Spiced Apple Bread With Walnuts

Apple Bread Recipe Ingredients

• all-purpose flour: This type of flour works best to give the apple bread a light and fluffy texture. Bread flour is a bit too dense.
• cinnamon: The quintessential flavor of fall! Cinnamon adds a nice autumn flavor to the bread.
• allspice: Allspice got its name because it’s like several spices all in one. It’s the perfect fall flavoring as it tastes like cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
• baking soda: Baking soda will help your bread rise. Blend it well within the flour.
• salt: Salt in a sweet baked item? Yes! Just a pinch will enhance the flavor. Regular table salt is fine to use.
• sugar: You’ll use two types of sugar in this recipe. The first is just simply table sugar, or white granulated sugar, to sweeten the bread loaf. If you’re trying to reduce your sugar intake, I’ve made this bread with 1/4 cup less sugar than the recipe calls for below and it turns out just as great.
• unsalted butter: You’ll need one stick of unsalted butter for the recipe. Put it out on the counter about an hour before you start baking to soften it.
• eggs: Two eggs are required for this recipe below to help bind everything together.
• applesauce: Apple sauce is the secret ingredient to this apple bread. It is a substitute for oil, and provides an added apple flavor.
• walnuts: Walnuts are included in the recipe below to add a buttery, toasty flavor and texture. No walnuts? No problem! You can also substitute them for pecans, slivered almonds, or raisins.
• grated apple: Grated apple gives texture and flavor to apple bread. It works better than using whole apples too since they cook more evenly and don’t hold as much moisture.
• Turbinado Sugar: Turbinato sugar is larger in texture than regular sugar. It’s used in the recipe to make a sweet crust on the top of the bread loaf.

The applesauce gives this apple bread great flavor without the use of oil. And the bits of shredded apple and crushed walnuts create an irresistible texture!

Tips For Making Apple Bread

Over the years, we’ve had a few questions about this recipe on social media. So here are the answers to our most commonly asked questions! Feel free to ask any other questions in the comments at the bottom of the post too.

• Why use shredded apple AND apple sauce? The apple sauce is in place of oil, so it adds moisture and flavor to your bread without the added fat and calories of baking with oil.
• What is turbinado sugar? This type of sugar is used primarily to dust the top of the loaf to make a caramelized crust. If you’re looking for turbinado sugar at the store, it is sometimes called by the brand “Sugar In The Raw.” It’s basically sugar that is only partially refined, so it is larger in texture and it has subtle caramel flavor compared to regular sugar. 
• Can I skip sprinkling turbinado sugar on top? Absolutely! The crushed walnuts are delicious on their own as well.
• Can I use a different type of nut? We love to use walnuts as the the flavor pairs well with apples. But, yes, feel free to experiment and use a different type of nut! We’ve also tried pecans and those taste great on apple bread too.
• What size bread pan do I use? This recipe makes two standard 8″ bread loafs. I like to get the decorative disposable aluminum ones to give away apple bread as gifts to neighbors and friends.
• Why did my bread sink in the middle? Usually, when a bread caves in the middle it is due to over mixing. That’s why in my step-by-step instructions below I recommend gently mixing everything by hand. As tempting as it may be, do not blend these ingredients in your stand or electric mixer.

Apple Bread Recipe – Step-By-Step Instructions

Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Make sure rack is in center of the oven. Prep your loaf pans by spraying with non-stick spray oil and lining bottom with parchment paper.

Wash apple and carefully grate pulp and skin into a small dish. Measure about approximately 1/2 cup of grated apple.

Whisk together all the dry ingredients in a small bowl. This includes the flour, baking soda, sugar, and spices.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, then add all the wet ingredients including the apple sauce, butter, and fresh grated apple.

I like to start with the eggs alone so I can whisk the yolks and egg whites together. Kind of like the start to making an omelette.

Then I add the apple sauce, softened butter, and grated apple. At this point, it can be easier to use a fork to mix everything together so that the grated apple doesn’t get caught up in the whisk.

Next, fold the wet ingredients in with the dry ingredients using a spatula or large spoon. Take your time, scooping in from the sides of the bowl to the middle until everything is blended together.

After the apple bread batter is stirred together, add 1 cup of walnuts and stir together by hand until blended.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pans.

Sprinkle top with remaining walnuts and lightly press them into the batter with your fingertips. Sprinkle tops with one Tbsp turbinado sugar, each.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. As delicious as this will smell, and as tempting as it is to cut a slice of apple bread from a hot fresh-out-of-the-oven loaf, leave it in pan for 15 minutes.

Then gently remove the bread from the bread pan and place it on a wire rack to cool completely. (If you’re giving these as gifts, just allow it to cool completely before covering in plastic wrap.)

When prepping the bread loaf pan with oil, add a handful of sugar and shake it around over the sink until all the sides are covered. Dump out any excess sugar once it is coated. While the bread is baking, the sugar will create a nice sweet crust around the edges.

A Funny Story About Sugar

This little sugar story is back from my innkeeping days when I first shared this recipe. It will give you a glimpse of my early days of blogging! But feel free to hit the “jump to recipe” button if you’re ready to get to baking.

I had a cat named Dixie Crystals once. Just like the sugar brand. She was a pretty white Siamese with blue eyes. I was working in marketing for agriculture at the time and had a meeting with some sugar farmers.

She was a little kitten they had on the farm, so they named her Dixie Crystal and called her Sugar for short. During the meeting, she kept jumping into my lap, so they thought I should take her home. My apartment at the time didn’t allow me to keep her, so my parents adopted her.

Once my parents took her home, she climbed curtains, bookcases, tv stands, and even human legs if she could get her claws into your pants. She’s been re-named Punky. I shall start my own food brand one day, I just might have to create a cool cat logo and call it Punky in her honor.

And, yes, that is a polka-dot apron and knee-high striped socks that you see in the photo of me adding apple bread to the oven above. I guess I was just having a “Punky” kind of a day. Not normal for me at all. I’m usually more of a neutrals kinda gal. 

Continue to Content

Apple Bread

Yield: 2 loafs

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

This easy-to-make apple bread recipe is perfect for breakfast or an afternoon treat! Flavored with grated apples and autumn spices.

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Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup applesauce
• 1 1/4 cup walnuts
• 1 large apple, grated
• 2 Tbsp Turbinado Sugar

Instructions

Preheat to 350 and make sure rack is in center of the oven.  Prep loaf pans by spraying with non-stick spray oil and lining bottom with parchment paper.

Wash apple and carefully grate pulp and skin into a small dish. Measure about approximately 1/2 cup of grated apple.

Whisk together all the dry ingredients in a small bowl. This includes the flour, baking soda, sugar, and spices.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, then add all the wet ingredients including the apple sauce, butter, and fresh grated apple.

Fold the wet ingredients in with the dry ingredients using a spatula or large spoon. Add 1 cup of walnuts. Stir together by hand until blended.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pans. Sprinkle top with remaining walnuts and lightly press them into the batter with your fingertips. Sprinkle tops with one Tbsp turbinado sugar, each.

Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes.  Leave in pan for 15 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

If you have an abundance of apples for the fall season, you can exclude the apple sauce and just use 1 1/2 cups of fresh grated apple.

This recipe makes 2 loafs of bread. I recommend using 8 x 4 inch bread loaf pans.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 20 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 184Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 31mgSodium: 130mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 1gSugar: 14gProtein: 3g

Nutrition information provided is only an estimate based on 10 slices of each loaf of bread.

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Apple Bread Recipe Originally Published on Inn The Kitchen Dec 24, 2009. Updated 2021.