Applesauce Bread with Apple Cinnamon Butter

Easy as cake. Well, it's more like a bread than a cake, but there's plenty of sugar, and the butter is just divine. I got this from an old Pilsbury cookbook, and it was a banana bread recipe that intrigued me. It was alright, but it wasn't until after I decided to replace the bananas with applesauce that I was able to conjure up a hit.

You will need:

- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup margarine
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup applesauce
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/3 cup milk
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup chopped nuts, if desired
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom only of a 9x5 or 8x4-inch loaf pan.

In large bowl, cream sugar and margarine until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs; blend in applesauce, milk, and cinnamon.

In small bowl, combine flour, nuts, baking soda and salt; mix well. Add to the creamed mixture; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 minutes, and then remove. Cool it completely on a wire rack, and then stick it in the fridge with some plastic wrap.

For the butter, just mix about two spoonfuls of applesauce and a generous amount of margarine, and mix well. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and stick it in the fridge.

My old lady loves throwing a slice or two of this in the microwave and spreading a cool, slick layer of this apple-butter on top. Mmm, mmm...great homemade munchies!