5-Seed Applesauce and Honey Bread...and one honey of a summer day!

If your idea of a good summer day is 95+ degrees, wearing jeans, a long-sleeved shirt, hat, boots, gloves, and a BEE KEEPING SUIT, well, you are in for a treat.

Kiddo and I were lucky enough to take a beekeeping class this summer.  There's nothing more fun to a teenage boy than spending an afternoon with his mom while wearing a ridiculous suit.  Promise.

Actually, we BOTH ended up loving the class.  We learned so much about these amazing little creatures...and came away with a whole new appreciation for them.

Here are their hives.  They're filled with frames which the bees use to make and store honey...and make new bees!

And I just love this little guy:

I'm pretty sure that he's saying, "Hi, Honey...I'm home!"  *ba-dum-chhhhh*

Maybe you're like us and don't intend to start beekeeping right now, or maybe you're like my friends Amy and Robyn and are ready to have your own hives.  Either way, take a class if you get a chance.  It's a lot of fun, BEElieve me. ;)

The bread.  I'm a bread girl.  As in, if I had to pick one food to eat for the rest of my life, it would be bread.  This is the perfect bread for breakfast.  It's chock-full of seeds (flax, sunflower, pumpkin, sesame & poppy seeds), studded with chunky almonds, baked with whole wheat flour, and sweetened with applesauce and, you guessed it, honey.

Not too sweet, not too heavy...this bread tastes "healthy" to me...in a good way.  And, healthy in a way that might involve cream cheese frosting.

There are a few options for enjoying it.

1. Slice, toast, and spread with butter.  This is actually my favorite way.  Buttered toast is my ultimate comfort food.
2. Slather that baby with some honey cream cheese frosting.
3. Toast the bread and use the cream cheese frosting as a schmear, like a bagel. 

I love, love, love that this recipe makes two loaves.  Enjoy one now, wrap the other, and pop it in the freezer.  When I have breakfasts pre-made and stocked in the freezer, I feel like I'm QUEEN of the WORLD!!!  How about you?!?

 
5-Seed Applesauce & Honey Bread
{makes 2 loaves}

for the bread:
1/4 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1 TBSP flax seeds
1 TBSP sesame seeds
1 TBSP poppy seeds
1/2 cup blanched whole almonds, roughly chopped
3 cups white whole wheat flour
1 TBSP baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
3/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
4 eggs
1 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup buttermilk

for the honey cream cheese frosting/schmear (optional):
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup salted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 & 2/3 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 325.  Grease two 8" loaf pans; set aside.

Roughly chop the sunflower, pumpkin and flax seeds. (You can also use a coffee grinder to pulse the flax to crack the seeds.)  Place in a large bowl.

Add the chopped almonds, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and cloves.  Stir together and set aside.

In another large bowl, whisk the oil and applesauce together until combined.  Add the eggs one at a time, whisking each well.  Whisk in the honey and vanilla.  Finally, whisk in the buttermilk.

{I typically use local Texas honey, but I used this organic honey from Wholesome Sweeteners for this recipe.  It was rich and flavorful...and just perfect for this bread. Not an ad, just good stuff.}

Stir the dry mixture into the wet, stirring just until the dry ingredients are fully incorporated.  Divide evenly between the two prepared loaf pans.

Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove from the pans and place on a wire cooling rack to cool completely.


For the honey cream cheese frosting:
Beat the cream cheese and butter until completely combined and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add in the honey and vanilla.  Beat together, scraping down the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed.  Gradually add in the powdered sugar.  Chill.

Spread onto the top of the bread, or place in a bowl to be used as a topping for toasted bread.

You know you want one of these outfits...

If you are in the Houston area, you can find beekeeping classes here.
Across the US, check this link for classes in your area.

***Kiddo & I attended a class for free, but I was not compensated for this post.  I just thought you all might enjoy the idea of attending one, too.***

---