Apple Bread
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With a hint of spice and everything nice (including juicy apple bits), this easy and quick apple bread recipe is moist with a tender-crisp crust on top.
My family has always loved quick bread recipes (hello, pumpkin bread and banana bread). They make a delicious snack, a simple dessert, or a great quick bite for breakfast as you head out the door. This is the best apple bread recipe as it has a taste very much like my apple spice muffins and greets your family with a heavenly aroma as soon as they walk in the door. It bakes up moist and tender, studded with juicy bits of chopped apple, with a decadent soft crisp crust on top. It’s great on its own or spread with a smear of butter or apple butter.
Like my apple spice muffins, this is a recipe you can use any kind of apple you want in, even apples that are going a little soft. What other ingredients do you need? Just a bunch of kitchen staples you probably already have on hand, like sugar, flour, vegetable oil, milk, vanilla extract, eggs, allspice, and cinnamon.
If the ingredients aren’t simple enough, the instructions are just as simple! All you need to do is mix the ingredients together, pop the batter in a loaf pan, and wait for it to bake. I mean, they don’t call it apple quick bread for nothing, right? But I guess we could also call it easy apple bread as well, right?
In the interest of being neighborly, I also like to double this so I have one loaf to keep and one to give away as a nice surprise to someone who would enjoy a little pick me up. Who’s ready to get baking?
Recipe Ingredients
- Apples
- Sugar
- Self-rising flour (see my FAQs for how to make homemade self-rising flour).
- Vegetable oil
- Milk
- Vanilla
- Eggs
- Allspice
- Cinnamon
How to Make Quick Apple Bread
Peel and dice your fresh apples, then place them in a large bowl.
Then add in the wet ingredients, including the eggs…
Oil…
Milk…
And vanilla.
Give that a stir before adding the sugar.
Mix ingredients together until well combined like above.
Now we’re going to dump in the remaining dry ingredients, including flour…
Ground cinnamon…
And allspice.
Stir until well combined and there are no dry spots.
Spray a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Spread batter into the prepared bread pan.
Bake in a 350-degree oven for one hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Allow the apple bread to cool in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes before turning out.
Look at all of those juicy chopped apple pieces!
Enjoy!
Storage
- Store the bread loaf in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
- You can also freeze apple bread slices for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature before serving.
Recipe Notes
- Now, I’m just using granulated sugar for this quick bread recipe, but you can use a combination of granulated sugar and brown sugar if you like.
- Any neutral oil will work for this recipe, including vegetable oil, avocado oil, grapeseed oil, or lightly flavored olive oil.
- To make self-rising flour according to my recipe, you’ll need all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Instead of allspice, you can use a combination of ground ginger and ground nutmeg or just ground nutmeg.
- Another option is to use apple pie spice or pumpkin pie spice instead.
- If you like, fold in a cup of chopped nuts before placing the batter into the pan. Pecans and walnuts are always good options.
- Alternatively, fold in a cup of raisins, craisins, or chopped dates.
- Instead of diced apple, you can use shredded apple.
- Don’t overmix the batter!
- Add a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar on top of the bread before baking for added sweetness and crunch.
- Speaking of added sweetness, you can also top the cooled bread with a dusting of or a simple vanilla glaze.
- For a healthier cinnamon apple bread recipe, substitute all or a quarter of the oil for apple sauce. This has the bonus of adding more apple flavor.
Recipe FAQs
How do you serve apple bread?
Simply serve your homemade apple bread warm with a spread of butter or apple butter. For dessert, turn it into caramel apple bread with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce. YUM.
What are the best apples for baking?
Granny Smith apples are the most popular baking apple. But other good apple varieties include Honeycrisp, Jonagold, Braeburn, , Fuji, Pink Lady, and Jazz apples.
You may also like these appetizing apple recipes:
Ingredients
- 3-4 medium apples, peeled and diced about two cups
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups self-rising flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
Instructions
- Peel and dice apples, then place them in a large bowl. Add eggs, oil, milk, vanilla, and sugar. Stir with a large spoon until well blended.3-4 medium apples, peeled and diced, 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 1/4 cup milk, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 cups sugar
- Add flour, cinnamon, and allspice. Stir again by hand until well combined.2 cups self-rising flour, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- Grease a loaf pan with cooking spray and spoon batter into the pan.
- Bake at 350 for one hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow it to cool in the loaf pan for five minutes, then turn out.
Video
Nutrition
Wow, that sounds absolutely delicious to go with my fruit/cheese/captains’ crackers plate this weekend….Thanks! 🙂
Thank you for this recipe! I plan to turn it into apple cornbread as an accompaniment to some beans with ham and your excellent pickled onions on the side.
Christy’s pickled onions, folks: https://www.southernplate.com/2012/08/pickled-onions-heaven-for-an-old-southern-soul.html
Bonny, share your apple cornbread recipe & let us know how that turns out….love the pickled onions with beans & ham….what time’s dinner? :-p
Why, thank you so much, Peggy Watson, for your sweet comment. I wish you could’ve come to dinner!
All I did for apple cornbread was to use Christy’s recipe for apple bread (above), and replace one cup of flour with one cup of yellow cornmeal, plus 1 1/2 t. baking powder and 1/2 t. salt. I also reduced the sugar to 1 1/2 C., but that’s because I don’t care for very sweet things. It came out beautifully! Next time I’ll use even less sugar, though, and that’s because of my personal preference.
Thank you, Christy, for advocating the use of what folks have, and for doing so without embarrassment or apology.
Also, I just love your new cookbook, which arrived yesterday!
Bless you for saying we’re not bad for buying generic staples. Everyone has their own things they’re willing to spend money on, which is perfectly fine, but sometimes extolling the virtues of gourmet butter or an expensive haircut can cross over into superiority and/or preaching. Thank you for the reminder to let ourselves off the hook.
Also, the apple bread looks amazing.
Yummy!! I now have a plan for the last of my apples!! I’m going to go bake up some Amazing Apple Bread!! 😀 Thanks for sharing!!!!
One of my favorite things about your posts, Christy, is that you add a little “low-stress flavoring” to your recipes by encouraging us to do the best we can with what we’ve got and adapt the recipes to fit our families. Thank you! 🙂
I’m going to make this. I’m wondering if pecans can be put in?
Christy, this looks simple and delicious! I like baking muffins because they are easy to share with my neighbors. I will also put a walnut half on each one.
How long do you think I should bake them? I’m thinking 20-25 minutes?
Thanks for this recipe!