Healthy, Indulgent Deep-Dark Chocolate Apple Loaf

Hi, friends,

Question of the day:

How do you decide on what kind of a dessert you’re going to make?

If you rely primarily on inspiration, I honestly envy you… Or maybe you procrastinate when it comes to making the final decision on what you’re in the mood for, like I used to before I had my kids? Because it’s just so tough to choose whether you want the deep-dark chocolate brownies or the gooey caramel tart, or, maybe a fresh and lemony cake? Or… just a banana bread? Or… maybe a pudding? Mmmm…

Well… these days my choice is usually pretty easy to make because it almost always depends on one important thing: what needs to be used up ASAP so it doesn’t go bad and ends up being wasted.

Sometimes I actually want to just make something based on an inspiration alone… But on the rare occasions when it actually does happen (nothing needs to be immediately used up), guess what? I procrastinate and drive myself crazy not being able to make the final call!

But… OK, let’s be honest, I still have a little bit of room for an inspiration: I DO get to choose whether I want to make it chocolate or caramel…

Ok, enough soul-searching! Today one thing is certain: I’ve got to use up a bunch of apples. Yes, apples. Because remember how I mentioned that apples have been my kids’ favorite fruit lately? But guess what? I kind of bought too many of them. (I got a big bag since those apples looked SO good and delicious! But now… they’ve lost that crisp to be eaten fresh.) So, an apple dessert it is!

But what kind of an apple dessert? An old good Apple Pie? No, I’m not in the mood. An Apple Strudel? Nah… I want something… something more sophisticated…

A loaf of chocolate apple quick bread… Yes! Sounds yummy enough to inspire me tonight because chocolate is just so… indulgent, decadent and dreamy!

OK! The decision is finally made!

This chocolate apple quick bread recipe is adapted from a zucchini bread recipe that I make sometimes. But as much as I like the healthy zucchinis, and the texture of that bread is pretty nice (maybe just a little watery), perhaps because it calls for a lot of healthy zucchinis, I could always tell one thing: it tasted kind of too… zucchinish.

But when I’ve figured that I can sub the apples for the zuccs, a mundane recipe was magically transformed into a flavorful, decadent and indulgent treat! Not only the apples gave my bread a gentle punch of fruity flavor. The pectin in the apples also gave an extra boost to its texture: a wonderful, moist, gooey and full-bodied texture that you’ll have a pleasure sinking your teeth into!

And so, here it is:

Healthy, Indulgent Deep-Dark Chocolate Apple Loaf

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of whole-wheat flour (for a gluten-free, paleo or (something I like doing sometimes, high-protein) version you can sub with the garbanzo bean flour)
• ¾ cup of honey
• 1/3 cup of oil (Avocado or Coconut)
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup of cocoa (I used ½ cup of regular and ½ cup of Dutch cocoa to make the bread really dark)
• 5 medium-size apples, peeled and cut into chunks
• 2 tsp of vanilla extract
• 1 ½ tsp of baking soda
• ½ tsp of salt
• 1 tsp of cinnamon

Caramelized Apple Slices (optional for decoration):

• 1 apple
• ¼ cup of sugar
• ½ tsp of cinnamon
• 1 tsp of coconut oil

Preparation:

Preheat your oven to 350F.

Beat the eggs. Add oil, honey and vanilla. Whisk to incorporate. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, cinnamon and baking soda. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture. Stir to combine.

Put your apples in a food processor and pulse until pureed. Immediately, before the apple oxidize add the apple puree to the flour and egg mixture. Stir to combine until all the ingredients are incorporated.

Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan lightly with oil and bake for about 80 minutes, but start checking for readiness with a wooden toothpick in about 1 hour of baking.

For the caramelized apples (I  wanted make cake look extra nice today) mix the sugar and the cinnamon in a bowl until combined. Cut the apple into thin slices and toss with the cinnamon sugar until they are coated. Heat up the oil in a saucepan, add the apples and cook over medium heat until they are soft and caramelized, for about 12-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Finally… let the bread cool; if you like – top it with the caramelized apples.

And… sink your teeth into it!