Cinnamon Rhubarb Bread with Brown-Butter Glaze

For the cinnamon rhubarb bread:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly spray the insides of two 8 x 4 inch loaf pans and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

In a medium mixing bowl, beat eggs. Stir in sugar, oil, applesauce, and vanilla.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, stirring until just moistened, taking care to not over-mix. Reserve a few pieces of the rhubarb. Fold the rest of the rhubarb into the batter and then divide batter evenly between the two prepared pans. Poke the reserved rhubarb pieces into the top of the bread, for a pretty effect.

Bake about 60–65 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center of each loaf comes out clean. Cool in the pans on wire racks for 10 minutes.

Loosen edges and remove loaves from pans. Cool loaves completely on wire racks.

For the brown-butter glaze:
Once the loaves have cooled, prepare the brown-butter glaze. First, pour half-and-half into a small bowl and set aside. This is just to take the chill off, while you prepare the rest of the glaze.

Add sifted powdered sugar to a medium-sized bowl and set aside.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, warm butter until golden brown and foaming, stirring occasionally. This should take about 6–8 minutes. The butter should smell delicious and toasty. If it smells burnt, you went too far.

Carefully pour browned butter into the powdered sugar, leaving all but the darkest butter sediment behind. Add 1 tablespoon of the half-and-half, and then add the vanilla. Stir vigorously until smooth. You want the glaze to be somewhat thick, but easily pourable. If it seems too thick, add a  bit more of the half-and-half until you like the consistency. Drizzle the glaze over the loaves while the glaze is still warm.