This cozy recipe for Apple Pie Bread is the perfect way to bring in the season!
What better way to celebrate fall than with steaming mugs of cider, pumpkin spice lattes, and of course, a thick slice of this delicious bread. Apple bread is tender and moist with lots of sweet cinnamon flavor just like a piece of apple pie!
A Fall Bread You Need to Try
- Warm and spicy, sweet and simple to make, this recipe is a winner all the way around!
- Apple pie bread is like the bread version of an apple fritter with lots of cinnamon apple flavor, but it is quicker to prep with no deep fryer required!
- A slice of apple pie bread makes a perfect snack for a lunchbox surprise, a breakfast or even a special Sunday morning french toast.
- It can be made into a dessert with a dollop of whipped cream and a simple drizzle of Easy Caramel Sauce.
What’s in Apple Pie Bread?
APPLES The best apples for baking are tart and firm, crispy and crunchy. Granny Smith always fits the bill, but this recipe works well with a sweeter apple, too, like Honeycrisp or Fuji. Applesauce can be replaced with 1/2 cup butter for an even richer quickbread.
CINNAMON SUGAR Brown sugar and cinnamon are layered into the cake with apples, and also used for the tasty streusel topping. For something more complex tasting, try using Apple Pie Spice instead of plain cinnamon.
DAIRY Butter, eggs, and milk add rich flavor to the bread that makes it taste almost like a brioche, but much more crumbly with a cake-like texture.
ADD-INS In place of the applesauce, try adding leftover Cranberry Sauce or make an apple raisin bread. Mix in pumpkin puree in place of applesauce, either from a can or homemade. Try a mashed banana for a new take on an old fave. Shredded zucchini will taste great as well.
TOPPING Simple brown sugar and cinnamon make a delicious topping, especially when brushed with butter during baking. Add some chopped walnuts or pecans to the streusel for extra crunch, if desired. If you have leftover cinnamon sugar, you can use that too.
How to Make Apple Bread
The only machine needed for this quick bread recipe is a hand mixer. Just chop, mix, and bake:
- Peel & chop apples, prepare the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
- Cream butter & sugar, add other wet ingredients.
- Mix, then add dry ingredients to the wet mixture.
- Layer batter, apples, & topping in a bread pan.
- Bake as per recipe below.
Best Quick Bread Tips
- One of the best tips for fluffy quick bread is to be sure not to overmix the batter. It might seem wrong to not mix thoroughly—but for quickbread, it really works!
- When adding mix-ins, be sure that the substituted ingredient has the same basic texture/dryness/wetness as the original ingredient. Then add it in the same amount as the recipe calls for. Nobody likes bread to turn out tasting like pudding. (Unless making a delicious Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce, of course!)
Serve this bread with apple butter, cinnamon butter, pumpkin butter, or honey butter.
How to Store
Apple pie bread stores well. Wrap it carefully, or cover it in an airtight container and it will keep on the counter for two days. If it’s not all gone by then, move it to the refrigerator so the apples stay tasting fresh.
Apple bread can be frozen, simply seal the entire loaf in a zippered freezer bag, or wrap and freeze individual slices for a quick grab-and-go snack.
Delicious Apple Dessert Recipes
- Classic Apple Pie – easy to make
- Easy Apple Cake Recipe – perfect for the holidays
- Apple Crisp – freezer friendly
- Apple Cheesecake Pie – sweet & creamy
- Apple Hand Pies – ready in under 30 minutes
Did you make this Warm Apple Bread? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Warm Apple Pie Bread (Apple Bread)
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ tablespoon cinnamon
- ⅔ cup brown sugar divided
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup butter softened
- ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce note: you can use ½ cup butter and skip the applesauce if you prefer
- 2 eggs well beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ⅓ cup milk
- 1 large apple (or 2 small), peeled and chopped
- 1 tablespoon butter melted
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour an 8×4 loaf pan
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Combine cinnamon with ⅓ cup of the brown sugar in a small bowl and set aside.
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With mixer on medium, cream white sugar, remaining brown sugar and butter until fluffy. Mix in applesauce (if using), beaten eggs and vanilla.
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Stir together flour and baking powder. Add flour to egg mixture along with milk and stir just until combined. Do not overmix!
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Pour half of the batter into a greased and floured loaf pan. Sprinkle with ½ of the apples and ½ of the cinnamon mixture.
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Stir the remaining apples into the remaining batter and pour into the pan. Top with remaining cinnamon mixture.
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Bake approximately 40 minutes. Brush topping with melted butter. Continue baking an additional 5-10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
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Let cool 10 minutes and remove from pan.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Bread, Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American
© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Originally published August, 2013
Adapted from Allrecipes
More Quick Bread Recipes You’ll Love
- Zucchini Bread
- Pecan Coconut Banana Bread
- Easy Banana Bread
- Chocolate Pumpkin Bread
- Chocolate Banana Bread
Super easy and very good- great way to use up apples from our tree in the fall- freezing a couple of loaves to be eaten over winter.
When using the applesauce, do I use the sweetened or unsweetened applesauce?
Either will work, I usually use unsweetened.
This sounds amazing! How much of each should I add if I was to add some shredded zucchini and apple sauce?
Hi Lorna, I would use ¼ cup of applesauce as outline in the recipe. For zucchini I would add approximately ½ – 1 cup, shredded. I hope that helps!
Yummy! Even better the next day.
I made this last weekend. The topping was off the charts delicious. The bread was very good. I gave most of it to our daughter and son-in-law and two days later they asked if I was planning on making it again soon. They absolutely loved it.
So yummy! I’ve made this a few times making it tonight actually! Haha
I guess my only question is
I don’t have applesauce this time around
Would you use 1/2 cup butter and the 1/4 cup you have listed? Or just 1/2 cup butter total♀️
1/2 cup plus the 1/4 cup listed, Ellie!
I also had the issue of the top coming off and the bottom staying stuck in pan. Definitely recommend parchment in the pan. Besides that- this recipe is a keeper. I rarely make comments, but this is soooo good I had to.
Thank you so much, Rachael!