Cinnamon Applesauce Bread
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Prepare to “fall” in love with this healthy, whole wheat Cinnamon Applesauce Bread recipe. Using mostly pantry staples, you can prepare this mouth-watering quick bread in no time.
Why I Love This Recipe
- Flavor Pairing: The cinnamon and apple combo gets me every time. Whether it’s Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal, Apple Cinnamon Steel Cut Oats, or Cinnamon Apple French Toast, I find it hard to resist this classic fall pairing in recipes.
- Healthy & Delicious: Although this sweet bread is made with 100% whole wheat, it is still light, moist, and flavorful. I serve it to my kids as an after school snack or for breakfast in the fall and it goes fast! Check out our list with more Healthy Snacks, too.
- Easy Ingredients: The good news is that you might have all the recognizable ingredients in your kitchen right now for this low-guilt sweet treat.
Ingredient Notes
You’ll find all the ingredients in the full recipe at the bottom of this article, but here are a few notes about my preferred ingredients.
- Whole wheat flour – I highly recommend using white whole wheat flour, like King Arthur or Prairie Gold. It makes the bread turn out much lighter than the usual whole wheat flour (made with red wheat). If you can’t find this variety, then you may want to use half whole wheat and half all purpose flour instead.
- Unsweetened applesauce – Adds apple flavor, a little natural sweetness, and moisture. Make sure to check the label to see that it doesn’t have added sugar. If you end up using sweetened applesauce or our Homemade Cinnamon Applesauce, then pull back some on the sugar (and perhaps the cinnamon too) in the recipe.
- Sugar – You can use white sugar (it isn’t a huge amount), but if you want something slightly healthier, try Coconut Palm Sugar. It’s less refined, retains many of the nutrients found in coconut palm, and has inulin fiber in it.
How to Make Applesauce Bread
Prep for Baking
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch loaf pan (I like and use this metal pan) with cooking spray.
Make the Batter
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, applesauce, vanilla, and sugar.
- Stir until combined. Do not over mix. Add mix to the greased loaf pan.
Bake and Serve
Bake until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle, about 40-45 minutes in a metal loaf pan (add another 10 minutes or so for a glass pan).
Serve the bread slices warm with a little butter on top. You can always just add a little sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar over it as well, for more fall-flavored sweetness.
What to Serve with Applesauce Bread
While this recipe can stand alone and leave you feeling full, here are some recipes that would complement it well.
Storage and Freezing Instructions
Once the loaf is fully cooled, wrap it tightly or place a lid on top of the loaf pan. Store on the counter for 1-2 days or in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. Or, you can freeze it for later using these instructions…
To Freeze:
Option 1: Fully bake, fully cool, and remove the loaf from the pan. Then wrap the loaf in several layers of plastic wrap and then in a layer of foil. Label it with the recipe name and date and freeze.
Option 2: Alternately, you can wrap individual slices in a piece of plastic wrap or foil and place them in a freezer bag. This is an easy way to grab one slice from the freezer at a time.
To Thaw Frozen Bread: When you’re ready to enjoy your frozen bread, let it thaw on the counter, in the fridge, or using the defrost setting on your microwave. Warm a slice in the microwave for about 15-20 seconds in the microwave.
Other FAQs
Some variations to applesauce bread could be using different types of applesauce (chunky, smooth, spiced), adding in nuts like chopped pecans or walnuts, or making it into muffins instead of a loaf. To make muffins instead, bake at 350°F for 15-20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Yes. Replace the whole wheat flour with 1:1 gluten-free baking flour for a gluten-free version.
After the bread was cooled, wrap it tightly with plastic wrap or foil. It can be stored on the counter for 1-2 days, in the refrigerator for 3-5 days, and in the freezer for 3 months (if packaged well).
More Sweet Bread Recipes
We mentioned we love making delicious apple recipes like our Crockpot Baked Apples and Apple Cranberry Sauce above. But, if you like this healthy, moist quick bread, then we’d love for you to try some of our other top sweet breads:
Did you make this? Snap a photo and tag us on Instagram at @thrivinghome so we can see your creations and cheer you on!
Applesauce Bread
Prepare to “fall” in love with Cinnamon Applesauce Bread. Not only is it sweet, warm, and comforting, but it’s nutritious too.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour (see Cooking Notes for sub)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (I use pink Himalayan salt)
- 1 1/2 – 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup avocado oil (or vegetable oil)
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla (try making homemade vanilla)
- 1 cup sugar (a healthier, less sweet alternative is Coconut Palm Sugar)
- Optional for serving: butter, cinnamon, sugar
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Instructions
Make It Now:
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 inch loaf pan (I like and use this metal pan) with cooking spray.
- Make Batter: In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, applesauce, vanilla, and sugar. Add the wet ingredients to the dry mix and stir until combined. Do not over mix.
- Bake: Bake until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle, about 40-45 minutes in a metal loaf pan (50-60 minutes for glass pan).
- Serve: Let cool slightly before slicing. Serving suggestion: smear a warm slice with butter, our Crock Pot Apple Butter, or cream cheese. For a sweeter treat, sprinkle with more sugar and cinnamon.
Freeze For Later: Bake and let bread cool completely. Wrap tightly in a few layers of plastic wrap and foil. Squeeze out all the air, seal, and freeze.
Prepare From Frozen: Let bread thaw on the counter or in the fridge. Or you can use the defrost setting on the microwave.
Notes/Tips
Substitution for White Whole Wheat Flour: If you can’t find this variety of whole wheat, use 3/4 cup regular whole wheat flour and 3/4 cup all purpose flour instead. Or, replace all the flour with all purpose flour.
Storage Instructions: Cool and wrap tightly. Store on counter for 1-2 days, in fridge for 3-5 days, and in freezer for up to 3 months.
Gluten-Free Variation: Replace the whole wheat flour with 1:1 gluten-free baking flour. Bake time and texture may vary slightly.
Add-Ins: To mix it up, try folding in a 1/3 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts, dried cranberries, or mini chocolate chips to the batter at the end.
To Make Muffins: Fill muffin tin holes 3/4th full with batter. Bake at 350°F for 15-20 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
We retested this recipe on 9/20/22 and increased the amount of sugar from 3/4 cup to 1 cup.
We love this recipe! Sometimes we add walnuts for a little crunch.
Hi Trudy. Thanks for taking the time to leave a review and let us know of the walnut addition you enjoy.
Great! Please tell me if I can make this in the bread machine. If so please tell me how. Thanks.
Hi Rick. This is a quick bread, which we have never done in a bread machine. With quick breads, you just mix the ingredients in a bowl, put it in a bread pan and bake.
Best recipe I have found in a long, long time. At last an easy alternative to banana bread and the usual suspects. It magical the way it disappears after I bake it….
Wonderful to hear Barry. Thank you for taking the time to leave a review!
I love this recipe even though I made some changes for our house. I used all purpose flour instead of whole wheat flour and I did 1/2 cup of melted butter instead of oil. I also did muffins at 375 F for 20 minutes.
Hi Jenn. Those sound like changes I make at my house sometimes depending on what I have on hand. Thank you for taking the time to leave a review and let others know what worked for you!
If I only have sweetened applesauce, can I just leave the sugar out?
I would just leave out 1 or 2 tablespoons of sugar. You’ll definitely want the rest.
What can I use in place of white whole wheat flour?
Use half whole wheat flour and half all purpose flour.
Made this recipe today. It is delicious, moist and flavorful. I did make 3 mini breads versus 1 large, baked for 33 minutes, they were perfect. This is a keeper, thanks for sharing!!
Great idea to make smaller versions. They will work well in the freezer if you wrap them tightly. Thanks for taking the time to leave a review!
This was so delicious! I made it for an afternoon snack and served it warm, spread with cream cheese. My kids loved it. It was delicious and filling. Would also be great as a breakfast bread.
My kids love this with cream cheese, too. Glad you all enjoyed it!
This says place in a 9 x 11 pan?
Oops, I just corrected that. It should say a 9 inch loaf pan. Thanks for catching that error.