Healthy Apple Bread

This healthy Apple Bread is soft, moist with juicy bursts of apple with a cinnamon sugar crumble topping for a delicious fall breakfast or afternoon snack! It’s easy to make with wholesome paleo ingredients without any refined sugars. Freezer-friendly, gluten-free and dairy-free.

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Easy Apple Bread Recipe

Looking for a healthy and delicious quick bread recipe? This easy Apple Bread recipe is a satisfying breakfast, snack or dessert. It’s a delicious and nutritious way to use up some of your extra apples from apple picking! This gluten free apple bread is grain-free, wheat free, paleo friendly and the perfect healthy fall baking option.

You can make this homemade apple cinnamon bread with any kind of apples or nuts you like. The bread texture is incredibly moist and soft, and the nuts add just the right amount of crunch. Topped with a 3-ingredient maple icing, this bread recipe is a family favorite waiting to happen!

Want to add more healthy quick bread recipes to your repertoire? We also love this healthy pumpkin bread, zucchini bread and vegan banana bread we rotate between.

Why we love this easy recipe for Apple Bread

This is a quick bread recipe, meaning it rises to perfection in less than an hour. One of the great things about this bread is that it incorporates the apples in two different ways. It’s filled with grated apples as well as bigger apple chunks, so you get tons of flavor in every single bite!

Another thing I love about this homemade bread is how healthy it is. It uses natural sweeteners and coconut oil in the place of butter and granulated sugar. If you’re looking for a guilt-free comfort food recipe for /October and November, you’ve hit the jackpot with this apple bread!

Recipe Ingredients

There are three different things that make this paleo apple bread so delicious – the bread, the topping and the icing. This healthy snack is completely free of gluten, grain and refined sugar. Here’s what you’ll need to make the ultimate apple bread:

For the Topping

• Superfine Blanched Almond Flour
  
• Coconut Sugar
• Refined Coconut Oil: You could also use ghee, softened.
• Ground Cinnamon
• Fine Sea Salt
• Chopped Pecans: Feel free to use walnuts or any other nut of choice!

Wet Ingredients and Sweetener

• Eggs: help to give the apple quick bread structure and bind everything together. Be sure to bring your eggs to room temperature.
• Coconut sugar – An unrefined sweetener that mimics the taste of brown sugar. You can also sub with Lakanto golden monk fruit sweetener or other brown sugar substitute you prefer
• Melted coconut oil: makes the gluten free apple bread tender and moist and adds a light coconut flavor. You can also use any other neutral flavored oil, melted butter or ghee if you are not dairy-free.
• Milk: I use unsweetened almond milk.
• Fresh Lemon Juice
• Pure Vanilla extract – just a teaspoon but adds so much flavor

Dry Ingredients

• Almond Flour: Be sure to use superfine blanched almond flour and not almond meal. Almond flour is the main nut flour providing most of the bulk. Measure properly using the spoon and level method.
• Coconut flour and Tapioca flour:  This combination of gluten free flours provides structure to paleo breads and absorbs moisture so be sure to fluff it out before measuring. When combined with almond flour, they balance out the flavor of gluten free breads to mimic all purpose flour
• Baking Soda: instead of baking powder, we are using this leavener to keep our apple loaf recipe paleo
• Ground cinnamon and sea salt – add flavor and balances out the sweetness
• Peeled Apples: You’ll need two medium-sized apples, one grated and one diced. We used Red Delicious since that is what we picked from the Apple Orchard but feel free to use Granny Smith apples or any variety of apples you have.
• Chopped Pecans or Walnuts

For the Icing

• Coconut Butter: Melt your coconut butter and give it time to cool down slightly.
• Maple Syrup
• Vanilla

How to Make Apple Bread

This recipe is pretty simple and straightforward. All you have to do is combine your topping ingredients, bake your bread and throw together the icing!

1. Prepare Topping: Add all the topping ingredients except for the nuts into a medium bowl. Use a fork to combine until crumbly. Stir in the pecans and chill in the fridge.
2. Heat Oven: Preheat your oven to 350°F, then grease and line an 8×4 inch loaf pan with parchment paper. Leave a slight overhang for easier removal.
3. Combine Wet Ingredients: In a large bowl, beat the eggs, then add the coconut sugar, coconut oil, milk, vanilla and lemon juice and mix until smooth.
4. Sift in Dry Ingredients: Place a large mesh sieve over the bowl and sift in the flours and baking soda. Add the cinnamon and salt and stir the batter until fully combined.
5. Add Apples & Chopped Nuts: Fold in all the apples and chopped nuts. Pour the batter into the pan, smoothing the top. Sprinkle evenly with streusel topping.
6. Bake: Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Let Cool: Allow your bread to cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes.

How to Make the Icing

1. Combine Ingredients: Once the bread is cool, use the parchment paper to very GENTLY lift it out of the pan and place it on a wire rack. Combine the icing ingredients together in a bowl until smooth.
2. Drizzle Over Apple Bread: Add more maple syrup or unsweetened milk as needed to thin out the icing. Use a spoon to drizzle it over the cake in zig zags.

Tips for Making the Best Apple Bread

• Know Your Loaf Pan: Keep in mind that if you use a glass or light-colored pan, your bread will take a bit longer to cook than it would in a dark loaf pan.
• Slow Browning with Foil: If your bread is browning too fast, tent it with aluminum foil to slow down the browning process.
• Use Crisp Apples: If you’re worried about soggy apples, opt for a firmer variety such as Granny Smith apples or Honeycrisp apples.
• Cut With a Sharp Knife: Because this bread is filled with so much moisture, I recommend slicing it with a sharp serrated knife. You should also make sure your apple pie bread is completely cooled or almost completely cooled before cutting it.

Can this apple bread be made into muffins?

Yes, to make healthy apple muffins, simply divide the batter evenly into muffin pans. Or you can even divide the batter into mini loaf pans for mini bread loaves.

How to Store and Reheat Apple Bread

This bread should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge. It will stay fresh for up to 5 days! You can serve it chilled or warmed up.

How to reheat: To warm up your apple bread, microwave it in 15 second increments until it reaches your desired temperature.

Can Apple Bread be Frozen?

Quickbreads are typically great for freezing, and this apple loaf is no exception.

How to freeze: You can freeze the entire loaf or individual servings. All you have to do is wrap the cooled bread in plastic wrap or store it in a sealed plastic bag with all of the air removed. If you’re freezing individual servings, layer them between pieces of parchment paper to prevent sticking.

How to thaw: Be sure to thaw out your bread in the fridge overnight before serving it. Frozen apple bread will stay fresh for up to 3 months!

More healthy apple recipes:

Healthy Apple Muffins

Apple Pie Bars

Instant Pot Apple Cider

Apple Cider Donuts

Apple Butter

Healthy Apple Cake

5 from 1 vote

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Apple Bread

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

1 hr 5 mins

Total Time

1 hr 20 mins

 

This healthy Apple Bread is soft, moist with juicy bursts of apple with a cinnamon sugar crumble topping for a delicious fall breakfast or afternoon snack! It's easy to make with wholesome paleo ingredients without any refined sugars. Freezer-friendly, gluten-free and dairy-free.

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Keyword: apple bread, apple bread recipe, icing recipe

Servings: 10 slices

Calories: 331 kcal

Author: Kelly

Ingredients

For the topping

• 1/4 cup superfine blanched almond flour
• 3 Tbs coconut sugar
• 2 Tbs refined solid coconut oil OR ghee softened like butter
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans OR walnuts

For the bread

• 4 large eggs room temperature
• 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk or any milk, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 6 Tbsp coconut sugar
• 3 Tbsp melted and cooled refined coconut oil or ghee
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup superfine blanched almond flour
• 1/3 tapioca flour
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 medium apple peeled, grated and excess water squeezed out
• 1 medium apple peeled and finely diced
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans OR walnuts

For the Icing

• 1/2 cup coconut butter manna, melted & slightly cooled
• 2-3 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

For the topping:

1. Add all the topping ingredients except for the nuts into a medium bowl. Use a fork to combine until crumbly. Stir in the pecans and chill in the fridge.

For the bread

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and line an 8×4 inch loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving a slight overhang for easier removal.
2. In a large bowl, beat the eggs then add the coconut sugar, coconut oil, milk, vanilla and lemon juice until smooth.
   
3. Place a large mesh sieve over the bowl and sift in the flours and baking soda. Add the cinnamon and salt and stir the batter until fully combined.
4. Fold in all the apples and chopped nuts.
5. Pour the batter into the pan. smoothing the top. Sprinkle the top evenly with streusel topping.
   
6. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes.

For the Icing:

1. Once the bread is cool, use the parchment paper to very GENTLY lift out of the pan and place on a wire rack. Combine the icing ingredients together in a bowl until smooth.
2. Add more maple syrup or unsweetened milk, as needed to thin out the icing. Use a spoon to lightly drizzle over the cake in zig zags.
   

Recipe Notes

How to Store and Reheat Apple Bread

This bread should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge. It will stay fresh for up to 5 days. You can serve it chilled or warmed up.

To warm up your apple bread, microwave it in 15 second increments until it reaches your desired temperature.

How to freeze:

You can freeze the entire loaf or individual servings. All you have to do is wrap the cooled bread in plastic wrap or store it in a sealed plastic bag with all of the air removed. If you're freezing individual servings, layer them between pieces of parchment paper to prevent sticking.

Be sure to thaw out your bread in the fridge overnight before serving it. Frozen apple bread will stay fresh for up to 3 months.

Nutrition Facts

Apple Bread

Amount Per Serving (1 slice)

Calories 331 Calories from Fat 216

% Daily Value*

Fat 24g37%

Carbohydrates 26g9%

Fiber 6g24%

Protein 7g14%

* Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy using the WPRM recipe calculator. It is best to make your own calculations to ensure accuracy. We expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.