Whole Grain Cinnamon Applesauce Bread
Tender, soft, and perfectly spiced, this Whole Grain Cinnamon Applesauce Bread will quickly become a favorite.
Who knew applesauce bread could be this delicious?
Tender, soft and perfectly spiced with a bump in heartiness thanks to all those whole grains hanging around in there, the warm cinnamony flavor not only tastes delectable but your house is going to smell like the best candle in the world X 1,000 while baking. Bonus.
You can slice this bread up warm, cooled, same day, next day, whenever.
It’s wonderful plain and simple. It really is. But for some reason, it just goes from great to amazing when a little itty bitty bit (or not so itty bitty bit) of butter is spread on top of a slice.
And if you want to be a complete rock star, whip up some honey butter and use that. But be careful who you invite over. They may stay awhile.
After my virtual friend, Heather, sent me this recipe, I realized after only a few whisks that it’s nearly identical to my most-loved banana bread recipe.
A similarity I could spot a mile away since that banana bread is made so often, the recipe is lodged in my brain for the rest of forever (some people get annoying songs stuck in their heads, I get killer recipes stuck in mine).
You’ve got the same basic lineup of ingredients with the exception of a few spices and the applesauce subbing in for the mashed bananners. Clearly, after that realization, I knew this applesauce version had to be a winner.
I made it several times tweaking it a little here and there: cutting back the oil a bit, subbing in whole wheat flour, adding weight measures, and a few other minor things – the deliciousness never wavered. Flexible recipes are the best.
So what are you waiting for? Make it! Love it! Slather it with butter and come back and tell me all about it!
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Whole Grain Cinnamon Applesauce Bread
Ingredients
- ¼ cup oil, melted coconut, light olive oil, avocado, vegetable, melted butter
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup (106 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (106 g) light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup buttermilk or sour cream
- 1 cup (227 g) no-sugar added cinnamon applesauce (see note)
- 1 ¾ cup (249 g) white whole wheat flour (see note)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease a 9X5-inch loaf pan (line the bottom with parchment – optional, but helps prevent the bottom of the loaf from sticking).
- In a large bowl, whisk together the oil and eggs until well combined. Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, buttermilk and applesauce and mix until well-combined.
- Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and stir until combined; a few lumps are ok (don’t overmix – treat it like a good muffin batter that gets combined but not obliterated by mixing).
- Pour the batter into the loaf pan and spread evenly.
- Bake for 45-60 minutes (ovens will vary on exact time) until the top springs back lightly to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs but not wet batter.
- Let cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. Serve with butter or honey butter (or plain, but that’s really no fun).
Notes
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Recipe Source: adapted from this recipe at Averie Cooks that my friend, Heather, emailed to me after she made it for a playgroup and the kids and moms went crazy (and I realized it’s nearly the same as my beloved banana bread recipe, although I adapted it a bit to use whole wheat flour, a bit less oil and a few other minor things)
Best bread ever! Great recipe. I used melted butter. Will likely add some raisins next time. Just a great moist super easy quick bread!
I’d like to make this in my 8X4″ pan. How much batter should I remove so the pan won’t overflow? (I’ll make a couple of muffins with the excess.) Thanks!
Fill the pan about 2/3 full.
I made this today for the first time. Weather from Hurricane Ian is supposed to hit this afternoon, and it feels like Fall for the first time here. I doubled it to make 2 loaves, and my 16yo just ate half a loaf himself.
16: “This is the kind of food that makes you float. Like the scent is in the air, and your body just rises up and floats after it.”
Me: “Like in a cartoon?”
16: “Yeah. And I think it’s a crime that you’ve never made this for us before.”
Hi, thanks so much for all your great recipes!
I’m looking forward to trying this one, but just wanted to point that that whole wheat is different from whole grain. You may want to change the name of the recipe 🙂
Anyways, our family loves your recipes…
Can you tell me a healthy sugar substitue and can i use almond milk in this recipe.
Hi Carolyn, yes you can use almond milk. I don’t use sugar substitutes in my baking, so I’m not sure what to suggest, but a quick google search might help you!
Liked the look of this WWW flour bread… but have a question about your measurement. Every brand of flour insists on a slightly different weight for its flours. Most are in the vicinity of 4.25 ounces per cup… you listed it as 1.75 cups or 8.75 ounces. 4.25×1.75=7.4375
Did you make an error when transcribing the formula?
No, there isn’t an error. All of my recipes are tested using 5 ounces per cup of all-purpose or whole wheat flour (that is the weight that America’s Test Kitchen uses and it’s the one that works best for me).
Why rate this recipe down when you haven’t even made the recipe? That’s uncalled for. Ask Mel a question, but don’t drag down the ratings for something unrelated.
We love this bread so much! And my kids can’t tell that it is made with whole wheat flour so it is a double win!! Ha ha
This is my go too recipe when we have old apples languishing in the fridge that no one wants to eat. I make a quick applesauce on the stove and then make as much applesauce bread as I have apples for! It truly is when of my favourite baked goods, full stop! The only change I make is I increase the salt to a full tsp, I find with the hard red wheat flour available to us here in Canada it helps control the bitterness of the flour (never once in my life have I seen white wheat flour on a grocery store shelf here)
This is so tasty!! Made this today and followed your recipe exactly. Everyone loved it. Thanks!!
Love this bread. Have made it a lot.
Today I made it in a small 9×13 type pan – I think it is 10×7 and worked perfect. Next time I will whip up some cream cheese frosting you serve as a dessert or yummy “snack cake”. Yum yum yum
Would this be okay to do in a 1 pound loaf USA bread pan? Or would it overflow? And how would the cooking time and temperature change? Thanks for any tips!
I think it would overflow in that size of pan (which is usually 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch).
This bread is so great. I’ve never had it turn out less than perfect. My kids love it for snack at school, I love it for a quick breakfast as well! I make this so much in the fall/winter I lose count! Thanks for another winner Mel!
I saw this recipe on Facebook a couple of years ago and wanted to share what I’ve done. Used vegetable oil, plain unsweetened apple sauce, but did not add extra cinnamon (still plenty of cinnamon flavour), only 1/2 tsp. of nutmeg (nutmeg can be very overpowering), and went 50/50 with white and whole wheat flour. I then made 36 mini muffins. My 5 yr. old granddaughter loves these to take to school in her lunch.
I used my own homemade, no sugar added, spiced applesauce for this. First time baking with whole wheat flour. Turned out amazing!!!
https://www.facebook.com/awesomesauce.applesauce/