preheat oven to 350°

make the apple filling first:

peel,core,slice the apples very thin and then cut in half.

toss with the rest of the ingredients

bake in a pan for 15 minutes. remove and set aside.

(leave oven on you will use it to bake the braid)

Make the bread:

while filling is baking, begin the bread dough.

mix the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

add the water and oil and mix the dough for 6 minutes with an electric mixer on med speed.

spray a clean surface with cooking spray and turn the dough out onto the surface.

knead the dough briefly to give it a smooth surface.

spray a rolling pin with cooking spray and roll dough into a 12 x 16 (aprox) rectangle

lift onto a greased cooking sheet or baking stone.

use a pizza cutter or knife to cut 1" strips into the sides leaving the center third uncut.

spread the apple filling down rhe middle third of the dough

fold the strips of dough across the middle criss crossing over the filling

bake at.350° for 25 minutes or until golden brown

remove feom oven, let cool while mixing the glaze.

make the glaze:

whisk together all the ingredients, and pour over the entire braid.

transfer braid onto a wire cooling rack to keep braid from getting soggy on the bottom from sitting in the pooled glaze

slice and serve (with vanilla icecream and drizzled maple syrup)