Tender, with a moist crumb and a sweet, crisp crust, loads of chunky apples and buttery walnuts, this easy Cinnamon Apple Quick Bread is drizzled with a cinnamon glaze and filled with all the warm flavors and welcoming aromas you’d expect from an old fashioned recipe!
Because my Mamaw’s Fresh Apple Cake recipe has been shared close to 1 million times on Pinterest and is one of the most loved recipes here at Southern Discourse, I was sure it held the key to making an incredibly delicious cinnamon apple bread too!
And I wasn’t wrong! We studied, combined some reader suggestions, tested and tested again to create this easy apple cinnamon bread recipe with a simple cinnamon sugar glaze.
This IS fall baking all in one recipe! The bread is dense and moist and, like her cake, just loaded with apples! From the first nibble to the very last, you’re going to love its homey crackly crust, tender bites of apple and the warm hints of cinnamon flavor.
Quick breads are breads that use baking powder and baking soda as their rising agents instead of yeast. They are classified as “quick” because they can be baked as soon as they’re mixed together, without any “proofing time” to create a rise. Quick breads include things like muffins, biscuits, scones, cornbread, and fruit breads like banana bread.
What To Know Before Getting Started
I’ll walk through an overview of ingredients & steps in these next sections along with helpful tips!
Look for specifics at the end of the post in the recipe card.
apples (I use Honeycrisp Apples.)
all purpose flour
white granulated sugar (This recipe does not use dark or light brown sugar because of its high moisture content.)
For baking, it’s important to use firmer apples that have a crisp texture and will hold their shape while cooking instead of turning to mush.
Honeycrisp are my favorite sweet apples to use because of they are crisp, but juicy, and wonderfully flavorful. But you can also use Fuji, Pink Lady or Granny Smith apples.
Soft apples like Gala and Red Delicious don’t work well for baking but are great choices for making applesauce and apple butter.
How To Make Cinnamon Apple Bread
Prep. Chop the apples into bite sized chunks. There is no need to peel them unless you prefer it. Line a loaf pan with wax paper so that the paper hangs over the edges of the pan.This paper will help you lift the loaf cleanly out of the pan after baking.
Mix the dry ingredients & wet ingredients separately.
Combine. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients just until the two are incorporated.
Fold in the Apples. Add in the apples and the walnuts.
Bake. Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake in preheated oven for 50 minutes to an hour.
Glaze. While bread is cooling, whisk together the glaze ingredients. When bread is completely cool, drizzle glaze over top of bread, slice and serve.
Pro Tips for Baking the Best Apple Bread
The Right Measurements– Spoon your flour into the measuring cup instead of scooping it from a bag or canister. Scooping flour packs it into the measuring cup and can result in adding up to ¼-1/3 cups too much flour to the recipe! Also, level the flour even with the top of the measuring cup by using the back of a knife to sweep gently across the rim of the cup.
The Right Ingredients– Using room temperature eggs and fresh baking soda will give your bread the texture and fluffy rise you’re looking for every time.
The Right Mix- Avoid over mixing your batter. When incorporating the dry ingredients into the wet, stir until everything is just combined. It’s even ok if there are a few small lumps here and there. The batter will continue to be mixed as you fold in the fruit and nuts.
The Right Temperature– For a pretty drizzle, only glaze when the bread is completely cool. Otherwise, the glaze will melt and run right off the bread!
The Right Slice– Always slice bread when it is completely cool to keep it from crumbling. Use a sharp serated bread knife and saw back and forth instead of pressing down to serve nice slices of bread.
Freezing and Storing
Leftover Apple Cinnamon Bread lasts about 5 days stored at room temperature, covered in an airtight container.
Leftovers, who am I kidding? BUT because apple bread does stay fresh when stored, that does mean you can make this a few days ahead of time, if you like (if you can stay out of it).
It’s also an ideal candidate for freezing. Simply wrap the completely cooled bread several times in plastic wrap, then aluminum foil and freeze up to 2 months. Let thaw to room temperature, slice and enjoy!
Tender with a moist crumb, a sweet, crispy crust and loads of chunky apples and walnuts, this Cinnamon Apple Quick Bread is drizzled with a cinnamon glaze.
Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Line a loaf pan with wax paper so that the paper hangs over the edges of the pan. This paper will help you lift the loaf cleanly out of the pan after baking.
In a large bowl, whisk together oil, eggs and vanilla extract.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and ground cinnamon.
Using an electric mixer, add the flour mixture (dry ingredients) a little at a time to the wet ingredients until the dry ingredients are just incorporated into the mixture.
Fold in the apples and the walnuts. The batter will be very thick, NOT thin like cake batter.
Spoon the batter into the lined loaf pan. Bake in preheated oven for 50 minutes to an hour.
Remove bread from oven. Use wax paper to lift loaf from pan and place on cooling rack to cool. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing paper from the sides and bottom. If making glaze, proceed to step 8. If not, let cool completely before slicing.
While bread is cooling, whisk together the glaze ingredients. When bread is completely cool, drizzle glaze over top of bread, sprinkle with extra walnuts (if desired), slice and serve.
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This is the best and easiest most delicious quick bread I have ever made. Your recipes are outstanding! I look forward to all the email recipes I receive from Southern Discourse.
C Gray
This is the best and easiest most delicious quick bread I have ever made. Your recipes are outstanding! I look forward to all the email recipes I receive from Southern Discourse.
Hi, there! Thank you so much! This absolutely makes my day. You’re the best!
Frances Parker
Absolutely fantastic, flavorful, easy recipe
Hi, Frances! This makes my day! Thank you so very much!
Phyllis
This sounds really yummy. I am definitely making this for my family and friends for Christmas. I like giving them new recipes.
Hi, Phyllis! What a great idea! I bet they’re going to love it!