Real men and women make their own bread. You heard me. Real men and women make their OWN bread. Because bread is deliciousness in loaf form, is easy as easy can be and, incidentally, is one of the quickest ways to romance just about anyone. I presented my honey whole-wheat recipe a long while back as well as my decidedly awesome cinnamon chocolate chip coconut banana bread, and this Apple Brioche is a worthy addition to my collection of bread recipes.
I chose to put apple into this brioche because I adore apples. Pretty simple. The nice thing is that if you don’t want apples in your brioche, all you have to do is not put them in! Presto, whammo, problem solved.
Here’s the truth of the matter, though: you may put whatever you darn well please into these loaves. As long as you don’t put in an inordinate weight of it, the recipe will hold up juuuuuust fine. Ain’t that nice?
Now that we’ve talked a bit about customizing this recipe, let’s talk a bit more about why everyone should make their own bread. So many people have come up to me after I’ve made a fresh loaf of bread with eyes like wonder-filled saucers. They ask me how on Earth I managed to make the bread and why it smells so good. They tell me that they’re always meaning to make some bread, but they can just never get around to it. If you’re reading this, you’ve probably had a similar experience at some point.
Bread is one of the simplest things that you can make. It’s a blast. It’s a great date and family activity.
And it’s empowering.
It wasn’t that long ago that I went up to my Mom and asked her how on this blue-green marble we call Earth she managed to make such delicious bread. She smiled and asked me if I’d like to learn. I didn’t think I’d be able to, but she walked me through the process, step by step. When I was done, my bread wasn’t the prettiest, and it didn’t taste quite as good as hers.
But it was bread. And I had made it.
That was a turning point in my life. The realization that I could make bread meant so much to me. If I could make bread, then I could make ANYTHING! That experience, more than almost anything else, was when I really started to take myself seriously in the kitchen. Ultimately, it’s why I started this blog.
Make your own bread. And teach others to make theirs. It might just change someone’s life.
It changed mine.
- 1-2 very ripe apples (or 3 small apples) chopped or processed with a food processor
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1½ tsp yeast
- 1 stick cold butter (you'll cut the butter into pieces. The pieces should be fairly tiny)
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup milk
- *Brushing mixture*
- 2 Tbsp milk
- 1 egg yolk
- Combine all dry ingredients (minus the butter and processed apple) in food processor
- Process for around a minute or so, pouring in chopped (or processed) apples, milk and ⅓ cup of water as you process (the dough will be super-duper ultra sticky -- dry flour is not what you want)
- Let the dough sit (covered) for roughly 2.5 hours
- Place in bread pans and cover for another hour
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Brush tops of bread with brushing mixture
- Bake for 30 minutes. You may bake for just a few more minutes if you need to, but be careful -- you don't want the bread to dry out!
Baking Magique says
I’ve been thinking about recipes that I can make with the apples from my garden and this looks great!
themormonfoodguy says
Thanks so much! I really hope that you enjoy it! I wish that I had my own apples to make this with.
huntfortheverybest says
the bread looks wonderful!
themormonfoodguy says
Thanks so much!