The Best Apple Bread
Apple Pie Bread is a homemade, sweet and moist dessert bread that has a layer of yummy brown sugar with chunks of fresh apples.
AN APPLE PIE INSPIRED BREAD RECIPE
This Apple Pie Bread is AMAZING! After you make it the first time, you are gonna be hooked (so consider yourself warned.) It’s a simple homemade sweet bread filled with a layer of cinnamon sugar and fresh apples and topped with more cinnamon sugar and apples. The fresh apples combined with the sweet bread almost makes it taste like cake that is shaped into bread form.
TIPS FOR MAKING APPLE BREAD:
- Feel free to use your favorite apples in this. I am using a couple of Rome apples. They are great for baking since they are slightly sweet and tart. But these aren’t always available at the store so a good substitute might be a Gala apple or even Golden Delicious or Granny Smith varieties.
- You can switch out the apples in this recipe for pears or even peaches.
- Light brown sugar or dark brown sugar can be used. Dark brown sugar just contains a bit more molasses than light brown sugar.
- Allow the bread to cool completely before slicing. It cuts easier when it is cooled. However, if you can’t wait – then dig into it warm, it may just be a bit more crumbly.
- If you want to make your apple bread more flavorful, you can add chopped nuts, raisins, or dried cranberries to the batter.
- To keep your apple bread moist, store it in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Oven times do vary with baked goods. The factor depends on many things like if you have an electric, gas or convection oven. It also changes depending if you use a metal pan versus ceramic or Pyrex. It also varies depending on which oven rack you use. A toothpick inserted should not have any wet batter on it. Start with the lowest baking time and go up from there. Use your best judgement based on your own personal knowledge of your particular oven.
Yes, you can freeze apple bread for up to 2 months. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap then aluminum foil, and place it in a freezer-safe bag or container.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- brown sugar
- ground cinnamon
- sugar
- salted butter
- eggs
- vanilla extract
- all-purpose flour
- baking powder
- milk
- chopped apples
HOW TO MAKE APPLE BREAD:
Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray a large loaf pan (about 9×5-inch) with nonstick cooking spray (I like the kind with flour in it – like Baker’s Joy.) In a bowl, mix together brown sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
Using a stand mixer (or in a large bowl with an electric mixer), mix together sugar and butter until smooth. Mix in eggs and vanilla extract until fully combined. Finally, stir in flour and baking powder and milk. Mix until combined. Pour half the batter into prepared loaf pan. Cover batter with half the diced apples. Press the apples down slightly into the batter.
Sprinkle the apples with half the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Pour the remaining batter over the apple layer.
Top with remaining diced apples (again, pushing the apples gently into the batter.)
Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon sugar mixture on top.
Bake for about 50-60 minutes (until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.) Allow to cool completely before removing from baking pan.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
- Easy Apple Pie Cinnamon Rolls
- Instant Pot Southern Fried Apples
- Apple Dessert Pizza
- Apple Pie Poke Cake
- Crock Pot Caramel Apple Dip
- Upside Down Apple Cake
- Fried Apples
- Irish Apple Cake
- Cinnamon Roll Cake
- Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread
- Dollywood Cinnamon Bread
- Cinnamon Bread
- Coconut Bread
- Apple Spice Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting
- 40 Best Fall Apple Recipes
Originally published: October 2016
Updated photos & republished: August 2020
The Best Apple Bread
Ingredients
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ⅔ cup sugar
- ½ cup salted butter (1 stick), softened to room temperature
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup milk
- 1 ¼ cup peeled and chopped apples (into 2-inch chunks) about 2 small apples (Fuji or Granny Smith)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray a large loaf pan (about a 9×5-inch) with nonstick cooking spray (I like the kind with flour in it – like Baker's Joy.)
- In a bowl, mix together 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer (or in a large bowl with an electric mixer), mix together 2/3 cup sugar and 1/2 cup salted butter (1 stick), softened to room temperature until smooth.
- Stir in 2 large eggs and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract until fully combined.
- Finally, stir in 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and 1/2 cup milk. Mix until combined.
- Pour half the batter into prepared loaf pan.
- Cover batter with half the 1 1/4 cup peeled and chopped apples (into 2-inch chunks) diced apples. Press the apples down slightly into the batter.
- Sprinkle the apples with half the cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Pour the remaining batter over the apple layer.
- Top with remaining diced apples (again, pushing the apples gently into the batter.)
- Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon sugar mixture on top.
- Bake for about 50-60 minutes (until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.) Allow to cool completely before removing from baking pan.
Video
Notes
- Please note, oven times do vary with baked goods. The factor depends on many things like if you have an electric, gas or convection oven. It also changes depending if you use a metal pan versus ceramic or Pyrex. It also varies depending on which oven rack you use. A toothpick inserted should not have any wet batter on it. Start with the lowest baking time and go up from there. Use your best judgement based on your own personal knowledge of your particular oven.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
This bread was awesome
Yay! Thanks so much for coming back to comment Jenny!
These bread is absolutely amazing.
Yourecipe looks interesting but I ony have unsalted butter on hand. What should I do?
Faye
A stick of butter has 1/4 teaspoon of salt in it so just add that into the batter.
This is the best bread I’ve ever tasted. Everyone I have shared it with loves it. I’ve made it a few times and it is so moist that it doesn’t slice well. Instead it crumbles. I am making more today and I will try using less apples to see if it slices better.
Thanks so very much Linda! If you allow it to cool completely, it will slice easier for you. When you slice any bread while still even a little warm, it will crumble. Hope that helps and I’m so happy you love it!
The apple bread recipe worked out perfect! Light, fluffy and yummy! I forgot to add the brown sugar mix in the middle but still turned out fabulous 🙂
Brandie, I love your recipes 🙂 The instructions are nice and clear and I usually have the ingredients on hand. You are the only person I follow. Thank you!
Awww Laura – I can’t tell you how much that means to me. Thank you for trusting me and my recipes. It means more than you know!
OMG best apple bread ever! Holy cow, next time I’m quadrupling this recipe! lol
Brandie, you did it again, girl!! This is soooo yummy! I can’t wait for coffee in the morning..this is going to go so well together! Thanks for all you do!
Yay!!! You are so sweet Lori – thanks so much!!
You say to use a large loaf pan. Can you be a little more specific? The largest I have is 10″. Is that too big?
A 10″ should work just fine
Delicious! It fell apart pretty easily (I assume because of the Apple chunks) but it was totally worth it for the flavor!
So delicious. Great texture and taste. Will be making this again!
Love hearing that – thanks so much Judy!
Can I add walnuts to this ?
If you like them, sure.
This was delicious! I want to make multiple loaves and freeze them. Have you tried freezing and does it work with this recipe?
Hi Hollie! To be honest, I have not tried freezing them. But I think they should freeze okay. I am so happy you love the recipe! Perhaps someone else on here has frozen them and can tell us how well it did for them. 🙂
Oh I can’t wait to make this! I usually make breads for Christmas gifts for neighbors and friends. This will be perfect.
My 4 yr old grandson said it was the best thing he ever tasted!! Everyone loved it!
Woo hoo! That makes me so happy to hear – thank you!!
Taste really good! I put it in a cupcake pan rather than a bread pan and turned out so cute!! I am even tempted to put a little icing on top! They are gifts for my neighbors!
What a wonderful gift Ronney! What a great neighbor you are!! Thank you for coming back to comment. I am thrilled you love this recipe!
Did I do something wrong? While cooling my loaf shrunk below the crust of cinnamon/sugar topping, which then fell off in chunks . . .
These types of questions are always hard because I’m not in the kitchen with you to watch every single step so they aren’t easy to answer. It could be a few things. Maybe it was cooked on an upper rack and the outside got done first before the inside was completely done. That is usually the case with collapsing baked goods. Did you insert a toothpick or something similar to make sure it was completely done in the center? Also, the pan might’ve been too small to where the bread didn’t have enough room to properly expand and therefore didn’t cook properly. It really could be a few more things but like I said, unless I am watching you, its hard to say when it comes to baked goods. The good news is, if it is fully baked in the center, it should still taste good. Just not as pretty to slice.
I used to buy this type of bread, but finally figured out since I make everything else from scratch, why not this?! I actually make it as a base for the most incredible french toast you will ever have or make. I do slice it thick and leave it out overnight, allowing it to get a bit stale. It takes the custard better. I think this recipe may be one of those that captured my girlfriend’s heart.
Brandi,
Looks like a great recipe! One question, why is the milk added after dry ingredients? I am old school and this just doesn’t make sense to me! Thanks
You’ll have to ask my Grandma. 🙂
I’d like to give these as gifts, making more loaves in smaller pans, how long would you recommend they be baked?
H Julie! I haven’t tested it in smaller loaves, I am sorry. So I really couldn’t tell you. It’s one of those things that would need to be tested first since baking is more of an exact science than cooking. You may need to play this one by ear and just figure it out as you go and as it bakes. They are done when a toothpick comes out clean.
Thank you so much for the amazing recipe! I can’t believe this doesn’t have more reviews. It’s seriously the best apple bread ever! I prepared it for a friend for Mother’s Day and she couldn’t believe it was homemade, it looked so profesional and was so delicious. And for me I prepared another loaf replacing the butter for apple sauce, since I can’t eat grease at the moment, and it was perfect. Thanks again!
My husband ate the entire loaf by himself in one day!!! He’s 6’ tall and weighs 147 pounds. This is a real winner.
This is THE best apple bread recipe ever!!! I’ve been spreading the love with it❤️❤️