Oh my! This is such a tasty bread, perfect for desert or breakfast. I found the dough fit better into a 9×9 baking dish than a 9×5 loaf pan. But you can still make it into a loaf; just cut the streusel topping in half. This works well as a breakfast muffin. Just scoop into 12 greased muffin tins.
If your family is like mine and doesn’t like raisins, you can always substitute another dried fruit: Craisins, apricots or apple bits.
Ingredients:
1⁄2 C butter, softened
1 C sugar
1⁄4 C buttermilk or sour milk*
2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 C flour
1⁄2 tsp salt
2 C finely diced peeled apple
1 C chopped walnuts or pecans
1⁄2 C raisins
Streusel Topping
1/3 C packed brown sugar
1⁄4 C flour
3 Tbsp butter, softened
1⁄2 C chopped walnuts or pecans
Mix butter with flour and brown sugar with a fork or pastry cutter until it has the consistency of coarse meal. Mix the nuts in.
*If you do not have buttermilk, you can make sour milk by putting a scant teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar into a measuring cup and adding enough milk to create 1⁄4 cup liquid. Let it sit for five minutes to sour a bit before adding it to the recipe.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F. Peel, core and dice apples. Put apples into a bowl of water with a tablespoon of lemon juice to prevent browning while you mix all the other ingredients.
Blend butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. Add eggs and beat again until smooth.
Add milk and vanilla and baking powder. Beat until creamy. Add flour and stir until well-mixed. Drain apples and pat dry with a paper towel. Add apples, nuts and raisins and stir by hand until completely incorporated.
Spread into a greased 9×9” pan. Sprinkle with streusel topping. Bake for 50-60 minutes (65 minutes for a 9X5 loaf, 35-40 minutes for muffins) or until an inserted knife comes out clean.
Cool on a rack for 10 minutes before removing from the pan.
