APPLE BUTTER CROISSANT LOAF

WHAT’S BETTER THAN A WARM BUTTERY CROISSANT? A giant one—like loaf sized!

There’s no doubt about it. This is a project. That said, before writing this, I’ve made this loaf twice and it is actually a great sort of food as therapy recipe (I’m curious how many more times I’ve made it by the time you’re reading this). Please don’t get me wrong here, this is not a hard recipe, in fact, it’s really easy, it’s just time consuming. Think of it as a cross between a recipe and a crafts project. It’s the layering. Laying layer by layer is a labor of love, that I actually really loved doing. Just pop on a show or FaceTime someone while you’re doing it. It’s kinda great. What’s even greater is the finished loaf, IT’S INSANELY DELICIOUS. I honestly want to make a loaf for everyone I know just so they know how amazing it is. To paint a picture, if you’re ever had an apple cinnamon raisin rugelach, it’s like that in the form of a giant loaf—YOU’VE GOT TO TRY IT!

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APPLE BUTTER CROISSANT LOAF

Yield: 1 Loaf

Author: Michelle Williams

Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 1 H & 5 MTotal time: 1 H & 10 M

Ingredients

FOR THE FILLING

• Honey Crisp Apples (3, cored but NOT peeled, cut into chunks)
• Water (1 cup)
• Cinnamon Stick (1)
• Unsalted Butter (4 tablespoons, cut into cubes)
• Ground Cinnamon (1/2 teaspoon)
• Ground Nutmeg (1/2 teaspoon)
• Golden Raisins (1/2 cup)

FOR THE PASTRY

• Puff Pastry Dough (2 sheets)
• All-Purpose Flour (for dusting your Surface)
• Unsalted Butter (1/2 tablespoon, melted)
• Demerara Sugar (1 tablespoon)

KITCHEN ITEMS

• Cutting Board
• Chefs Knife
• Stock Pot
• Wooden Spoon
• Immersion Blender
• Rolling Pin
• Parchment Paper (to line your loaf pan)
• Loaf Pan
• Mini Rubber Spatula
• Pastry Brush
• Tin Foil (a piece to loosely drape over your loaf pan)

Instructions

TO MAKE YOUR FILLING

1. Put your apples in your stock pot.
2. Add 1 cup of water and your cinnamon stick. Cover pot.
3. Over high heat, bring your water to a rapid boil. Then lower to a simmer and let cook for 20 minutes.
4. Remove your cinnamon stick. Do NOT strain out any liquid.
5. Directly in your stock pot, use your immersion blender to puree your apples.
6. Add your butter, ground cinnamon and nutmeg. Use a spoon to fully mix them in.

TO PREPARE YOUR CROISSANT LAYERS

1. Line your loaf pan with a piece of parchment paper. Cut it so that it fits across the long side of the pan and flops over its edge. This will help you to pull out your loaf at the end.
2. Butter the inside of your pan.
3. Dust a clean surface, like your counter, with flour.
4. Start with one piece of your dough. Place it on the floured surface and use your rolling pin to flatten it to an even 1/4 inch all round.
5. Use your knife to cut your dough into a grid of 2 inch squares. Pile them up and set them to the side. Repeat this to the second piece of dough.

TO LAYER AND BAKE YOUR CROISSANT LOAF

1. When you are half way through layering your loaf, preheat your oven to 350º.
2. Once you have all of your dough squares, one at a time, roll one so flat that you can almost see through it and it is as wide as your loaf pan. Definitely make sure to occasionally dust your counter with more flour. You don’t want to have struggle to peel your rolled dough from it.
3. Sit your loaf pan so that it is standing on one of the shorter sides with the opening of the loaf pan facing you. It is not at traditional way you would hold a pan. I know it’s weird so if you’re feeling like you’re doing something weird, you’re right on track.
4. Lay your piece of dough in the short side now “base” of the loaf pan.
5. Use your mini rubber spatula to smear a thin layer of your apple butter on the dough. You want this layer to be very thin or it will take longer to bake because of the moisture of the apples.
6. Place a few raisins onto the apple butter.
7. Roll and layer another piece of dough over your apple raisin layer. Repeat this over and over and over and over and over and over again until your loaf pan is full.
8. Use your pastry brush to brush the top of your loaf with your butter.
9. Sprinkle your Demerara sugar evenly over the top of your loaf.
10. Drape a piece of tin foil over your loaf pan (it doesn’t have to be crumpled to cling to the pan, just leave it flat. This is to keep your loaf from burning on the edges).
11. Bake for 30 minutes.
12. Remove the foil. Bake until your loaf is golden with a slightly darker color on the edges that are sticking up—about another 10 minutes.
13. Let cool fully to room temperature before removing it from the pan. This will help your apple filling congeal.
14. Slowly pull up on your parchment paper to help extract your loaf from your loaf pan.
15. Enjoy with coffee in the morning and ice cream at night.

Did you make this recipe?

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