Brown Sugar Apple Bread Recipe
This tender, cinnamon-spiced Brown Sugar Apple Bread is perfect for breakfast, brunch, or dessert! So easy to make, too.
Brown sugar is my secret ingredient for making a sweet moist Apple Loaf!
Why You’ll Love
- It’s a fun fall treat!
- If your kids are picky about textures, the grated apple in this bread recipe just melts away as it bakes.
- It’s a quick bread, meaning no yeast, and super easy to make!
When autumn arrives, I really go crazy baking up all things apple. But sometimes, those cravings hit during the offseason, so I grabbed a couple of Granny Smith apples and baked a loaf of this apple quick bread. Using all brown sugar instead of white provided some caramel undertones while keeping the loaf from drying out. Plus, the grated apples practically melted into the batter, ensuring a super moist bread and even textured loaf.
Ingredient Notes
- Kitchen Staples – Vegetable Oil, Baking Soda, Flour, Salt, Ground Cinnamon, Milk
- Brown Sugar – When measuring brown sugar, pack it into the measuring cup.
- Butter – Melted. Salted butter is fine.
- Vegetable Oil – I use canola oil.
- Eggs – I use large eggs in all my recipes unless otherwise noted. Have them at room temperature for easier incorporation.
- Apples – Peel, core, and grate. Use medium-sized baking apples like Granny Smith.
- Powdered Sugar – Sift for the smoothest icing.
- Vanilla – Use real vanilla extract never artificially flavored. I use the Nielson-Massey brand.
Expert Tips
- This Apple Bread Recipe is a quick bread, meaning it’s leavened with baking powder or baking soda instead of yeast.
- PRO-Tip: Quick bread shouldn’t be mixed with a mixer, but instead mixed by hand. Over-mixing produces tunnels throughout the bread.
- Once the dry ingredients are added, gently mix until they’re incorporated. You do not want to overwork the gluten.
- Prep your baking pan so the bread won’t stick. I like using a flour and oil cooking spray and lining the bottom of the pan with a rectangle of parchment paper.
- Cool the bread for 15-20 minutes before removing it from the pan to a cooling rack. Any longer and it will be tough to get the loaf to release from the pan.
- Feel free to add some toasted walnuts or pecans if you want a little crunch in your bread.
Frequently Asked Questions
Brown sugar is essentially white sugar enhanced with molasses. The addition of molasses adds extra moisture to your recipes, therefore allowing for a moister result in your baking!
To add more texture, feel free to mix some toasted pecans into the batter. Drizzle the top with a simple powdered sugar frosting after it cools or add a generous sprinkle of cinnamon sugar to the top of the batter before it’s baked.
Soda bread and muffins ( or breads using baking soda instead yeast) are the the most popular types of quick bread. Also included in this category are biscuits, scones, cornbread and popovers.
For quality control, I held back one slice for myself. Yup, it tasted as marvelous as its cinnamon scent foreshadowed! You may need to bake up one for yourself, and another to give away. Though, from experience, it’s tough to part with a loaf of this brown sugar apple bread!
You May Also Like:
- Warm Apple Pie Bread from Spend with Pennies
- German Apple Cake
- Caramel Apple Pie Bars
- Cinnamon Spiced Apple Bread
- Apple Monkey Bread
- More Bread Recipes
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Brown Sugar Apple Bread Recipe
A sweet, dense apple quick bread filled with grated apples and sweetened with brown sugar.
Ingredients
Bread:
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 apples, peeled, cored and grated (I used Granny Smith. If your apples are huge, use only 1 1/2 apples)
Icing:
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
- 2 teaspoons milk
- ½ cup powdered sugar, sifted
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º. Grease an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan and line the bottom with a rectangle of parchment, if desired. Grease parchment. Set aside.
- Mix together butter, oil, and sugar until creamy. Beat in the eggs.
- In another bowl whisk together, flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Stir into egg mixture until just combined (do not beat). Fold in apples
- Scrape batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean.
- Cool in pan for 10-15 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.
- Make the icing by whisking together butter, milk, powdered sugar, and a splash of vanilla extract.
- Drizzle icing over cooled bread.
Notes
Adapted from AllRecipes.com
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1 sliceAmount Per Serving: Calories: 263Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 44mgSodium: 248mgCarbohydrates: 40gFiber: 1gSugar: 23gProtein: 3g
26 Comments on “Brown Sugar Apple Bread Recipe”
About how many cups of grated apple goes into the bread?
The way the original recipe was written, you just grate two medium sized apples. No exact measurement was given. I’ll measure and add that info the next time I bake a loaf, but it should be about 1 cup.
This brown sugar apple bread is perfect for the winter! It makes the whole house smell delicious! Seriously in love with this recipe!
AP flour or self rising? Also, can you substitute baking powder for baking soda?
Hi, Michele,
This recipe uses all-purpose flour. I did a quick bit of research and it looks like you can use 3 teaspoons of baking powder to substitute for every 1 teaspoon of baking soda in a recipe. You’ll probably want to decrease the amount of salt in the recipe, too, since baking powder can leave a salty taste. Most people ask for a substitute for baking soda, so this was new to me 🙂 Thanks for the question!
I am glad to revisit this I literally just bought a whole bag of apples now I am going to make this one! YUM!
New season apples are in and this is going to be on my kitchen counter by tomorrow! I love anything baked with apples. Yum.
Sooo happy to see that one of the queens of the food blogosphere went rogue! Bravo for apple recipes in spring, summer, fall and winter. (Of course, in sunny CA sometimes I forget that others are mindful of the seasons.) Anyway, I welcome the yummy aromas of your brown sugar apple bread in my kitchen anytime!
Grating the apples was a good idea along with a little bling!
I’m so happy you posted this as I love apples all year round and hate to see them relegated to fall! This bread looks so moist and I love the golden color!
This looks easy and good. I could make it into two smaller loafs for taking along to friends for whatever reasons. I like to use the store-bought, good-looking cardboard loaf containers that are great for gift-giving. Whenever I take a bundt cake or baked goods of some kind down to the front office here at The Gant, there is always a small piece missing. They already understand that it’s Mary’s piece. Glad to be back home and visiting your blog regularly.
I love tea breads and could eat them daily if I allowed myself to. Apple Bread and Apple Pie Bread are favorites of mine both of which you’ve shared here on your post. I’ve printed them off to make another day. Thanks and have a great weekend!
My goodness, this is one gorgeous loaf! You nailed it with this recipe. A must make for me!
I have a nice strong cuppa… Only thing missing is a slice:@)
I love that added “baking bling” – such a great way to describe it! This bread looks so irresistible, especially for breakfast with coffee.
Hi Liz! I love your use of “baking bling” here, haha. This loaf just speaks to me. It sounds so warm and comforting! I too struggle with off-season cravings! I will definitely be trying this one out, most likely on a cold and rainy morning when I need a hug from some bread!! Cheers!
I love quick breads and the smell of apple and cinnamon baking. Your bread looks yummy. I like that you add the extra bling, I like doing that to quick breads and scones too.
Lizzy absolutely love this apple bread! I have to try this !!!
Apple bread is the best and yours looks and sounds very delicious, Liz! Good and easy recipe!
MMMM, yummy! Apple bread is so good!
This is perfect to make for breakfast and take to the office to share.Thank you very much !
I so wish I had a slice (or three) of this for breakfast today. It looks soooo good, and very cozy, which is necessary since it’s gray outside here in San Diego. Have a great weekend Liz!
This is one perfect apple bread, Liz. That smooth even crumb is just heavenly.
That looks delicious Liz. Should the recipe read 2 apples but just 1 1/2 if they are large? Love that you added the bling.
Thanks for catching that, Rosella!! You are exactly right 🙂 xo
my apples are huge! glad you mentioned to use less thanks Liz!