Cinnamon Applesauce Bread – 🍎🍞😍 This applesauce bread is packed with fall flavors and comes together quickly! I serve mine with homemade honey butter, because why not?
Table of Contents
Spiced Applesauce Quick Bread Recipe
You won’t need scented candles ever again. Just make this applesauce bread! The scent of apples, cinnamon, and bread baking makes your house smell absolutely heavenly.
The bread is supremely moist and soft, with just enough cinnamon to complement the applesauce, without being overpowering.
It’s actually more like an apple spice cake that happens to baked in a loaf pan, so we’ll call it bread. You know, because bread is healthier than cake so you can have extra.
I used every softening and moistening trick in the book to keep this applesauce quick bread supple and tender. Applesauce, coconut oil, and sour cream all lend moisture to the bread. I loathe dry bread and cake, and this is anything but.
The crust is slightly firmer and chewier, while the interior is soft, fluffy, and springy.
It’s great zapped in the microwave for a few seconds to warm it with a big dollop of honey butter or toast it.
Applesauce Bread Ingredients
To make the applesauce quick bread, you’ll need:
- Eggs
- Cinnamon applesauce
- Granulated sugar
- Melted coconut oil
- Light brown sugar
- Sour cream
- Vanilla extract
- Ground cinnamon and nutmeg
- Salt
- All-purpose flour – if you need to keep this recipe gluten-free, feel free to substitute a 1:1 all-purpose gluten-free flour
- Baking soda and baking powder
And for the cinnamon honey butter, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Honey
- Cinnamon
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Applesauce Bread
This homemade applesauce bread recipe is so quick and easy to prepare! Here are the basic steps for this fall quick bread recipe:
- Whisk together everything but the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Once the mixture is well combined, stir in the remaining dry ingredients.
- Turn the batter into a greased 9×5-inch loaf pan. Bake for roughly an hour or until the top is set and firm and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- In the last 15 minutes of cooking, tent your bread with a sheet of foil if it’s looking a bit darker before you anticipate the center to cook through fully.
- Let the applesauce quick bread cool for 30 minutes in its pan before slicing and serving it. It needs that extra bit of time to set up.
- Cinnamon honey butter: Stir together the softened butter, honey, and cinnamon. You can add as much or as little cinnamon as you’d like, it’s up to you! You can also serve your applesauce bread with a simple butter and confectioners’ sugar glaze, a vanilla cream cheese glaze, or just eat it plain.
Recipe FAQs
I love baking with coconut oil in place of other cooking oils, especially for quick breads, muffins, and cookies, and far prefer it to melted butter. Oil in general keeps things softer, springier, and bouncier than butter.
I didn’t notice any overt coconut flavor. However, if you’re concerned you can use another oil (such as vegetable or canola). Between the applesauce, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla, any coconut flavor is masked though.
Yes, plain Greek yogurt can be used in place of the sour cream. That said, you don’t want to use regular yogurt here as it’s much runnier than Greek yogurt.
I used store-bought cinnamon applesauce. If you use plain applesauce, you may want to bump up the cinnamon in the batter. I haven’t tried using reduced-sugar applesauce, and while I’m sure the recipe works, it won’t be as sweet. I love the bread as is and wouldn’t make the sacrifice.
I don’t see why not! You’ll want to use smooth applesauce for this recipe though, not chunky.
Theoretically, yes. However, fresh apple chunks will release moisture into the batter and will likely increase the bake time. I’ve only made this recipe as written, so I can’t say for sure whether adding apples to the the batter will work.
If you’re looking for a more chunky apple bread recipe, make my Apple Fritter Bread.
You could definitely add a dry mix-ins, like chopped pecans, walnuts, or even chocolate chips! Or, add even more flavor with warm spices like ginger and allspice.
Probably, but you’d need to drastically shorten the cook time to about 20 minutes. Baking this as a loaf is easier though than making individual muffins, in my opinion, so definitely try this recipe as written first!
No, you need to use a 9×5-inch loaf pan for this recipe. The batter will overflow if you use a smaller pan such as an 8×4-inch loaf pan and you’ll wind up making a huge mess.
This is the one exception to a smaller loaf pan: 5x3x2-inch loaf pans will work! You’ll need to adjust the bake time according to the size of your mini loaf pans. But I’d say about 25 to 30 minutes but again, check for doneness with the toothpick test to know for sure.
Storage
Store leftover applesauce quick bread in an airtight container at room temperature. It will last up to 5 days. The cinnamon honey butter will last up to 1 month in the fridge and can also be frozen.
Freeze leftover bread for up to 6 months!
Simply wrap the cinnamon applesauce bread in a few layers of plastic wrap or store it in a freezer-safe bag. When you’re ready to eat it, set it out on the counter to thaw.
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Applesauce Bread with Honey Butter
Equipment
- 1 Large Bowl
- 1 Wire Rack
- 1 Small Bowl
Ingredients
Bread
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup cinnamon applesauce, plain may be substituted, consider adding more cinnamon
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup melted coconut oil, canola or vegetable oil or melted butter may be substituted
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup sour cream, lite okay; Greek yogurt may be substituted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon, not teaspoon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
Honey Butter
- ½ cup unsalted butter, extremely soft
- ¼ cup honey, or to taste
- pinch cinnamon, optional and to taste
Instructions
Make the Bread
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with floured cooking spray, or grease and flour the pan; set aside (don’t use an 8-by-4-inch pan; it’s too small)
- In a large bowl, whisk together the first 7 ingredients, through optional salt.
- Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and stir until just combined; don’t overmix. Batter will be thick and with a few lumps. Don’t try to stir the lumps smooth.
- Turn batter out into prepared pan, smoothing the surface lightly with a spatula.
- Bake for about 56 to 63 minutes (I baked exactly 60), or until top is set and firm, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. In the last 15 minutes of cooking, tent bread with a sheet of foil (lay it loosely over top of pan) if your bread is looking a bit darker before you anticipate the center to cook through fully; I tented mine.
- Allow bread to cool in pan on top a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before turning out onto rack to cool completely.
Honey Butter
- Combine the butter (make sure it’s extremely soft and squishy), honey, and optional cinnamon in a small bowl and whisk vigorously until smooth and fluffy.
- Extra portion will keep airtight in the fridge for at least 1 month.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Apple Quick Bread Recipes:
Apple Pie Bread with Streusel Topping — If you like apple crumble pie, you’re going to love this EASY no-mixer apple pie bread! Soft, tender, moist bread with the contrast of the slightly crunchy crumble topping is PERFECT!
Apple Zucchini Bread with Brown Sugar Frosting — Super soft, moist, and topped with the BEST frosting ever! One bowl, no mixer, EASY recipe for the best apple zucchini bread that everyone LOVES!
Carrot Apple Bread — This apple carrot bread tastes like carrot cake that’s been infused with apples. It’s a no mixer recipe that goes from bowl to oven in minutes!
Apple Fritter Bread — The bread tastes as decadent as the apple fritters of my childhood, no deep frying required and it’s more like cake disguised as bread.
Peanut Butter Apple Banana Bread — Jazz up regular banana bread with peanut butter and apples! A perfect combo that tastes amazing together! Fast, easy, no mixer required, and a hit with everyone!
Originally published August 23, 2019 and republished September 16, 2022 with updated text.
Anything cinnamon and apple has to be awesome. We don’t get applesauce in Spain, but I assume it won’t be too hard to make????
Lots of recipes online for homemade applesauce, and no, not hard at all.
I’m diving into this deliciousness, head first! Love applesauce!
It looks beautiful. I can’t resist anything with cinnamon and apples in it – such a wonderful combination of flavours.
I made an applesauce spice bread similar to yours but added blueberries in it. It makes the house smell so good!
With blueberries sounds delish!
I don’t have applesauce but I do have some home canned spiced pearsauce and I’m thinking I’m going to have to bake up a loaf of this bread tomorrow morning! Thanks! ;)
I’d pay big bucks for home canned spiced pearsauce! WOW that sounds deeeelicious! I bet it would be stellar in the bread. LMK if you try it!
Averie! This is gorgeous! The cinnamon with the applesauce is such a great idea and that honey butter is the perfect compliment! Making as soon as possible!
If you end up trying it, LMK!
I can’t believe how moist that bread is and I love that swirl of honey butter on top! Bread or cake, I could eat this one at any meal of the day. Healthy or not. :)
So soft & moist, Katy! And everything is better with butter:)
What a beautiful bread! Love this whole post! Must try :)
My jaw is on the floor… this.is.beautiful!
This looks insanely good, Averie! I agree that baking with coconut oil can produce magical results. I especially love using it in my chocolate chip cookies! Thanks for sharing this recipe! Xo
Oh I have a coconut oil CCC recipe coming up :) And already lots of other coc oil cookie recipes. Love it in cookies, too!
I have been seeing this all over Pinterest and every time, I think, I have got to let Averie know how crazy good this looks! I was stalking your comments :) and I agree, a bread like this would get lost in the fall – now, it is all I can think about! You are so smart … and just a tad manipulative ;) Love everything about this – the ingredients, the photos, all of it! Pinned!
I didn’t even set out to make it per se but had this big jar of applesauce and wanted to use it up, so early spring applesauce bread it was. And that’s neat that you see my images and knew they were mine :)
This bread looks beautiful, I would love to toast a slice and slather a huge helping of the honey butter all over it!
HUGE helping yes. It’s so ridic good!
Averie, this looks incredible… Definitely perfect for some snow day baking. And love that shot of the crackly top!
Thanks, Laura, for saying hi & the compliments! Your photography..is just…well, so inspirational :)
Wow that sounds and looks like a slice of heaven with the butter on it. You’re making me hungry lady! ;) I love pinning your food. There’s just so much to love! :)
You’re so sweet & I am in love with your purple frosting cupcakes :)
That honey butter alone is making me drool — it looks SO divine, Averie! And I love that you made an apple bread in the spring. It makes sense — apples are seasonless and I am always craving a good homemade bread!
Well and in the fall, kind of like with pumpkin recipes, it all gets lost in the shuffle. No one would have paid any attn to this in a sea of a jillion others and like you said, apples are pretty seasonless. Pumpkin too, right? :)
Yea I could not make this last for French Toast, especially not with 3 other roommates in the house!
haha! :)