Apple Bread

By Yossy Arefi

Published Oct. 23, 2024

Apple Bread
Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Yossy Arefi.
Total Time
About 1 ½ hours, plus cooling
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
80 minutes, plus cooling
Rating
5(328)
Comments
Read comments

This towering loaf is packed with applesauce and chopped apples, plus lots of cinnamon and nutmeg. Enjoy a slice with a cup of tea in the afternoon or turn it into dessert with a scoop of ice cream or whipped cream. Use tart, firm baking apples (such as Mutsu, Cortland, Braeburn, Northern Spy and Stayman Winesap) in this cake for best results. The bread is best enjoyed the day it is baked, but will stay soft and delicious for a few days when stored in an airtight container or bag at room temperature.

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Ingredients

Yield:1 (9-inch) loaf
  • ¾cup/180 milliliters vegetable or canola oil, plus more for greasing the pan
  • 1cup/200 grams sugar
  • 3large eggs
  • 1cup/250 grams unsweetened applesauce
  • 1tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • ½teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ¾teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
  • 1½teaspoons baking powder
  • ½teaspoon baking soda
  • 2¼cups/290 grams all-purpose flour
  • 1large apple, peeled, cored and cut into ¼- to ½-inch pieces (about 1½ cups)
Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 350 degrees. Oil (or spray) a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan and line it with a piece of parchment paper that hangs over the two long sides.

  2. Step 2

    In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, eggs, applesauce, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

  3. Step 3

    Whisk in the baking powder and baking soda, then, using a flexible spatula, stir in the flour. When only a few streaks of flour remain, fold in the apples.

  4. Step 4

    Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles. Bake until puffed, golden and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, 60 to 70 minutes. If the top of the bread is becoming too dark before it’s fully baked, lightly tent it with foil.

  5. Step 5

    Let the cake cool in the pan set on a rack for 15 minutes, then carefully remove it from the pan using the parchment paper sling. Set the loaf on the rack to cool completely before slicing. The bread is best enjoyed the day it is baked, but will stay soft and delicious for a few days when stored in an airtight container or bag at room temperature.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
328 user ratings
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Comments

Whitney D

Turned out great! Nice and moist inside with a slightly crunchy top. Keep your apple pieces small if you want them soft. Some of the pieces in my loaf still had some crunch. Baked for about 60 minutes, after checking it at 55.

Jane

Subbed around half all purpose flour for whole wheat and only had around 1/2 cup of vegetable oil left so did that and extra applesauce to make it up. Still came out great!

Karen

I stumbled across the vegan version by forgetting to add eggs! I used 1/2 cup of oil and extra apple sauce - turned out great.

DB

Can you freeze this bread?

Lois

10/10 toddler baking project. Decided to fill the loaf pan 2/3 full bc the batter was quite thick. Good choice - perfectly done on top and in the middle at 55 minutes. Did the rest in my donut pan for 10 minutes. Used all whole wheat flour (hard white - pastry grind). And cut down the sugar to 150. That's all folks!

LondonSusan

I wanted to love this--and I appreciated the suggestion to bake as muffins--but it was way too sweet.

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