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Filled with fall apples, studded with pecans and dried cranberries, and crowned with a sweet streusel topping, this Apple Pie Bread is what breakfast dreams are made of!
I know it’s only September 9th and it’s still blazin’ hot outside, but you guys, I kind of think I’m ready to decorate for fall.
I probably shouldn’t have walked into both Kirkland’s and Home Goods yesterday, but ever since seeing all the pumpkin decor, I’ve been thinking about pulling the fall/Halloween bins up from the basement.
Tell me..when do you decorate for fall?
Not only am I ready to decorate for fall, but I am also pretty excited about fall baking – especially apple recipes like this Apple Pie Bread!
MY FAVORITE APPLE CINNAMON BREAD
This time of year, things get pretty pumpkin serious around here.
I’m waiting to share my first pumpkin recipe on the blog this year, but that doesn’t mean that I haven’t made a loaf of pumpkin bread or a stack of pumpkin pancakes for my family yet.
But don’t think I forget about one of my other favorite fall treats: apples!
We love to go apple picking, and Old Fashioned Apple Crisp, Crockpot Applesauce, and Slow Cooker Apple Butter all get made multiple times throughout the season around here.
Another recipe we make a lot every year is this Apple Pie Bread.
Simply calling this “apple cinnamon bread” doesn’t do it justice. It’s so much more than just an apple cinnamon bread.
To start, it uses my homemade apple pie spice, which has nutmeg, allspice, ginger, and cardamom in addition to the cinnamon.
And before baking, the batter – which is full of grated apple, chopped pecans, and dried cranberries – is sprinkled with a pecan streusel topping. The streusel gets wonderfully crunchy in the oven and adds the perfect amount of texture and sweetness to this bread.
It really is like biting in a piece of apple pie in bread form.
Apple Pie Bread is delicious for breakfast, as an afternoon snack, or even as a bite of dessert when you just need something sweet. But don’t get me started on all the other dirty things we could do with it, like French toast or bread pudding.
My oh my, this Apple Pie Bread is the stuff my dreams are made of.
HOW TO MAKE APPLE PIE BREAD
Apple Pie Bread comes together like most of the quick bread recipes we make.
The wet ingredients get combined together, then the dry ingredients get added to the wet ingredients. Next, fold in the mix-ins – in this case, shredded apple, chopped pecans, and dried cranberries.
Because apples are a little bit of a harder fruit, I like shredding them for this recipe instead of dicing them to make sure they cook through. It’s similar to what we do when making carrot cake or zucchini bread.
If your apples give off a lot of liquid after shredding them, give them a light squeeze to wring out excess moisture before adding them to the bread.
Once the bread batter is made, mix together the streusel. Stir together the dry ingredients and then cut the butter into them with a pastry blender.
Sprinkle this streusel on top of the bread batter and bake for about an hour.
You can serve the bread the same day it is baked, but I prefer to wrap it up after it has cooled and wait to serve it the next day. I love the way the flavors really shine through the next day!
HOW TO STORE APPLE PIE BREAD
If you are planning to eat this bread within a day or two, you can go ahead and wrap it up or put it in an airtight container and store it at room temperature.
Because the apples make this bread pretty moist, especially after the first couple of days, I would recommend storing the bread in the refrigerator if you don’t plan to eat it within 2 days.
If stored in the refrigerator, it should last 4-5 days.
If you’d like the bread to have a longer shelf life, simply wrap it in foil or plastic wrap and place it into a freezer bag and freeze it for up to 3 months. You can freeze the loaf whole or cut it into slices and wrap those individually for quick breakfasts throughout the week.
Apple Pie Bread
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup lightly packed light brown sugar
- ¼ cup buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons homemade apple pie spice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups shredded peeled apple (about 4 medium or 2 large) (see note below)
- ¾ cup chopped pecans
- ½ cup dried cranberries
For the streusel topping
- ¼ cup lightly packed light brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon homemade apple pie spice
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium-high speed for about 30 seconds.
- Add in sugars and mix until well combined.
- Add buttermilk and baking powder; beat until combined.
- Add eggs and vanilla; beat until thoroughly incorporated.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, apple pie spice and salt, whisk until combined.
- Slowly add the flour mixture to the bowl and mix on low speed until just incorporated.
- Fold in apples, pecans and cranberries.
- Spoon batter into prepared pan; spread evenly. Prepare the streusel topping.
- In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, flour and apple pie spice. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in pecans. Spoon streusel topping over the batter, pressing them gently into the batter.
- Bake for 60 to 65 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
- Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack. Wrap and store overnight before slicing.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I absolutely cannot WAIT to try this this weekend!!!
Yummy! I will be making this bread this weekend!
I totally understand! With limited time/ingredients, it’s hard to choose what to make and I hardly ever repeat recipes either. This bread looks great though!
Looking Gooooooood
As usual with all the ymminies on this website :)
Sounds like a cry for intervention–mind if I step in and just eat whatever you have left? This looks downright heavenly. I’m running to my oven tonight with your recipe in hand, thank you for sharing!
I am going to try it right now! HMMMMMM!! Thank you
I can’t believe I never thought of this. I thought I baked everything under the sun with apples in it. This looks amazing…must try. Thanks for posting.
This sounds delicious! Just put some banana, date and walnut loaf in the oven so will have to wait until that gets eaten before I try making your apple pie bread unfortunately. Can’t wait to try it though, the topping is such a good idea too.
Wow looks fabulous and perfect for this time of year! I love any spicy or appley so will have to give this a go!
Love this! 4 times must mean it’s pretty incredible. Sure looks it! :)