Today I have my Apple Bread recipe with Cinnamon and Maple sugar. It is studded with chunks of fresh apple and with the addition of applesauce it is ultra moist! Pour a cup of coffee and enjoy the taste of fall in each bite! 

Apple Cinnamon Bread on a striped tea towel with a cup of coffee

Table of contents

Why Bake This Cinnamon Apple Bread?

Is there anything more cozy in the fall than the smell of warm cinnamon apple bread baking? (Hint: The answer rhymes with the word “Go”.) That’s right, there is nothing more cozy! So, if you are wanting to feel all the feels of fall, and taste all the yumminess that is this apple studded, maple-sweetened moist and tender loaf, then read on. I’ve got all the deets for baking success ahead!

This apple bread makes a great gift from the kitchen to bring with you when staying with friends or family. We always love to bring baked goods to our hosts when we travel for Thanksgiving or Christmas. The cinnamon and spice and warm maple flavors will certainly be a welcome surprise by your host!

It also freezes very well so if you are hoping to get a jump on your holiday baking, this apple bread is a good one to add to your list.

Apple Bread stacked and a hand taking the top slice off

What Makes This Bread Healthy

  • It is made with whole-wheat flour. Whole wheat flour is made with the whole wheat grain and includes the germ and bran of the flour. These contribute vitamins, minerals and fiber.
  • Instead of butter, we used heart-healthy canola oil or avocado oil to eliminate unnecessary saturated fats.
  • We’ve used applesauce to provide fat-free and low calorie moisture and natural sweetness to the recipe.
  • We used unrefined maple to sweeten our apple bread. This naturally produced sweetener is rich and caramel tasting and adds flavor, not just sweet taste to the recipe which means you need ledd added sugar overall.
  • This bread is truly loaded with fresh apples! Apples are a great source of dietary fiber, vitamins and micronutrients.

Ingredient Notes

Whole-wheat flour

To add a bit more nutritious fiber, I used 3/4 cup whole wheat flour. If you can find it I recommend white whole-wheat flour. It is made from hard white wheat which is lighter in color and taste than the red wheat used for regular whole-wheat flour. It has less pronounced wheat flavor too.

Apples

  • For this recipe I used firm sweet apples. I recommend a variety like Gala, Cortland or Golden Delicious.
  • For baking I prefer not to use a crisp apple like granny smith or Honey Crisp because they do not soften well as they bake.
  • Conversely, Macintosh are not recommended because they soften too much while baking. They are better suited to applesauce or to blend into apple pie.

Maple sugar, natural cane sugar or brown sugar

  • I prefer to use maple to sweeten my recipes whenever possible. We make our own maple syrup here at our home in Vermont, and I even wrote an entire cookbook about cooking and baking with maple, so you could say I am quite passionate about it! 
  • Maple Sugar is granulated sugar made from maple syrup. To make it, the maple syrup is boiled to the hard ball state, then stirred while it is cooling. I make several batches in the spring during sugaring season, and store it in our freezer. You can buy it online here. It tastes like the essence of maple and imparts a distinct maple flavor into this bread. And the smell of it while it bakes is intoxicating! 
  • If you cannot find maple, or prefer a less expensive option, evaporated cane juice works well, and adds a lovely crunch to the topping. Brown sugar works too, but make sure you use light or golden as dark makes this bread way too dark. 

Applesauce

To reduce the amount of added fat and sugar I added a cup of applesauce. It adds moisture and replaces some of the fat to make this lower in calories and less heavy.

Avocado oil or organic canola oil

I prefer to use avocado oil in my recipes. I purchase it in large containers at Costco, and it is quite affordable. It has a preferable monounsaturated fat profile and it withstands high heat. If you like to use canola oil, I recommend buying organic canola so you can be assured that it comes from a non-GMO source. Another neutral cooking oil would work fine too. 

All-purpose flour

To help this bread rise properly, and give it a tender crumb I used 1 cup of all-purpose flour. It also helps the color of the bread. Both whole-wheat flour and maple sugar darken the bread, and using some white flour helps keep it from browning too much.

Additional Ingredients

  • Cinnamon
  • Egg
  • Baking powder
  • Baking soda
  • Salt

How To Make Apple Cinnamon Bread

Stir 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl
Whisking egg, applesauce, the remaining 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar and oil in a medium bowl

Step 1: Make Cinnamon Sugar and Prep Oven and Pan

Simply coat your pan with cooking spray or brush it with oil or rub with butter. Then set the oven to 350 degrees F. Note: before you turn on your oven, arrange the rack in the center. 

Peel the apples and cut them into a small dice. My pieces were about 1/3 to 1/2-inches cubed. Any larger and the bread is difficult to slice! 

Use 2 tablespoons of the sugar and 1 teaspoons of cinnamon to make a cinnamon sugar blend. This will go into the loaf in the center and over the top. Set that aside for a minute. 

Step 2: Mix Wet Ingredients in a Large Bowl

Whisk egg, applesauce, the remaining 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar and oil in a medium bowl.

3. Whisk all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and the remaining 2 teaspoons cinnamon in another bowl
4. Add the dry mix to the wet mix and stir just until combined. Add in apples and stir to combine

Step 3: Whisk Dry Mix

Whisk all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and the remaining 2 teaspoons cinnamon in another bowl.

Step 4: Combine Wet with Dry Mix and Add Apples

Add the dry mix to the wet mix and stir just until combined. Add in apples and stir to combine.

Sprinkle 1 tablespoon cinnamon sugar mixture over the batter.
swirl the batter with a knife

Step 5: Layer Apple Batter with Cinnamon Sugar

  • Scoop half of the batter into the bottom of the loaf pan. 
  • Top with half of the cinnamon sugar. (photo on left)
  • Add the rest of the batter in an even layer.
  • Using a knife, swirl the cinnamon sugar in the center of the bread. (photo on right)
  • Smooth out the top and then sprinkle on the rest of the cinnamon sugar. 

Step 6: Bake The Bread

Bake the bread until it is domed and set up in the center when lightly pressed, 55 to 60 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf should come out with only moist crumbs attached.

Step 7: Let Cool in the Pan

Cool in the pan for ten minutes. Run a knife along the edges of the pan, and carefully turn out of the pan. Cool (right-side up) on a cooling rack before slicing.

A loaf of apple bread on a cooling rack with a book, a slice of bread on a plate.

FAQs and Expert Tips

How do I make my bread fluffy?

Before you start mixing, do all your measuring and prep work. Cut the apples and preheat your oven too. The reason I like to do all these things, in the beginning, is that with quick bread, time is of the essence. Quick breads are leavened with chemical leaveners (baking soda and/or baking powder) which become active as soon as the wet and dry mix are combined.
To get the most airy, fluffy rise out of these types of leaveners, it’s best to not waste time after the two are combined. That’s why having your oven hot, your pan prepped and the apples ready to stir in is important!

Can this be frozen?

You can freeze the entire loaf of bread by wrapping in two layers of foil. Then transfer to a gallon Freezer re-sealable plastic bag. Press any excess air out of the bag before freezing. Remove from the bag to thaw at room temperature. For best texture, reheat thawed bread. Wrap in foil and heat at 300 degrees for 20 minutes before serving. 

How To Know When It Is Done

  • Press Test: To test to see if the bread is baked through first, before removing it from the oven, gently and quickly press your fingertips down on the top of the bread to see if it springs back. If it is not, you can quickly close up the oven and let it keep baking for three to five more minutes. 
  • Toothpick Test: If the bread passes the press test, then you can remove it to the top of the stove (or rack) and do a toothpick test. If there is wet batter on the toothpick the bread will need another minute or two. 

Tips to Remove From Pan

  • Let the apple cinnamon bread cool for 10 minutes in the pan.
  • Run a knife along the edges of the pan before turning it out. I use clean oven mitts to do this so that I don’t have to completely invert the bread (and loose much of the cinnamon sugar topping.) 
  • Set the bread on a cooling rack and let it cool at room temperature for about an hour before slicing. I like it best when it is a little bit warm. Note the bread does fall apart slighly more when it is warm, so if clean slices are important to you, wait until it is completely cool.

Tip: Use a sharp serrated knife to cut this bread. The apple chunks can make it tricky to get a nice even clean cut.

Tips For Leftovers

To store unsliced bread: Wrap completely cool bread in two layers of plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Keep at room temperature for two to three days. 

a loaf of bread on a cooling rack

More Apple Baking Recipes

Thanks so much for reading! If you are new here, you may want to sign up for my email newsletter to get a free weekly menu plan and the latest recipes right to your inbox. If you make this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review. I would love to hear what you thought!

Happy Cooking! ~Katie

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stack of apple bread slices and a hand taking the top slice

Healthy Apple Cinnamon Bread

★★★★★

4.6 from 11 reviews
  • Author: Katie Webster
  • Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
  • Yield: 10 servings 1x
Print Recipe

Description

Here’s a recipe for Healthy Apple Bread recipe with Cinnamon and Maple sugar. It is studded with chunks of fresh apple and with the addition of applesauce it is ultra moist! Pour a cup of coffee and enjoy the taste of fall in each bite!

Ingredients

Scale

1 ¼ cup maple sugar, natural cane sugar or brown sugar, divided

1 tablespoon cinnamon, divided

1 large egg

1 cup applesauce

1/3 cup avocado oil or organic canola oil

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole-wheat flour, preferably white whole-wheat

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

2 large apples, peeled and diced

Instructions

  1. Coat a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan in cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Stir 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl.
  2. Whisk egg, applesauce, the remaining 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar and oil in a medium bowl.
  3. Whisk all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and the remaining 2 teaspoons cinnamon in another bowl.
  4. Add the dry mix to the wet mix and stir just until combined. Add in apples and stir to combine.
  5. Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon cinnamon sugar mixture over the batter. Top with the remaining batter. Swirl the batter lightly with a knife to create marbling effect. Smooth the top of the loaf and sprinkle the remaining cinnamon sugar on top of the loaf.
  6. Bake the bread until it is domed and set up in the center when lightly pressed, 55 to 60 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf should come out with only moist crumbs attached.
  7. Cool in the pan for ten minutes. Run a knife along the edges of the pan, and carefully turn out of the pan. Cool (right-side up) on a cooling rack before slicing.

Notes

Leftovers: To store unsliced bread: Wrap completely cool bread in two layers of plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Keep at room temperature for two to three days.

To Freeze: You can freeze the entire loaf of bread by wrapping in two layers of foil. Then transfer to a gallon Freezer re-sealable plastic bag. Press any excess air out of the bag before freezing. Remove from the bag to thaw at room temperature.

Reheat: For best texture, reheat thawed bread. Wrap in foil and heat at 300 degrees for 20 minutes before serving.

  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 hour
  • Category: Snacks
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1/10 loaf
  • Calories: 285
  • Sugar: 32 g
  • Fat: 8 g
  • Saturated Fat: 1 g
  • Carbohydrates: 50 g
  • Fiber: 3 g
  • Protein: 3 g

Keywords: Apple Bread,Apple Cinnamon Bread,Apple Quick Bread

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side view stack of apple bread