Apple Bread with Caramel Sauce (vegan)

When I tell you this is THE dessert of Fall, believe me. I served this to my parents and they were both blown away by how delicious it was. The apple bread is moist and flavorful, and the caramel sauce is rich and thick, with the perfect amount of salt. It’s great for entertaining because you can make the bread and the caramel the day before, no need to do anything but slice the bread and pull the caramel out of the fridge for drizzling – it doesn’t need to be reheated or brought to room temperature.

Apple Bread with Caramel Sauce
serves 6-8

Ingredients

1-3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1.5 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 teaspoons allspice
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1-3/4 cup apple sauce, no sugar added variety
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup coconut cream, full fat coconut milk or extra creamy oat milk
2 tsp vinegar, I use apple cider vinegar
1 large gala or honeycrisp apple, small diced, divided
1 batch coconut milk caramel (recipe follows)

To Make

Make caramel sauce with time to cool in fridge for at least 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil a loaf pan and line with parchment paper so that the bottom and two long sides are covered in parchment.

Measure out all ingredients. Toss half of the apple with a little flour. Toss the other half of the apple with 1/4 teaspoon each oil, sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.

Whisk together dry ingredients, flour through nutmeg. In a large bowl combine wet ingredients brown sugar through coconut cream or similar. If the coconut cream or coconut milk is chunky, microwave gently until fully liquid. Stir in vinegar. Add the dry ingredients and gently fold in until just combined (do not over-mix). Fold in the flour-coated apple pieces. Transfer to loaf pan. Top with the apple pieces mixed with oil/sugar/cinnamon so that they’re evenly scattered on the top.

Bake in the center of the oven for 65-75 minutes. The center of the bread should be golden brown, it will be the last spot to brown, if it’s lighter than the rest of the loaf it’s not done yet.

Coconut Caramel Sauce

• heat a small saucepan over medium heat, add 1 cup lightly packed brown sugar and allow the sugar to cook for 2 minutes, stir frequently, until heated through and starting to melt
• Add 1 cup coconut cream (from a can), once boiling, reduce to low heat and a gently simmer, simmer for 10 minutes until slightly thickened, coating the spoon but still liquid-y.
• Remove from heat, stir in 1/2 teaspoon fine grain salt and 1 tsp vanilla and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before transferring to a heat proof container (glass or steel), covering with a lid and cooling for at least 3 hours.
• After cooling in the fridge, the caramel may separate but a quick stir brings it back together. This caramel is perfectly thick right out of the fridge, no need to reheat or bring to room temp.
• If the caramel thickened too long on the stove and it’s super thick coming out of the fridge, you can microwave or reheat to get a thinner consistency.

To serve, slice bread into 6-8 slices and drizzle liberally with caramel sauce.