Giveaway & Fun Food Friday- Apple Pie Bread

I have decided to do a give away.  Two reasons.  First off, I love getting free stuff.  Our first date after Micah was born Steve and I went to a Golf Show :).  I signed up for every give away they had and I won a free round of golf for two at a really nice golf course!  So I thought, if I love trying for giveaways, maybe you do too.  And secondly (and the biggest reason :)), I'm really curious who reads this and I figured if I did a giveaway it would get a lot of my readers to comment and then I can see who is reading. :) 
My favorite kitchen tool would definitely be my KitchenAid Mixer, but a close second to that are my magnetic measuring spoons.  They stick together so they're not all over your utensil drawer and they have two sides so you can use one for liquid and one for solids.  They're just awesome if you ask me. :)  So here is what I will be giving away:

Sorry, the cute little guy does not come with the spoons :)

To enter this give away just comment on this blog post or the facebook link letting me know what your favorite kitchen tool is.  You have until Wednesday noon (Eastern Time) to enter after which I will put all the names in a hat and draw out the winner.  I will announce the winner on next week's weekly update. 

 

And now on to Fun Food Friday.  Last Friday Steve and I went to his cousin's wedding.  Two ladies from church watched the boys.  They don't let us pay them, so I like to find something fun to give them.  On Monday we went to Grand Haven to the Great Harvest Bread Company.  You get to try a free sample of their bread and the one we tried was their Apple Pie Bread.  It's really good and so we got a loaf to take home.  As we were driving home I said to Steve "Man, I should have gotten loaves of these to give the ladies that watched the boys!"  I was really bummed because now that's what I wanted to get them.  So when we got home I decided I would just make my own Apple Pie Bread to give them.  It turned out pretty good so I thought I would share it with you. :)  Enjoy!

 

Apple Pie Bread

Ingredients: Flour, Shortening, Salt, Sugar, Yeast, Butter, Egg, Cinnamon, Apple Pie Filling

Sprinkle 2 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast (or one packet) on top of 1 cup of warm water (105 to 115 degrees).  Let it sit for 5 minutes

To  mixer bowl add 3 Tablespoons of sugar...

2 Tablespoons shortening...

1 egg...

1/2 teaspoon of salt...

and the yeast that should now look like this

And 1 1/2 cups of flour

Mix until smooth

With the mixer on low add 1 1/2 to 2 more cups of flour...

until a nice soft dough is formed

Add the dough to a greased bowl.  Turn the dough over so the dough is coated with cooking spray

Cover the bowl and let dough rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Whenever I have a dough that needs to rise I put it on a cookie rack with a pan of hot water underneath, works great. 

Pour the apple pie filling into a food processor (if you don't have a food processor a blender should work too)

Chop it until smooth..

Like this :)

Dough doubled in size

To a small bowl add 1 Tablespoon sugar...

and 1 teaspoon cinnamon...

And stir

Place the dough on a floured surface and kneed 8-10 times

To kneed take the dough...

fold in half...

and push with your wrist.  Turn the dough and repeat 8 times

Cut dough in half

Roll out each half until it is a 7x15 inch rectangle

For each loaf spread 2 Tablespoons softened butter on top

Then sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar mixture on top.  The 1 Tablespoon/1teaspoon mixture is for one loaf so you have to mix another one for the second loaf

Then spread the apple pie filling over both rolls

And then you just roll it up

Until it looks like this

Place in a greased loaf pan seam side down

Cover and let rise for 1 hour...

Until almost doubled in size.  Bake at 350 degrees for30-35 minutes

until the top is light brown and the bread sounds hollow when you tap the top

And there you go, two good looking Apple Pie Breads.

 

So for the ladies who watched our boys I made a basket with a loaf of bread and then I made the cookie dough from last week and put it in 9x9 square pans and cut them into 9 squares, wrapped them individually, and put them in with the loaf.  I thought it turned out pretty cute.

 

Apple Pie Bread (makes 2 loaves)

2 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast (or 1 package)

1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)

3 Tbs sugar

2 Tbs shortening

1 large egg

1/2 tsp salt

3 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

4 Tbs butter, softened

2 Tbs sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1 can Apple Pie Filling

 

Combine yeast and warm water in a bowl; let stand 5 minutes.  Combine yeast mixture, sugar, shortening, egg, salt, and half of flour in a mixer bowl.  Mix at low speed until smooth.  Gradually mix in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough.  Place dough in a well-greased bowl, turning to grease top.  Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.  Place raised dough onto a floured surface and knead 8 to 10 times.  Divide dough in half.  Roll each half into a 7x15 inch rectangle.  Spread 2 Tbs of softened butter onto each loaf.  Combine 2 Tbs sugar with 2 tsp cinnamon.  Sprinkle evenly over the loaves.  In a food processor chop up the apple pie filling until smooth.  Spread the filling over the loaves.  Roll up the dough starting at the narrow edge.  Pinch seams and ends together.  Place loaf, seam side down, in a greased loafpan.  Cover and let rise for 1 hour or until almost doubled in size.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until loaf sounds hollow when tapped.