Baking in the Time of Coronavirus will make you ask yourself interesting questions, like can I bake quick bread with whole wheat flour because I want to ration my white flour because a bunch of people who have probably never even made chocolate chip cookies before are hoarding all the white flour and my local grocery store is sold out? The answer to this question is yes.

My trusty Better Homes & Gardens Baking book has a wonderful recipe for “Make-it-Mine” muffins, which convert easily into quick bread. Make-it-mine recipes give you quantities of ingredients, then you pick the type of flour, sugar, liquid, and spices you want to use. I decided to go with an applesauce bread using apple pie spice and a combination of whole wheat flour and white flour. The flavor is delicious, but the texture is definitely drier than I’d like. This could be because of the wheat flour, but it could also be because I baked it a few minutes too long. Next time, I’ll give it a slightly shorter baking time and see what happens; I’ll also add some pecans into the batter.

Ingredients

•  1/2 cup white flour
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1-2 teaspoons apple pie spice, to taste
• Streusel topping:
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon apple pie spice
  • 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small cubes
• Drizzle icing:
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • About 2-3 teaspoons water

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 5 loaf tin.

In a medium bowl, stir together flours, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and apple pie spice. In another medium bowl (or large measuring cup), combine eggs, applesauce, milk, and vegetable oil. Add all at once to flour mixture and stir until just moistened, with no dry streaks of flour remaining.

Pour batter into loaf tin and allow to rest for a few minutes while you make the streusel; in a medium bowl combine flour, brown sugar, and apple pie spice. Rub in the butter until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs, then sprinkle over batter.

Bake for about 35 minutes, then tent with foil and continue baking another 10 minutes or so, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool in tin for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool either partially or completely; you can glaze this loaf when it’s still warm (not hot) without the drizzling dripping off.

To make the drizzle, place powdered sugar in a small bowl and add water, one teaspoon at a time, until you reach a thicker drizzling consistency. Using a spoon, drizzle over the loaf. Allow to set before serving.

Store well-wrapped at room temperature for 2-3 days.