This soft and spiced cinnamon apple bread is moist, flavorful, and perfect for fall baking! It’s an easy quick bread recipe filled with fresh shredded apples, with a buttery cinnamon streusel swirled throughout and baked on top. It’s impossible to resist the sugary crunch!
I’ve taken my easy cinnamon sugar bread and packed it full of fresh apples for even more fall flavor. You might also like these apple cinnamon muffins for everyday baking, and for a special occasion, make these pumpkin cupcakes!
Cozy Cinnamon Apple Bread Recipe
I’m an East Coast gal so, naturally, fall is my favorite time of year (aside from winter. Yes, I love winter too!). Fall means apple picking, and that means apple cider donuts and pumpkin ice cream. I love all of those fall flavors, and this cinnamon apple bread is one of my best and easiest fall baking recipes. It’s filled with shredded apples tossed in cinnamon and layered with the most delicious brown sugar streusel.
The good news is, that you don’t need to wait for apple season to make this quick bread recipe. Just pick up a bushel of apples from your local store and bake up a loaf for breakfast!
Why I Love This Apple Bread Recipe
- Swirled with cinnamon streusel. I make a simple cinnamon sugar streusel with just 4 ingredients (sugar, cinnamon, butter, and flour) and swirl it throughout the bread. It’s so good, that I couldn’t resist layering it on top of the batter, too, for a deliciously crunchy, caramelized sugar topping.
- Packed with real apples. Fresh fall apples absolutely shine in this bread recipe! Rather than chopping the apples, I shred them, so that there are plenty of apples in every bite while adding loads of moisture to the bread. Tossing the shredded apples with cinnamon first gives this bread even more fall flavor.
- Quick and easy. This is a quick bread recipe, so like banana bread, there’s no yeast or rising time. I take a few extra steps to ensure that this apple bread turns out moist, not soggy, but otherwise, the batter comes together super quickly. It’s an easy treat that I love to whip up on a cozy fall afternoon.
- Great for gifting. This apple cinnamon bread is such a tasty gift for teachers, friends, and neighbors. Just wrap it up once it’s cooled completely. I love bringing a loaf along as a hostess gift at fall parties, too!
Ingredient Notes
Here’s what you’ll need to make this soft and tender apple cinnamon bread from scratch. Scroll down to the recipe card for a printable ingredients list with the full recipe amounts.
- Vegetable Oil – I use vegetable oil, like canola oil or similar, in place of butter in just about all of my baked goods. It keeps quick breads tender and moist for days.
- Vanilla Extract – Make sure to use pure vanilla extract, not imitation.
- Sour Cream – Another key ingredient for a super soft, moist bread loaf. You can also use plain or Greek yogurt.
- Apples – While just about any type of apple will work, some apples are better for baking than others (see below). You’ll need 1 heaping cup of shredded apples. For me, this was 3 large Granny Smith apples. So if your apples are on the small side, you may need closer to 4-5.
- Ground Cinnamon – You can also use a spice blend, like apple pie spice or pumpkin pie spice.
- Streusel – I include a simple homemade cinnamon streusel recipe made from all-purpose flour, brown and white sugar, additional cinnamon, and butter. I use the same streusel for filling and topping the bread, so it’s extra easy.
What Kind of Apple Is Best for Baking?
Any baking apples that you would use for apple pie or apple crisp will work in this cinnamon apple bread. The best baking apples are firm, sweet-tart varieties. My favorite is green Granny Smith, but other good options are Gala, Honeycrisp, and Cortland apples. Softer varieties, like MacIntosh, tend to have more liquid and may not shred as well in this quick bread recipe.
How to Make Apple Cinnamon Bread
Below is a short overview of the steps to make a perfect loaf of cinnamon apple bread swirled with streusel. You’ll find the printable instructions in the recipe card.
- Make the batter. First, cream the sugar with the other wet ingredients, and add the sour cream. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients, and then slowly fold these to the wet batter. Be careful not to overmix.
- Prepare the apples. Peel and shred the apples, and then drain the excess moisture (see below). Then, toss the shredded apples with cinnamon and fold them into the batter.
- Prepare the streusel. Combine the dry streusel ingredients in a bowl and whisk them together. Cut in cold butter using a pastry cutter or a fork until you get a crumble.
- Assemble. Pour half of the apple bread batter into a greased and lined loaf pan. Layer over half the streusel and gently swirl that in, then pour the rest of the batter over top. Sprinkle over the remaining streusel.
- Bake. Bake your cinnamon apple bread at 350ºF for 50-60 minutes, and let it cool before you slice it.
How to Remove Moisture From Apples
I chose to use shredded apples for this cinnamon apple bread rather than cutting them into chunks, as I prefer the texture. Plus, it means more apples dispersed through the bread! With shredding comes extra moisture, so it’s important to take the extra step to drain the apples before adding them to the batter. Here’s how to do it:
- Shred the apples. Use a box grater set over a large bowl, and carefully shred the apple down to the core on each side.
- Strain. Afterward, strain the apples using a colander or press them between paper towels to draw out the excess moisture. Fluff the strained apples with a fork.
You’ll see, there’s quite a bit of juice leftover after straining the apples. Too much liquid will through off the balance of the bread, so toss only the drained apples with cinnamon and discard the juice.
Recipe Tips
- Measure the flour correctly. Overmeasuring the flour can lead to dense, dry apple bread. It’s important to measure flour correctly using a kitchen scale, or the spoon-and-sweep method. Spoon the flour from the bag into your measuring cup and level it off, rather than scooping directly from the bag.
- Don’t overmix. Another reason why quick breads turn out dense and tough is due to batter that’s overmixed. Too much mixing overdevelops the gluten in the batter, and the bread won’t rise properly.
- Don’t skip the streusel. The cinnamon streusel takes this cinnamon apple bread to a whole other level of yum. I don’t recommend skipping this step! You get that nice crunchy top layer and then the gooey ribbon in the middle of the bread. If you’re short on ingredients and don’t have enough for both, you could always do only the streusel topping instead.
- Use cold butter. The streusel needs cold butter, which you can press into the dry ingredients using forks, a pastry cutter, or get your (clean) fingers in there. The mixture will be crumbly, but should stick together when pressed.
- Leave the topping untouched. Don’t swirl the top layer of streusel. Do your best to evenly cover the top of the bread.
How to Store
- On the counter. Keep this cinnamon apple bread stored in an airtight container in a cool and dry place. This loaf will stay moist for a couple days, but it’s best when served within 2 days of preparing.
- Freeze. To freeze this bread, cool the loaf completely and then double wrap it in plastic wrap.
More Apple Recipes You’ll Love
- Apple Crumble Pie
- No-Bake Apple Pie Cheesecake Jars
- Brown Butter Apple Muffins
- Stovetop Apple Pie Filling
Cinnamon Apple Bread
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes (up to 60 minutes)
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 10 slices
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Description
This soft and spiced cinnamon apple bread is moist, flavorful, and perfect for fall baking! It’s an easy quick bread recipe baked with fresh shredded apples, swirled with a buttery cinnamon sugar streusel.
Ingredients
For the bread
- ½ cup (118ml) vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons (7.5ml) pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (190g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (118ml) sour cream
- 1 ½ cups (210g) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons (6.5g) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 heaping cup, peeled & grated apples (2–3 large granny smith apples)
- 1 tablespoon (7.5g) ground cinnamon
For the Streusel
- ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon (44g) all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons (41g) light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons (42g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon (7.5g) ground cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons (42g) butter, cold
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare a loaf pan. Spray with cooking spray and line the bottom and sides with parchment paper.
- Beat the wet ingredients: Combine the eggs, oil and vanilla extract. Beat together until well combined.
- Next add the granulated sugar, beating until combined then add the sour cream and continue mixing until all ingredients are well combined.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl: flour, baking soda and salt. Whisk to combine. Add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix just until the flour starts to combine.
- Peel and shred the apples using a grater. Drain the moisture from the apples and then fluff with a fork. Then mix in the cinnamon. Fold the grated apples into the batter.
- For the streusel: combine the dry ingredients and whisk to combine. Next add the cold butter. Using a fork or pastry cutter, press the butter together with the dry ingredients until it’s well combined. The mixture should be crumbly but stick together when pressed between your fingers.
- Layer the bread: In the loaf pan, layer half the batter in the pan, then add half the streusel and gently swirl. Add the remaining batter on top and finally, the remaining streusel.
- Bake at 350°F for 50-60 minutes on the middle rack of the oven or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool for at least 1 hour before slicing.
Notes
- Sour cream: Helps keeps this bread moist. If you need a substitute, I’d recommend Greek yogurt.
- Apples: I prefer using granny smith (green) apples. They are tart and have the best flavor. If the apples are overripe, they will have more moisture when shredded, so I prefer apples that are still crisp and easier to shred. If your apples are small to medium size, you’ll need 4-5 of them.
- Nuts: Feel free to add some chopped walnuts or pecans would be good to.
- Make ahead and storage: Keep stored in an airtight container in a cool and dry place. This loaf will stay moist for a couple days, but it’s best when served within 2 days of preparing. To freeze this bread, cool the loaf completely and then double wrap it in plastic wrap.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 382
- Sugar: 31g
- Sodium: 330mg
- Fat: 17g
- Saturated Fat: 12g
- Carbohydrates: 53g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 4.8g
- Cholesterol: 50mg
I love this recipe! I went to make it last night & realized I didn’t have sour cream. After searching substitutes online I decided to go with mayonnaise. I had my doubts but the bread came out perfect, nice & moist just like if I had used sour cream.
Thank you for sharing Heidi! I am so glad to hear that! There’s a note for substitutions both in the blog post and in the recipe card. Next time with plain or Greek yogurt are also options.
Fact! It’s great 👌😋😋😋😋😋
Thanks so much Marco!
This sounds so yummy – I’d love to make it. Would it turn out well if I grated the apples on the larger round holes of a grater, rather than the very fine holes?
Yes, I actually used the larger holes as well.
I added some pecans, it was a hit immediately gone. I’m planning a tea and will it will make a good addition.
That sounds perfect Lauren! Thank you so much for sharing!
I baked this bread last week and everyone at home loved it so I had to bake another one this week!
The texture is amazing, all the flavors go really well together and you really get the cinnamon and apple flavor. It is super yummy and you should definitely give it a try, I’m sure you’ll love it as well.
If you are debating if you should keep the crumble or leave it out, please don’t leave it out, it is super tasty and adds a lot.
Jimena, thank you SO very much for this! I am so glad that you love it!