Applesauce Honey Nut Bread

I was clearing out a stash of recipes that I've cut out of magazines and newspapers today, and I found one for Applesauce Honey Nut Bread. According to the recipe, it's "from the kitchen of 'The Secret Life of Bees.'" I have no idea where I got this recipe, but after looking over the ingredients, I had to make it.

The thing that appealed most to me was the simplicity and wholesomeness of the recipe. For example, I had all the ingredients on hand except the golden raisins, so I just left those out. There are no special gadgets required; you don't even have to pull out an electric mixer or even so much as a zester. All you need are a couple of bowls, measuring spoons and cups, and a loaf pan or two. And the simplicity of the ingredients matches the simplicity of the preparation: they are fruit-of-the-earth type of things (except for maybe the Bisquick!), and that appealed to me today, too. Plus, honey is probably one of my favorite things (I loved that the batter smelled so strongly of honey as I stirred it), and I don't know of anything more wholesome and homey than oatmeal.

Lately, I've been realizing that I desire more of a simple life. I want to live outside of the city one day. I want to have a garden. It just seems more wholesome to me to say goodbye to traffic and close quarters and just have more space, appreciate God's earth, and simply lead a different kind of life. That's what this recipe made me think about today, and that's why my house is starting to smell like bread....

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Applesauce Honey Nut Bread

2-1/2 cups Bisquick
1 cup quick cooking oats
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten (I just stirred it in with the applesauce)
1 cup applesauce
1 cup honey
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour two loaf pans.

Combine Bisquick, oats, baking powder, and salt; make a well in the center of the mixture. In a separate bowl, combine egg, applesauce, and honey; add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. Stir in raisins and walnuts. Spoon batter into loaf pans. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes, remove from pans, and cool on wire racks.

The finished product: