Whole Wheat Apple Walnut Flax Bread w/ Browned Butter

Many of you may know of Monet from Anecdotes and Apple Cores. Her writing is absolutely beautiful and she bakes some of the most amazing things. Her words are absolutely poetic and if you aren’t reading her blog already, you should!

A few months ago, Monet went through a huge tragic loss which involved the lives of her sister and her nephew.  Not only that, but she had still not recovered from another loss in the family that happened only a few months prior.

Many of her readers came together with the help of Lizzy and Kate to make a compilation book of our favorite comforting recipes to lift her spirits a little bit. Monet asked us all to share the recipes we contributed today so I will be linking back to my absolute favorite vegetarian chili and corn bread recipe.

Though it’s not exactly chili weather, it’s something to bookmark for a rainy day! (Literally)

 Vegetarian chili packed with veggies and a cakey sweet corn bread that compliments it perfectly! Check it out.

And since I said I was going to post the recipe soon for the apple walnut flax bread I had on last WIAW's post , I decided now was the perfect time. Not only do I want to post about this bread because it's delicious but also because I know Monet would love this one. Its right up her alley!

I found the recipe via Food Gawker. Don't you just love that site? I'm just a bit obsessed :P

Whole Wheat Apple, Walnut, and Flax Seed Bread

adapted from Kim Klietz

3/4 c. white whole wheat flour

3/4c. whole wheat pastry flour (or just 1 1/2 cup total flour of your choice)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 pinch fresh ground nutmeg
1/2 c. dark brown sugar
1/4 c. plus 2 Tbsp apple sauce
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c. diced apple
1/2 c. walnuts, coarsely chopped and toasted
1 Tbsp whole flax seeds
raw sugar for topping

Preheat oven to 325º and grease a loaf pan.

In a small sauce pan, heat the butter over medium heat until it is amber colored. Set aside to cool.

In medium bowl, combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg and whisk to combine thoroughly, set aside.

In bowl of stand mixer, combine applesauce, cooled butter and sugar and beat to combine thoroughly. Add egg and yolk and beat to combine thoroughly. Beat in vanilla. Turn mixer to low and add flour mixture, a little at a time, beating until just combined. Stir in apples, walnuts and flax seed.

Scrape batter into prepared loaf pan (batter will be quite thick) and spread evenly. Sprinkle top with raw sugar.

Place loaf pan into oven and bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 40-50 minutes. Let cool before serving.

Just a little note: The original recipe says to bake it at 325 but I think I might try it at 350 next time because the loaf didn't rise a whole bunch (which could have been from other factors). It still rose pretty well and I like it's slightly dense texture!

I browned the butter (not in the original recipe) and it worked so nicely with all the other flavors! Apples and walnuts are just begging to be paired with browned butter :D And you really don't need a lot of butter (only two tablespoons for the whole loaf!) to get that wonderfully nutty flavor; that's the amazing part.

The turbinado sugar on top is a must!

This bread made the house smell amazing for hours and disappeared way too fast! Its super nutty (w/ the browned butter, walnuts, and flax) and packed full of apple bits. The flax seeds don't really play a huge roll in this bread, despite it being in the title, so feel free to add more. I'd probably do at least double the amount next time! Its perfectly sweet (I halved the sugar from the original recipe) and the sprinkle of sugar on top gives it a lovely crust.

Obviously amazing eaten straight up but even better with a smear of peanut butter on top (really, just a smear, because you don't want the PB to over power the amazing flavors going on here!)

Thank you, Lizzy ( from That Skinny Chick Can Bake) and Kate (Kate's Kitchen) for putting together all of our recipes and compiling them into a cook book! It was a wonderful idea for an absolutely wonderful (and strong) person (: