
Isn’t she pretty??? This might be one of my favorite recipes bread recipes – born from a need to use up a ton of apples. We received a huge box of them, so I had the bright idea to make a big batch of applesauce. Unfortunately after making said applesauce, I realized we aren’t huge applesauce eaters in this house. Thus, necessity breeds innovation – or in this case, very pretty applesauce bread! Not only is it a wonderful way to use up applesauce, but because it’s not too sweet it makes an amazing breakfast – or a wonderful dessert with a bit of ice cream to sweeten it up.
I’m serious, this lady really isn’t as sweet as say, banana bread. If you want it more along those lines, consider an extra half cup of sugar. I love that this bread isn’t too sweet though, it makes it an easy guilt-free breakfast and well, it’s chock-full of apples which makes me feel like I’m being ~healthy~, even after my third piece. It would probably be amazing with a handful of walnuts or pecans as well, but I didn’t have any laying around when this recipe was created.
A tip? Test for doneness early! Nothing’s worse than an over-baked apple loaf (or muffins), and every oven is different. You want a nice clean toothpick – especially for the muffins, which cook much quicker than the loaf.
Notes on yield: This recipe makes 2 4×8-inch loaves or 24 muffins – if that seems like too much, remember that they freeze beautifully! To freeze the muffins, flash freeze on a baking sheet and then store in a heavy duty plastic ziplock bag. To freeze the loaf, wrap in plastic then foil before freezing. To thaw, leave them the fridge overnight.
Sparkly Cinnamon Apple Loaf (or Muffins)
- Oil or Non-Stick Spray, for greasing the loaf pan or muffin tins
- 1/2 cup (100g) Granulated Sugar
- 1/2 cup(100g) Brown Sugar
- 2 cups (450ml) Unsweetened Applesauce
- 1/2 cup (120ml) Vegetable or Coconut Oil
- 3 Large Eggs
- 2 teaspoons (10ml) Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 teaspoon (6g) Salt
- 1 teaspoon (4g) Baking Soda
- 3/4 teaspoon (3g) Baking Powder
- 2 teaspoon (6g) Ground Cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon (1g) Ground Nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon (1g) Ground Cloves
- 2 1/4 cups (280g) All-Purpose Flour, plus more for dusting the pan
- 1 Large Apple, diced small
- 1/2 cup Demerara or Turbinado Sugar, for sprinkling (sub: any coarse sugar)
- Preheat the oven to 350F or 180C. Grease two 4×8 -inch (10×20 cm) loaf pans or two 12-cup muffin tins (or both) with butter or non-stick spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, use a hand mixer to combine the sugar, brown sugar, apple sauce, oil, eggs, and vanilla. You want the mixture to lighten and look frothy – if you don’t have a hand mixer, whip vigorously with a whisk.
- Stir in the the salt, baking soda, and baking powder until fully dissolved. Then stir in the flour and mix until just combined.
- Fold in the apples.
- Pour the mixture into the greased pan or muffin tin. If filling the muffin tins, aim to fill them to slightly under the lip. Sprinkle the top liberally with demerara sugar for that gorgeous sparkly crunch.
- Bake the muffins on the middle rack for 20-25 minutes, and the loaf for 45-50 minutes – or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
- Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week – this bread is honestly wonderful cold, but to reheat simply microwave for 20 seconds on high, or fry in a bit of butter on the stove for a real treat.
