caramel Apple Cider Bread

We love playing with our Pacific Northwest friends, and this bread is a perfect collaboration. This mildly sweet, crusty bread is made with our Sorta Sweet cider and ingredients from Bob’s Red Mill. The cider gives the bread lift, while also contributing to the deliciously sweet, yeasty flavor. Then we studded it with fresh diced apples and drizzled it with a velvety rich hard cider caramel to make it extra special.

SERVINGS: 10 servings | PREP TIME: 20 minutes | COOK TIME: 60 minutes | PASSIVE TIME: 20 minutes

Ingredients

Cider Apple Bread

• 3 cups Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour or Unbleached White All-Purpose Flour

• 1 Tbsp Baking Powder

• 3 Tbsp Maple Syrup

• 1 ½-2 cups Portland Cider Company Sorta Sweet Cider

• 1 cup Apples, small diced

• ¼ cup Dairy Free Butter, melted, divided or Dairy Butter

Hard Cider Caramel

• 2 cups Portland Cider Company Sorta Sweet Cider

• ¾ cup Brown Sugar

• ½ cup Cane Sugar

• Pinch of salt

• 1 tsp Vanilla

• ¼ cup Dairy-Free Butter or Dairy Butter

Instructions

Cider Apple Bread

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and line a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper.

2. In a large mixing bowl, add flour and baking powder. Mix well with a whisk.

3. Next, add maple syrup and 1 ½ cups cider to the flour mixture. Mix until just combined. If needed, add additional cider ¼ cup at a time to achieve a thick batter consistency (up to an additional ½ cup).

4. Stir the diced apples into the batter.

5. Next, pour 2 tablespoons melted butter into the bottom of the bread pan. Pour the bread mixture in the prepared bread pan. Evenly coat the top of the bread with the remaining 2 tablespoons melted butter. Bake 50-60 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool slightly on a wire rack. Drizzle caramel sauce over slightly cooled bread.

Hard Cider Caramel

1. While the bread is baking, place cider, brown sugar, cane sugar and salt in a heavy medium sized pot on the stove. Heat over medium high heat. Stir mixture as it heats to dissolve the sugars. When the mixture comes to a boil, reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove caramel from heat once it begins to thicken. Add butter and stir well. The sauce will continue to thicken as it cools.

2. If the caramel gets too thick, simply thin it with a little more cider and warm it up over low heat.