Whole Wheat Cinnamon Apple Bread

Apples – Most any apples work fine here; I prefer a Granny Smith, and a Honeycrisp mix for their tart and sweet flavors. Two medium apples should give you roughly two cups diced. Read below for more info on apple options.

Flour – I use white whole wheat flour here. While healthier than all-purpose, whole-wheat flour made from hard white wheat as opposed to hard red wheat doesn’t have quite as strong a flavor and color so that most people won’t even notice the switch. If you can’t find it, regular whole-wheat or all-purpose is fine as well.

Spices – A mixture of ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg helps to flavor the bread. Use some cinnamon in both the bread and for seasoning the diced apples.

Leaveners – Use both baking powder and baking soda as the leavening agents for the bread.

Fats – I use a mixture of vegetable oil and butter here for added moisture. Just oil would be fine, but I like the flavor a bit of butter gives the bread.

Sugar – I use a bit of brown sugar with the diced apples and white sugar for the bread. I reduced the sugar in the bread down to a ½ cup without noticing a lack of sweetness or structure.

Milk – A bit of milk here helps to activate the gluten while also adding moisture and tenderness to the bread crumb. Whole milk or buttermilk work best, but any you keep on hand should be fine.

Vanilla – While not really required, I find a bit of vanilla extract helps to balance the flavors in most baked goods.

Applesauce – Adding to the healthiness of the bread, unsweetened applesauce adds a bit more apple flavor while also replacing the amount of oil that would otherwise be necessary for the bread.

Eggs – Just two large eggs help as a binder, and emulsifier, and as a bit of a leavener for the bread’s structure.

Walnuts – This is optional, but I like the added texture and subtle flavor of toasted walnuts in this bread. Feel free to omit them or swap them for toasted pecans. Toasted, slivered almonds could also work.

Start with the walnuts, if using, and place in a single layer in a pan set over medium heat. Toast, tossing occasionally, until you can smell a nutty aroma, about 5-7 minutes. Set aside to cool. If using walnut halves instead of pieces, give them a rough chop.

Peel, core, and dice the apples between a ¼” and ½”. Place the apples in a nonreactive mixing bowl and toss with brown sugar and cinnamon. Set aside while making the bread. The sugar will help pull some of the moisture out of the apples and keep them from making the bread watery while baking.

Preheat your oven to 350°F / 180°C and prepare a loaf pan with a parchment sling or spray with nonstick baking spray right before adding the batter. You can use a 9x5 loaf pan or an 8.5x4.5 loaf pan. The 9x5 will make a short, wide bread while the 8x4 makes a taller, slightly narrower bread. Use your preference.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set it aside.

In a larger mixing bowl, add the white sugar, oil, melted butter, applesauce, milk, and vanilla extract. Whisk together until the sugar is dissolved.

Add the eggs in, one at a time, until fully incorporated and no streaks of egg remain.

Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and whisk together until just combined. Do not overmix or the bread will come out dense.

Finally, add the apples and walnuts to the bread batter and gently fold until just combined. Pour into the prepared 9x5 loaf pan and bake for 60-75 minutes. Check the bread around the 30-minute mark and add a piece of tented foil over the pan if it seems to be getting dark to help prevent the top and sides from burning.

The bread should be done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. For the best results though, I recommend an instant read thermometer. Quick breads are typically done around the 190-200°F mark.

Remove from the oven and leave in the pan for 10-15 minutes, then slide the bread out of the pan and set it onto a cooling rack to finish cooling. Wait about 35-45 minutes before slicing.

Cinnamon-Sugar Topping – For a nicely sweetened topping, mix a tablespoon of coarse sugar like demerara or turbinado with ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon. Once you pour the batter into your loaf pan, sprinkle the mixture over the top and bake as usual.

Cinnamon Streusel Topping – Not as healthy, but a really tasty addition is a streusel topping. Combine ½ cup flour, ¼ cup brown sugar, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, and ¼ cup cold, cubed butter. Use a pastry cutter or food processor to cut the butter into the mixture and spread over the batter in the loaf pan. Bake as normal. Use a parchment sling if you make a streusel topping, because you won’t be able to simply slide the bread out without losing a lot of topping without the sling.

Glazed Apple Bread – For this topping, bake and cool completely as directed. Mix a ½ cup powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons of milk or cream until you have a thick but pourable glaze. Pour over the top of the bread before slicing. Alternatively, make this as in my cider-glazed apple bundt cake and replace the milk with apple cider.

Salted Caramel Apple Bread – If you’d like to make a caramel apple flavor like the popular Fall or Halloween dipped apples, give this a try. Like this glaze topping, wait until the bread is baked and cooled. Warm ½ cup of caramel sauce and pour evenly over the bread and top with a few sprinkles of sea salt.

Muffins – While I haven’t personally tested this recipe as muffins, you should be able to do that if you desire. I recommend my cinnamon apple cider muffin recipe instead, but you could probably make this recipe for the batter and follow the baking directions on that recipe for muffins instead of a loaf pan.

When serving cinnamon apple bread, make nice, thick slices of the bread, around ¾-1” thick. I find it tastes best when warmed, either in the microwave or in a toaster oven, or even buttered in a skillet.

Once warmed, you can eat it plain or smeared with some salted butter. Even better, butter it and sprinkle with some cinnamon-sugar. If you have some store-bought or homemade apple butter, that also tastes amazing spread on the apple bread.

Another tasty option, especially for kids, is to warm some caramel sauce as a dip, or to drizzle over a toasted slice of bread.

Nonreactive Bowl – When a recipe mentions using a nonreactive bowl, that typically means anything but a metal mixing bowl. I prefer these glass mixing bowls or use a large serving bowl as well. When you place fruits and vegetables in a metal mixing bowl, it can sometimes impart an unpleasant, metallic taste.

Whisk – While I like using a balloon whisk for most of the mixing, Danish dough whisks are perfect anytime you need to fold in ingredients like the apple and walnuts here without overmixing. I switch to this when I begin adding flour.

Loaf Pan – Whether making this with a 1-pound loaf pan, which measures 8 ½ x 4 ½ inches, or a 9x5 loaf pan, I prefer the listed USA Pan loaf pans for most recipes.

Bowl Scraper – A cheap bowl scraper made of stiff but flexible plastic or nylon are amazing for recipes involving batters or doughs. I use one here because it contours to the shape of the mixing bowl to easily scrape out all the cinnamon apple batter and it helps to spread and level it out in the loaf pan.

❄️ How to Store Cinnamon Apple Bread

Once cooled completely, you can store this whole wheat cinnamon apple bread covered, at room temperature for 3-4 days. I recommend slicing as you go, as the bread will stay moister whole than stored completely sliced.

For longer storage than a few days, I suggest refrigerating in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Refrigerating will slightly dry the bread out but keep it longer than on the counter.

If you want to make this ahead of time or as gifts for the holiday season, freezing works well also. Wrap the whole loaf in plastic wrap, then again in aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before serving.