Perfect for a fall morning, this apple fritter bread has a tender crumb and uses applesauce, apple cider, and freshly chopped apples plus extra cinnamon to bring the best combination of beloved fall flavors. And the glaze keeps it moist for days, meaning you can enjoy this with your tea or coffee all week!

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There’s something about apples and apple desserts that means it’s officially fall here. Since I’m writing this while wearing shorts in November, I obviously can’t count on the weather to kick off the season. But each year in early fall, we go up to a place called Apple Hill. It’s always the first thing that really feels like fall. We always stop for apple donuts before exploring pumpkin patches and apple farms and buying all kinds of pies and local produce, including apples.

Which led to apple fritter bread.

I’m not even sure I can call this apple fritter bread, since apple fritters are a yeasted and fried donut. But I’m just going with it. I used freshly chopped apples and an apple cider glaze, so it seemed like a fitting term for it, but apple bread or apple donut bread would work, too.

Whatever I call it, it’s delicious.

Why this recipe works

The use of oil and butter ensures this bread will be both moist and fluffy, an often elusive combination. The applesauce and apple cider both keep it moist as well, plus they add such rich flavors. And the chopped apples—if diced small enough—bake up so perfectly that they bring a burst of flavor to each bite. And, yet again, they help keep the bread from drying out. I actually had to add a little more flour before I got this bread just right. And one of my not-so-secret-secrets is extra cinnamon. I find most recipes just don’t have enough cinnamon flavor, so I love adding extra.

And don’t forget that glaze! It’s a simple mix of powdered sugar and reduced apple cider, but it’s sooooo good.

Key ingredients

Flour. Be sure to spoon then level your flour so you don’t pack in too much!

Baking powder. Be sure this is fresh—no more than 6 months old!

Salt. Sea salt is best!

Cinnamon. Use a high quality brand, if you can. It packs so much more flavor.

Applesauce. You can use any kind you like, but I recommend plain, unsweetened.

Apple cider. Not apple juice. You’ll reduce it as well to pack as much flavor as possible.

Vanilla. Not always used in this kind of recipe, but I have a hard time not using it!

Eggs. Be sure they’re fresh and room temp.

Oil. Helps the bread stay moist.

Butter. Helps the bread stay fluffy. Use European style, if at all possible, as it has less water and is far creamier.

Sugar/brown sugar. Brown sugar is just so perfectly fall! But you need a little white sugar to help with the rise.

Powdered sugar. For the glaze. Be sure it’s fresh and sift if it’s lumpy or not sealed well or if you live in humidity.

How to make apple fritter bread

1. Prep your ingredients. Reduce your cider and melt your butter then let both cool. Chop your apples and sprinkle with lemon juice.

2. Sift and whisk your dry ingredients. Sifting is key for a fluffy bread.

3. Whisk the apple cider, applesauce, oil, eggs, and butter. If the cider isn’t cooled to room temperature, add it right before or right after the butter, streaming it in while whisking just like with the butter.

4. Stream in the melted butter. Do this slowly and while whisking, so you don’t scramble the eggs. If your cider wasn’t cooled to room temperature, stream it in at this time.

5. Whisk in the sugars.

6. Fold in the dry ingredients. Be sure to leave it a little lumpy with some flour streaks—the next step will take care of the streaks.

7. Drain then fold in the chopped apples. You don’t want to add any liquid here, so be sure they’re drained.

8. Bake. Bake until a toothpick comes out with some crumbs, not clean (that usually means it’s over baked). Tent with foil if necessary (I almost always do).

9. Cool then add the glaze. Don’t add the glaze while it’s still hot, as it’ll melt into the bread and only leave a slight sheen of glaze (unless that’s what you prefer). Either way, don’t slice until it’s cooled for a bit, or it’ll end up dense and the bad kind of chewy.

Enjoy!

Tips and FAQ’s for this recipe

Dice the apples fairly small

You could even shred your apples, if you’d like, but I wanted to have some visible chunks. I had to remake this bread after my first batch fell apart from the apples being too large. Be sure your dices are around 1/4 inch square, or you will end up with delicious apple fritter breadcrumbs.

Note: don’t try to peel and chop the apples at the last second before you add them to the batter. I know this is the easiest way to prevent them turning brown, but you want them chopped before you start. Once you’ve mixed the wet and dry ingredients, you need to work quickly to get the bread in the oven so it doesn’t become dense and chewy.

How do I know if my cider has reduced enough?

When reducing liquid, I always measure out some water in the final amount I need. I place it in my pot and get a good visual of where it should stop when it’s reduced. I sometimes also stick a kebab stick in there and mark on it how deep the water should be. That way, as it reduces, I know when to stop.

Help! My cider reduced too much!

That’s okay! If it reduced to almost nothing, you’ll need to start over. If not, you can top it off by adding a splash of plain cider. Or, if needed, you can use all of the reduction (which should be much thicker than when it was cider) for the bread and use plain, not-reduced cider for the glaze.

What if I have a 9x5 pan?

*This also works in a 9x5 pan, but may be a little shorter. You can increase the recipe by 50% (or multiply each ingredient by 1.5) to get a full-to-the-top 9x5 loaf. That would equate to the following amounts (the glaze will stay the same amount):

2 ½ cups plus 2 tablespoons (357g) all-purpose flour, spooned then leveled
3 teaspoons (15g) baking powder
¾ teaspoon (4g) salt
1 ½ tablespoons (12g) ground cinnamon
1 cup (244g) unsweetened applesauce
2 cups (480g) apple cider (not apple juice)
1 ½ tablespoons (19g) pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs, room temperature
6 tablespoons (84g) avocado or vegetable oil
6 tablespoons (84g) melted butter
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
¾ cup (150g) brown sugar
1 to 1 ½ cups (about 120-180g) chopped fresh apples

My apple fritter bread tools

Here are my must-have tools I use for making this bread. Affiliate links provided.

Mesh sieve (because sifting is KEY for a fluffy bread)

8x4 loaf pan or 9x5 loaf pan

Vegetable peeler (or cheese grater, if you want to grate the apple)

My favorite whisk

All-rubber spatula (this makes scraping the bowl easier as the batter and frosting doesn’t get all over a wooden handle!)

You might also like:

Foolproof French Apple Pie

Apple Pie Cake

Maple Spiced Pumpkin Bread

Perfect Pumpkin Coffee Cake

Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread

Apple Fritter Bread

Print Recipe

prep time: 20-25 minutes
bake time: 45-50 minutes
total time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

servings: 8-12

Ingredients:

for the bread

1 ¾ cups (238g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
2 teaspoons (10g) baking powder
½ teaspoon (3g) salt
1 tablespoon (8g) ground cinnamon
⅔ cup (163g) unsweetened applesauce
1 ½ cups (360g) apple cider (not apple juice)
1 tablespoon (13g) pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature
4 tablespoons (56g) avocado or vegetable oil
4 tablespoons (56g) melted butter
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
½ cup (100g) packed brown sugar (light or dark will work)
1 cup (about 120g) chopped fresh apples
squeeze of lemon juice (to keep the apples from browning)

for the apple cider glaze

1 cup (130g) powdered/confectioners sugar
2-3 tablespoons reduced cider (leftover from above)

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350F/175C. Grease and flour an 8x4 loaf pan (see note above for making in a 9x5 pan). If it’s prone to sticking, you can line it with parchment as well.
Reduce the apple cider by heating it over medium for 10-15 minutes, until it reduces to a little over ½ cup in volume (or reduces to ⅓ of its original volume). If making the 9x5 version, you’ll want just under ¾ cup volume in the end. Set in the fridge to cool.
Melt the butter and set aside. Don’t let it cool enough to solidify, but do let it cool somewhat before using.
Peel, core, and chop 1 medium or 2 small apples. Make sure the dices are fairly small, about ¼” square. Otherwise, your bread will fall apart. You should have about 1 cup in volume, but you can use a little more or a little less. Sprinkle with some lemon juice to prevent browning and set aside.
Using a large fine mesh sieve, sift then whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
Measure out ⅓ cup of the cooled apple cider (½ cup if using the 9x5 recipe). Reserve the rest of the cider for the glaze. In a large bowl, whisk together the cider, applesauce, vanilla, eggs, and oil until well combined. Slowly stream in the melted butter while whisking quickly (this prevents scrambling the eggs). Note: if the cider is still a little warm, whisk everything else together then stream it in just as you do for the butter, whisking quickly to avoid scrambling the eggs. You can do this right before or right after adding the butter.
Add the sugar and brown sugar to the wet ingredients and whisk for about 1 minute. You can whisk it by hand or, if using a stand or hand mixer, mix on medium.
Add the flour mixture and stir gently until fully combined. I try to mostly fold it in. (If you’re unsure what folding means, you basically run a rubber spatula along the edge an entire turn around the bowl the pull the spatula toward the middle once you’ve come fully around the bowl, “folding” the batter on the edge into the middle part.) It should be somewhat lumpy and still have some dry spots, which will get stirred in during the next step.
Drain the apples and discard any extra juice. Fold the drained apples into the batter gently.
Pour into your prepared pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes (longer if using a 9x5 pan), until golden on top and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with some moist crumbs. Check early so it doesn’t over bake. If it starts to brown too quickly, tent the pan loosely with foil. Let cool in pan at least 10 minutes. Remove and let cool at least 30 minutes (cutting sooner will result in a dense, chewy bread).
While the bread cools, you can make the glaze. Combine the powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons of the remaining cooled apple cider. Whisk well. Add more cider as necessary, to reach your desired consistency of glaze. Drizzle over mostly cooled bread (if you drizzle warm bread, the glaze will absorb and disappear).