When I hit “publish” on this, I’ll be sitting in a big lake house in Maine with my law school friends, hopefully after a full day of hiking or kayaking or generally being outdoorsy. The plan is to not bring my laptop with me, so hopefully my phone is up to the challenge of logging into WordPress (I’m considering it a “mostly unplugged” vacation).

But as I write this, I’m actually just sitting at school, killing time, reliving my last week apple-palooza by going through my apple bread recipe. And maybe also looking at mountains near the Maine house to hike. But I’ve got plenty of time for that this week.

A weekend with friends may seem like the perfect opportunity for a big baking adventure, so you might be wondering why I’m not making something new this week. I did, of course, promise to bake for the trip – but sometimes I just want to make my favorite things that have already gone on the blog: Haystacks and Ann’s Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. It felt a little excessive to make a third recipe just because I needed something new – thus using one of last week’s!

Plus, this is gives me an entire extra week to think of pumpkin recipes to try next. So it’s a win for everybody.

Turning to quick breads. I think quick breads are a seriously undervalued baked good. They are so easy to make (usually just throw everything in a bowl and stir), and make a great gift. They also lend themselves to breakfast consumption much more easily than really anything else I make, so they’ve got that going for them.

For this one, start by whisking together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl until combined.Make a well in the middle and add the orange juice, melted butter, and eggs. Stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. Stir in the apples and pecans.Pour the batter into a 9×3 inch loaf pan sprayed with cooking spray and cook at 350°F for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool.Remove from pan and store wrapped in tinfoil at room temperature. This bread is best when you eat it sooner rather than later. I had a piece about 5 days after baking, and found that the apples had dried to the consistency of the dried fruit you can buy at the store. It wasn’t bad, exactly, but I think I preferred the bread when the apples still retained some of their mushiness.

But maybe you’re a dried apple person, in which case you should wait to eat it.

Enjoy!

Apple Pecan Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup orange juice
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 cups apples, chopped
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Directions:

1. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl to combine.
2. Make a well in the middle of the dried ingredients and add the orange juice, butter, and eggs. Stir with wooden spoon until just combined.
3. Gently stir in the apples and pecans.
4. Pour batter into 9×3 inch loaf pan sprayed with cooking spray.
5. Bake at 350°F for 50 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely on wire rack.