Cinnamon Streusel Apple Bread

Ingredients needed

This flavorful apple bread recipe is made with basic baking ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen. Here’s everything you’ll need:

• Flour. We’re using all-purpose flour for the perfect soft, tender crumb. To ensure the best texture, we don’t recommend experimenting with other flour varieties.
• Baking powder + salt. Gives the loaf lift and helps it to bake properly.
• Sugar. Regular granulated white sugar is used for the cake and for the topping. You could use brown sugar, but it may overwhelm the apple flavor.
• Butter. Cold butter is grated into the cake for wonderful texture and rich flavor.
• Apple. We’ll talk more apple details below. Personally, honeycrisp apples are my favorite for any recipe.
• Milk. You can use any preferred milk. Even almond or cashew milk will work just fine.
• Egg. You’ll need just one egg in this recipe. I have not tested this bread with a flax egg, but let me know if you do!
• Cinnamon. Adds warmth and coziness!

How to make this recipe

This apple bread recipe is seriously SO simple to make! The most time consuming part is dicing the frui. Here’s the simple method:

Find the full, printable recipe in the recipe card below.

1. Prep. Preheat your oven to 350ºF. Then, prepare a 9×5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray, or line it with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, whisk dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt and 1/2 cup sugar). Cut in butter until it forms coarse crumbs. I grated my stick of butter using a cheese grater. Remove 1/2 cup of this mixture to use for the topping and set aside.

3. Apples. Stir in apple chunks and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon to the remaining flour mixture.
4. Wet ingredients. In a small bowl, mix egg and milk together. Pour into the apple/flour mixture and stir until just combined.

5. Streusel. Spoon batter into prepared loaf pan. To make the streusel, add remaining 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and 2 tablespoons of sugar to the reserved flour mixture. Stir together until blended, then sprinkle this cinnamon mixture over top of the batter in the loaf pan. Press down lightly.
6. Bake. Bake the apple loaf for 55-60 minutes, or until inserted toothpick or butter knife comes out clean. My bread was done in 55 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack prior to cutting and serving. Enjoy!

Expert tips

• Peeling apples. You don’t have to worry about peeling the apples before adding them to the batter. I didn’t peel mine and no one even noticed.
• Mixing batter. As with any bread recipe, be sure not to over-mix the wet and dry ingredients together. Over-mixing can cause the bread to be too dense and heavy.
• Bake time. Be sure not to under bake the bread. Every oven can vary in temperature, so test the center of the bread with a toothpick. If it comes out clean then it’s ready, if not place it back in the oven for an additional 5-10 minutes. If the top seems to be getting dark too fast, loosely cover it with aluminum foil.
• Loaf pan. If you are using a smaller 8 1/2-inch by 4 1/2-inch loaf pan, your loaf will turn out thicker and therefore the bread needs to cook a bit longer (probably 5-10 minutes more).

Recipe variations

I LOVE this apple cinnamon bread as-is, but if you’d like to change it up or add a bit of extra pizzaz, here are several suggestions.

• Glaze. Add a glaze for real decadence! Make a glaze by mixing 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar with 1 to 2 teaspoons milk. Mix until smooth and drizzle over the cooled bread.
• Nuts. If you love nuts in your quick breads, add some finely chopped pecans or walnuts to the bread batter.
• Spice. Want more spice? Add 1 to 2 teaspoons of apple pie spice, pumpkin pie spice or extra ground cinnamon to the bread batter mixture.
• Muffins. Follow the recipe, adding batter instead to a muffin tin and cooking for 18-25 minutes.
• Dessert. Make this apple bread into more of a dessert by serving it alongside vanilla bean ice cream.

Frequently asked questions

Storage recommendations

Wrap any leftover apple bread in plastic wrap and store on the counter for a day or two. Any longer than that, wrap it tightly and place it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It should keep fresh in the fridge for up to about 5 days. To serve warm, simply pop a slice or two in the microwave for about 30 seconds.

Freezing tips

Like most quick bread recipes, this apple bread freezes beautifully. To freeze, let the bread cool completely. Slice the loaf and then wrap individual slices tightly in plastic wrap. Place the individually wrapped slices into a large freezer-safe ziplock bag, remove any air, and store in the freezer. It will keep well in the freezer for up to two months.

To reheat bread from frozen, thaw slices overnight in the refrigerator or for an hour or so at room temperature. Place the slices on a baking sheet, and warm in the oven at 350 degrees F for about 3 minutes or until warmed through. Or reheat in the microwave.