When Mary Jo was 9 until she was 13 she was in 4-H, and every Saturday she would make 8 loaves of bread for her 4-H project. That was enough bread for toast everyday, school lunches for 3 growing kids. Lunch for her dad who took sandwiches to work. Bread, butter and jam for dessert. And occasionally, her mom would make applesauce pineapple toasted bread cups. Her dad, Harold, loved desserts and I’m sure that this would have been a special treat. Mary Jo isn’t sure where her mom got this recipe, but she speculates that she heard it on WAVN radio (the local Stillwater, MN station) sometime back in the mid 1960’s. So here’s a recreation of this tasty, low calorie dessert.
I started with a store bought cottage white bread. The bread you use should be somewhat soft so you can stuff it into the muffin pan. Cut the crust off, then take a rolling pin and flatten the bread pieces.
Lightly brush both sides of the bread with melted butter, then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
Carefully fold the bread into the muffin pan, which is lightly sprayed with cooking oil. Fold the bread onto itself to make a fairly complete cup. You could cut circles out of the bread to make neat little cups or just leave it rustic like I did. When you eat this, I don’t think neatness counts! Place in a preheated 350° oven for 15 minutes, until the bread is nicely toasted and firm. Remove the toast cups from the pan and put on a rack to cool.
The crushed pineapple gets strained and most of the liquid is pressed out, then it is combined with the natural applesauce and a little cinnamon is mixed in. Store in the refrigerator until used.
All that is left to do is fill the toasted bread cups with the fruit mixture, spray on some ReddiWip, and eat. The ReddiWip adds about 30 calories to the dessert. Real whipped cream would add about 200 calories.
Fix up some applesauce pineapple toasted bread cups for yourself. Hey, you could toast up some bread cups and add just about any fruit topping you could think of. It’s also a dessert you could get your kids to help with. Fun project and yummy to eat.
Ingredients
- 6 slices white bread , crust removed
- 2 tbsp melted butter
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon , divided
- 1 20 oz . can crushed pineapple , Dole crushed pineapple in pineapple juice
- 1 cup natural applesauce , Mott's natural applesauce, (no added sugar)
- ReddiWip real whipped cream in a can
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350°
- Mix sugar with 1/8 to 1/4 tsp cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Flatten bread slices with a rolling pin
- Lightly brush both sides of the bread with butter and sprinkle one side with cinnamon sugar
- Place the bread slices cinnamon side up in a muffin pan which has been sprayed with cooking oil, folding the bread to make a cup.
- Place in oven for 15 mins. or until the bread is nicely toasted and firm.
- Remove toasted bread from the pan and place on a rack to cool.
- Strain the crushed pineapple, pressing with a rubber spatula to remove most of the liquid
- Mix the pineapple with the applesauce in a bowl and add 1/4 tsp cinnamon, refrigerate until used.
- Spoon fruit into the cooled toast cups, add whipped topping and serve.
- Toast cups can be stored at room temperature in a tightly sealed plastic bag for 2 days.
Notes
This is just as good as I remember it. I think my Mom was dieting at the time that she first started making this recipe and it was a good dessert that wouldn’t overwhelm her calorie “budget”. You could eliminate the cinnamon sugar and use this for a delicious appetizer with a savory filling.