If you live near me, lock your doors or you will find apples on your kitchen table. They’ll be oddly shaped, bruised apples that are falling from my apple tree with abandon (after two years with no apples). If you have a surplus of apples, like I do, I recommend making this apple bread. Once you’ve tasted this bread, you’ll wish that you had more apples, so that you could stockpile loaves of it.
My apple bread is a variation of this banana bread recipe. It makes really moist and flavorful loaves.
I’ve been making this apple bread for a long time, but I recently added the cinnamon sugar topping and there is no going back. You can leave it off, but adding a small amount to the top of the loaf is a magical addition (let’s just call it fairy dust).
Tips
- Use any apple variety that you like. Some apples will melt into the bread more than others. For example, Macintosh apples tend to cook into the bread, while a harder apple like Granny Smith will not break down as much.
- I recommend chopping the apples into really small pieces, so that they do mostly merge into the bread. If you want distinct pieces of apple, throw in some pieces that are a little larger (about a 1/2 inch in diameter). I wouldn’t add a lot of large pieces or the loaf slices will fall apart.
- I prefer just a hint of nutmeg in my bread. If you love nutmeg, add a little bit more than what I recommend.
- I always keep a jar of cinnamon sugar on hand and I don’t measure the ingredients when I make it. Adjust my ratio of cinnamon to sugar if you like.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- Small pinch of nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1/4 cup applesauce
- 2 tablespoons sour cream or creme fraîche
- 1 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 large apples, peeled, cored and chopped into small pieces (about 1/4 inch)
- 1 cup walnuts
For the cinnamon sugar topping:
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
Directions
Make the cinnamon sugar topping by mixing the two ingredients together.
Grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Sift the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and salt together into a bowl and set it aside.
Add the sugar and eggs to the bowl of stand mixer fitted with a whip attachment and beat them on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes). If you use an electric hand mixer, it will take about 8 minutes.
Turn the mixer down to the lowest speed and slowly drizzle the oil into the sugar and egg mixture, blending it until it is just incorporated. Do not put the oil in all at once. You want to keep the mixture airy and light.
Add the sour cream, vanilla and applesauce to the sugar, eggs and oil and blend on a low speed until just incorporated.
Fold in the dry ingredients. When blended, fold in the apples and then the walnuts.
Pour the batter into the loaf pan. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar topping evenly over the loaf.
Bake for approximately 1 hour. The bread is done when a toothpick stuck into the center comes out clean.
Cool the bread in the pan for about 30 minutes. Transfer it from the pan to a cooling rack and cool a little longer.
Tightly wrap the bread to store it. You can keep it at room temperature for several days or you can freeze it.
Related Posts
Try one of these recipes for breakfast or with afternoon tea:
- Flour Bakery’s Banana Bread
- Lemon Sourdough Bread
- Mango Cardamom Bread
- Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
- Ricotta with Raspberries, Nectarines and Honey
Here’s another delicious apple recipe: Croissant Apple Pudding.