home recipes: GINGERBREAD LOAF

Ultra moist, perfectly spiced holiday gingerbread loaf with rich cream cheese frosting!

Soooo I’ve been a little MIA this week – whoops! Thanksgiving festivities and baby blessing preparation madness took over about one hundred and three percent of my brain the past few days. Plus: turkey coma. Am I right??

Just like that Thanksgiving came and went and now it’s Christmastown. I luuuuuv me some Christmas everything. Now that turkey day is over, I’m on board with the lights and the tunes and the SMELLS of Christmas. I basically want my house to smell of cinnamon and gingerbread from now until January one.

And if it lingers a little while longer, I wouldn’t be upset about that.

Ultra moist, perfectly spiced holiday gingerbread loaf with rich cream cheese frosting!

INGREDIENTS

1 ½ cups flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
2 ¼ teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup unsweetened applesauce

frosting

3 tablespoons butter
3 cups powdered sugar
2 ounces cream cheese
½ teaspoon vanilla
4-6 tablespoons milk

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x5 inch bread pan with nonstick foil and spray with nonstick spray.
In a medium bowl whisk together flour, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, salt, and baking soda. In a large bowl cream together butter, sugar, and applesauce.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until blended. Pour mixture into prepared baking pan. Bake for 45-55 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool on a cooling rack.
For the frosting, in a medium bowl cream together butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk until smooth and spreadable. Spread over cooled gingerbread loaf. Allow to set up for 1 hour (or if you can't wait you can serve it immediately, but I like it best when the frosting has a chance to set up a bit!). Store in airtight container.

More Deliciouse Recipe GINGERBREAD LOAF @ lecremedelacrumb.com