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Moist Apple Spice Bread

Moist Apple Spice Bread

Some quickbreads are very moist and dense, while others are a little bit dry and very bread-like. This moist Apple Spice Bread falls into the former category. The bread is ultra-moist and is packed with two cups of shredded apple, from two whole apples! All that fruit makes it a little bit dense, but the bread is tender and flavorful, so that is not a bad thing in this case.

When you go to shred the apples for this bread, use a large grater that allows for wide shreds. If you use a very fine grater, you’re likely to end up with applesauce instead of shredded apple. I shred my apples whole, leaving all the peel on. As you shred, don’t worry if the apple discolors into a light brown color as it is exposed to air. While you can try and counteract this by adding lemon juice to the apple, the color actually contributes to the lovely color of the finished quickbread (plus it’s difficult to manage the color of so much shredded apple without using a whole lot of lemon juice and we don’t want to add any extra moisture to this bread!).

I included several spices in this loaf, as well as pecans for a nice crunch and a textural break from that moist, apply goodness. The spices I used are cinnamon, cardamom, allspice and cloves. I didn’t go overboard on the spicing so that you can really taste the apple in every bite, but feel free to spice it up and add more of your favorites for a spicier take on this bread, or if you’re looking to give it a more warming feel on a cold day.

Moist Apple Spice Bread
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/3 cup butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups shredded apples (about 2 apples)
3/4 cup toasted pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 9×5-inch loaf pan.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and spices.
In a medium bowl, whisk together melted butter, eggs, milk and vanilla. Pour into flour mixture and stir until partially combined. Add in shredded apples and pecans and continue to mix until all ingredients are well-combined and no streaks of flour remain. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake for about 70-75 minutes, or until bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached.
Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn loaf out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container when cool; the bread will keep well for several days.

Makes 1 loaf.

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18 Comments
  • kickpleat
    April 19, 2010

    I have some applesauce that I’d love to use up so I think I’ll tinker with this, as it looks delicious!

  • Tiffiny Felix
    April 19, 2010

    I love apple cake and apple bread 🙂 So yum! I received my Baking Bites cookbook today! I really like it and can’t wait to try something. Do you mind my asking who you used to self-publish? I’m also writing a cookbook and am trying to decide who to use. Thanks! 🙂

  • Ashley
    April 19, 2010

    looks amazing! Anything apple makes me happy.

  • Shaheen
    April 19, 2010

    This looks so amazing Nicole!! Thanks for all the tips.

  • Stella
    April 20, 2010

    Thanks for posting this. I’ll have to try this over the weekend. I’m always looking for an easy slice and go breakfast.I’m up 7,000 feet in the Andes Mountains so I’m going to experiment with adjusting this for high altitude. I’ll let you know how that goes!

  • Rachel
    April 20, 2010

    Just wanted to double check, is there no sugar in this recipe? Is it naturally sweetened by the apples?

  • china
    April 21, 2010

    We often eat red bean bread.I have not eaten this apple spice bread.

  • Kai
    April 24, 2010

    Hello! I’d like to ask the same thing… this recipe has no sugar? Thank you!

  • Ashley
    April 26, 2010

    This looks so incredibly delicious! So perfectly moist and soft.

  • Deb
    May 1, 2010

    I made this today. For everyone asking about the sugar, I’d say add about a 1/2 a cup, or maybe more. I made it without any and it needs sweetening. I’d also cut the milk to about 3/4c – my loaf turned out way too moist – more like a pudding. The spice blend is nice though.

  • Nicole
    May 1, 2010

    Actually, it was a typo. Sorry everyone! There is 1 cup of sugar in this recipe. I’ve updated it above.

  • Grant
    June 17, 2010

    I made this for my parents as directed, they absolutely loved it, thank you for the recipe!

  • Velvet
    September 13, 2010

    This is a great recipe! I used buttermilk instead of milk as I had some, also substitute 1/2 the flour with whole wheat and half the butter with applesauce. I was out of pecans so used almonds and added some golden raisins. Got requests for the recipe. I just chopped the apples and left the peels on too.

  • Rosie
    October 25, 2010

    Made this bread on the weekend and it was wonderful! Thanks for posting the recipe. I did make a couple of substitutions: 50% AP flour and 50% white whole wheat flour instead of all AP flour; didn’t have ground cloves so I used 1/2 tsp ginger.

    I also thought the batter was going to overflow (almost filled up the loaf pan before baking so I used I used 6 silicone muffin cups as well). Turns out this loaf doesn’t rise very much, and I didn’t need those muffin cups!

  • Lauren@SAHMIam
    February 27, 2015

    I made this bread over the weekend, and my boys love it! My 5 year old tells me I must make it again, and he has been having a slice in his lunchbox each day.

  • […] I included several spices in this loaf, as well as pecans for a nice crunch and a textural break from that moist, apply goodness. The spices I used are cinnamon, cardamom, allspice and cloves. I didn’t go overboard on the spicing so that you can really taste the apple in every bite, but feel free to spice it up and add more of your favorites for a spicier take on this bread, or if you’re looking to give it a more warming feel on a cold day. (more…) […]

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