cait's plate

whole grain apple pie bread

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If I haven’t mentioned this yet, I absolutely love school.

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I love not only my program and the people that make it up – but I am absolutely over the moon about the fact that I get to sit in class all day and learn about food and nutrition.  So much sometimes, I feel like I need to pinch myself.

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My “lab” for food composition consists of getting to experiment with different recipes, bake them, eat them and analyze them.  Not so bad huh?

That said, I can’t wait to start incorporating some of the information that I’m learning into these posts.  It has seriously taken my baking and cooking to the next level just to understand the science of the different ingredients and what they add not only to the recipes, but to our bodies!

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Today, let’s talk about carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates are our body’s #1 choice for energy.  It will burn fat and it will even burn protein (though it really doesn’t like to) for fuel, but if it had it’s choice, it would burn carbs all day every day.

Why?

Because it can burn them quickly, efficiently and there’s a WHOLE lot of them in our diet!

When there are too few carbohydrates in your body, it’s forced to turn to less efficient sources like fat and protein. If your body starts to use protein for energy, it can lead to loss of muscle mass. Therefore, carbohydrate intake helps to preserve lean muscle mass as well.

And last but not least, glucose from carbohydrates is the only form of fuel that our brains can use.  So it’s crucial for all aspects of our cognitive ability including memory, learning and concentration.

So to make a long story even longer?  Don’t avoid carbs.  Your body needs them!!

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And to celebrate glorious carbs as well as the official start of Fall (!!!), I created a Whole Grain Apple Pie Bread recipe.

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Whole Grain Apple Pie Bread (based off this recipe)

Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients:

Bread:

  • 1/2 cup earth balance, softened (but not melted)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup soymilk
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups white whole wheat flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 medium apples, peeled and diced
  • Apple pie spice to taste (I used about 1 – 1.5 tsp.)
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Streusel-Nut Topping:

  • 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoons white whole wheat flour
  • 2 tablespoons earth balance
  • 1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and flour. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in walnuts or pecans.

 

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Grease a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan; set aside
  3. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer or stand mixer until smooth (about 30 seconds).
  4. Combine soymilk and vanilla together and add into the mixture.
  5. Beat in eggs, one at a time.
  6. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt – stir well to combine.
  7. Add dry to wet and mix until just combined.
  8. In a separate bowl, combine diced apples with apple pie spice and mix thoroughly so that all the apple pieces are covered.
  9. Gently fold apple mixture and chopped nuts into the batter with a spatula.
  10. Pour batter into greased loaf pan.  Bake for 60 – 65 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  11. Cool completely on a wire rack then wrap and store overnight.

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I recommend serving warm and topping with some vanilla Greek yogurt for breakfast or ice cream for dessert!

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whole grain chocolate chip banana pancakes // cait's platewhole grain chocolate chip banana pancakes

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Reader Interactions

Comments

    • Cait says

      I thought of you the WHOLE time I made it! It’s SO delicious! I was thinking about how I could cut down on the sugar a little to make it better for you…

      Reply

  3. Molly @ RDexposed says

    Resulting in…gluconeogenesis!
    Tip: keep all of your food lab materials. You’ll need to know (possibly, if you get the question) recipe malfunctions for the RD exam. Example: your cake is gummy, what went wrong? too much sugar.

    Reply

  5. Grace says

    I love FALL! Squash, yams, apples, pumpkin, spices, other red and orange things…!
    & I love school too! Have a great semester!

    Reply

  7. Haley S says

    Ah! What are you going to school for? I’m a Freshman at UGA and that sounds like a DREAM job! I just don’t know what to label it! (:

    Reply

    • Cait says

      I’m getting a Masters in Human Nutrition and completing DPD course work on the road to become a Registered Dietician. 🙂

      Reply

  9. Laura says

    New commenter! I love that you incorporated (some of) what you learned in class into this recipe post! I love learning all things nutrition, so I’ll be coming back for more :). Oh… And might have to make this recipe today..!

    Reply

    • Cait says

      Oh good! I’m so happy to hear it! I’m definitely going to try to be incorporating more and more into my posts – so glad you like it! And let me know what you think of the bread!

      Reply

  12. Joanie says

    I didn’t realize this recipe was only posted yesterday! My husband and I went apple picking yesterday, and I decided while he was at work today I would use the apples to bake something healthy. We are trying to eat a lot healthier and include whole grains, etc… So I was happy when I found your recipe on google! It is now in the oven baking and I can’t wait till tonight after dinner when we try it together. I’ll let you know how it comes out 🙂

    Reply

  19. Lena says

    Thanks for sharing this bit of info. I always believed in that carbs are the first thing we burn. And glad I can still believe and eat my carbs! (in moderation of course!!!) love that yummy looking loaf!!! Now I feel like a Victorian sponge cake for tea. (: lol

    Reply

  21. Sandrine says

    I tried this recipe yesterday, with 1/2 cup of sugar and 1 cup of applesauce instead of EB, and it turned out REALLY great! Super moist! My boyfriend can’t stop eating it. Thank you for sharing this recipe Cait!

    Reply

  22. Heidi kokborg says

    It looks really good 🙂 I was wondering what excatly you study? I would love to study something that has to do with nutrition after high school, but there are so many opportunities that I find it rather difficult to know which school and course to take 🙂

    Reply

    • Cait says

      I miss posting!! Hope I can get in some more frequent ones soon! School is definitely going well – just crazy busy!

      Reply

  27. CT Evans says

    do you know any good recipes for fat-free pie crust? ideally I’d like one that calls for a main ingredient that’s more nutritious than white flower, but my main concern is making a reasonably-good crust with no butter, shortening, oil, etc. that would work for fruit pies and maybe potpie as well.

    Reply

    • Cait says

      That’s so funny because we just were talking about this in my Food Composition class! Pie crusts are notoriously difficult to make fat free because so much of their structure depends on a fat source. I don’t know of one but I’ll see if I can find one and I’ll let you know 🙂

      Reply

          • CT Evans says

            OK, I made a fresh pumpkin pie yesterday and used that banana-based crust recipe. It worked surprisingly well as a dough. It was easy enough to roll, and had good cohesion, so it didn’t fall apart when I transferred it to the pan. I pre-baked it for a few minutes while pre-heating the oven, which was probably unnecessary.

            I tasted my first slice of the pie and crust after dinner tonight. Although the sides, particularly the edges above the filling level, were tough like rawhide, the bottom of the crust was edible. Maybe adding an egg white or some baking powder would help make it a little less dense, or even brushing it with water before baking so it won’t dry out so fast might help. As it is, I’m still happy with it. It’s fat free and good enough that it’s better than no crust at all.

          • Cait says

            Interesting! I may just have to experiment with that recipe to see if we can’t make it a little better…you do the same and we can compare notes! 🙂

            Glad it worked out okay overall though…that’s good to know it’s an option!

          • CT Evans says

            I baked a few pies for Thanksgiving and the texture of my pie crusts was much better this time, although the taste was only slightly better than wet cardboard. I think my big mistake last time was baking the crusts first, which made them come out rock hard around the edges. trimming the edges to make them even with the top of the pie pan may have helped as well. I also used a real rolling pin (rather than the glass I’d used before), so I was able to get them much thinner and I think I included an egg white in the mix this time, but I was too busy making 3.5 pies at once that I didn’t take the time to make a note on my recipe and I can’t remember for sure now.

            banana was a good substitute for butter in the topping for my apple crumb pies too.

            modifying another recipe I found online, I made second kind of fat-free (or at least “no fat added,” since even flower and oats contain small amounts of fat) pie crust that seemed to work well – Fat-Free Oatmeal Cookie Pie Crust…
            Ingredients:
            • 1/2 cup quick oats
            • 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
            • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
            • 1/4 teaspoon salt
            • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
            • 1/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
            • 2 tablespoons white sugar
            • 1/4 cup apple sauce

            Preheat oven to 375˚F. Lightly a 9-inch pie pan with cooking spray (e.g., Pam).

            Put the oats into a food processor or blender and process until finely ground. Add the remaining dry ingredients and blend well. Transfer to a bowl and add the apple sauce. Stir well until completely combined.

            Put the mixture into the pie pan, and starting at the center, flatten and press it with moistened fingers until it evenly covers the bottom and extends up the sides of the pan as far as possible.

            Put it in the oven and cook for 8-10 minutes, until it is crisp but not overdone. Set aside to cool before filling.

          • Cait says

            Awesome! Thank you for letting me know! This sounds really delicious – I definitely want to give it a try…it would be good for Courtney who’s confined to whole grains 🙂

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