Dulce de Leche Apple Bread

   

The other day I was looking for healthy muffins and I remembered my bran muffin recipe using bran cereal.  I made those and then started thinking about using other cereals in baking.  We use a lot of Cheerios and they are considered healthy and good for your cholesterol, so I did a bit of Internet searching.  I found this recipe using Dulce de Leche Cheerios and it looked pretty good. (I changed it a wee bit).  And an apple a day keeps the doctor away, doesn't it?

Dulce de Leche Apple Bread

2 1/2 cups Dulce de Leche Cheerios, divided use
1/2 cup sugar, I used 1/4 cup Splenda brown sugar.   Healthy, remember?
1/4 cup oil  (That's not bad.)
1 cup buttermilk, try to find the low fat kind
1 egg
2 cups peeled and chopped apples, I used 2 Granny Smith
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon.  That's what they thought I should use, but that's not enough so I used 1/2 teaspoon!
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg.  The Cheerios people didn't call for nutmeg, but I went with the "if you use cinnamon, nutmeg works, too" rule...that I invented...I didn't really measure it, just grated a wee bit.

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray the bottom of a 9X5 loaf pan with Pam.

   

Put 2 cups of Dulce de Leche Cheerios in a Ziploc bag.  Squeeze the air out and seal.  Put the final 1/2 cup in a bowl and set aside. 

   

Use a rolling pin and crush the Cheerios.  Roll to the center of the bag.  I think if you roll a bubble of air to the seams, it might burst and then you would have a mess!  Set aside.

   

Wash, peel and dice the apples.  Small chunks are better than big ones.

   

I use a Kitchen Aid, but use any mixer and blend the oil and sugar.  I switched it to brown sugar and used the Splenda brown sugar.  I like the smoky flavor in baked goods.

Add the buttermilk.  I would have used low fat buttermilk, but didn't know I was going to make this until last night.  Lee was kind enough to go to the local (and close) Dollar General for me. They only have one kind of buttermilk and it is in a big container.  I told Lee we would use up the rest making some blueberry coffeecake I have been thinking about!

   

Add the egg and continue mixing.  Stir in the apples, the crushed cereal and all the rest of the ingredients, except for the reserved Cheerios.  Feel free to leave out the nutmeg.  I just thought of Rachel Ray saying, "Mmm.  What is that?", so I added it!

   

Spread the batter in the prepared pan.  It seemed kind of dry to me and next time I will probably add a bit more buttermilk, maybe a few Tablespoons.  Tomorrow the bread will be very moist from the apples, so maybe that is why they start kind of dry.  Sprinkle with the reserved cereal and gently press them down.  I used the side of a rubber spatula.

Bake one hour and then check to see if it is done with a toothpick.  If the toothpick comes out clean....done.  Mine took about 1 hour and 4 minutes.

 

   

Cool for 10 minutes.  Then turn out onto a cooling rack and let it finish cooling.  Wrap tightly and store at room temperature for 4 days or 10 days in the refrigerator.

Next time I may leave off the Cheerios on the outside.  They made it hard to cut a slice.

Please read Dulce de Leche Apple Bread Part II before making!