Apple Pomegranate Spice Bread

Pomegranate season is here! Get ready for a cascade of POM-containing recipes! I'd never considered that you could bake pomegranates into bread (or muffins and desserts for that matter)! Since I still have apples sitting in my fridge left from our apple-picking adventures, this loaf made perfect sense.

I was a little leery of what seemed like a small amount of sugar going into the batter. For a whole loaf of sweet bread, it isn't that much. But I was pleasantly surprised when I took my first bite of this spiced apple-pomegranate loaf and it was sweet and mellow. The pomegranates hold their shape and retain their bright ruby color. They also add a pleasant surprising tang!

This loaf actually falls more into the "bread" category than the "dessert" one. It can be made with whole wheat, isn't too sugary, and has very little fat. But it tastes like a treat! I used slightly more apples (and I left the skin on- it wasn't noticeable) and POM arils than the original recipe called for. And it suited me, so I updated the recipe.

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
pinch ground cloves
pinch ground nutmeg
1/4 cup evaporated cane sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar (make sure to break up any clumps)
1 egg, whisked
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp. (5/8 cup) milk
2 Tbsp. unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup apples, finely diced (I used part Granny Smith, part Honeycrisp)
1/2-3/4 cup pomegranate arils

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a 9x5 bread pan with cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl mix together all the dry ingredients (flour through sugars). In a separate bowl, whisk to combine the butter, applesauce, milk, and egg. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients, stirring just until blended. Fold in the apples and pomegranate arils. Pour the batter into the bread pan.

3. Bake in preheated oven for about 40 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack before slicing.

Makes 1 loaf.

(Adapted from Streaming Gourmet)