Apple Streusel Loaf
Luscious, flavorful apple loaf with a perfectly fluffy and moist texture and vibrant spices, topped with crunchy cinnamon streusel. Take your apple baking to the next level with this simple yet always delicious recipe!
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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.
Then there’s the cinnamon streusel. I love this streusel. It’s my go-to, because it’s simple yet bakes up with a lovely crunchy texture and has just the right amount of spice, with extra cinnamon. It can sometimes fall off the loaf a little, but I don’t see this as a problem so much as a little treat I get to sneak off the pan as it cools.
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 (and gives the streusel that perfect crunch). 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.
How to make apple streusel loaf
1. Prep your ingredients. Reduce your cider and melt your butter then let both cool. Chop your apples and sprinkle with lemon juice.
2. Mix the streusel. You want this prepared before you begin the loaf itself, as that will turn gummy if left sitting for too long.
3. Sift and whisk your dry ingredients. Sifting is key for a fluffy bread.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Whisk in the sugars.
7. 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.
8. Drain then fold in the chopped apples. You don’t want to add any liquid here, so be sure they’re drained.
9. 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).
Enjoy!
Tips and FAQ’s for this recipe
What kind of apples should I use?
Any kind will do. Jonagold and Pink Lady are probably my favorites for baking, but they’re not always available at a lot of stores (I usually only find Jonagold/Jonathan apples when we go apple picking). Using a combination of tart and sweet apples is ideal, like Granny Smith and Gala or Honeycrisp. I just don’t recommend Fuji for baking—they turn mushy pretty quickly.
How do I know it’s baked through?
I always use a toothpick, but a small knife or kebab skewer will work, too. You want to catch the cake when it’s just barely stopped being raw, as it will cook a little more in the pan while it cools. The top will not change color as much as other cakes, due to the cinnamon sugar layer. So try to use a toothpick to check for moist crumbs but no raw batter.
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 recipe 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 a delicious mess of crumbs.
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 muffins in the oven so they don’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 muffins and use plain, not-reduced cider for coating the muffins after baking.
Do I have to sift the flour?
Yes! Sifting is key in baking, particularly in anything cake-y. It helps it mix into the wet ingredients more easily, preventing clumps as well as circumventing the urge to over-stir and create a tough, rubbery texture.
Spoon then level your flour
Don’t scoop your flour! I never knew this until I started blogging, but it seriously makes a big difference. You will end up with roughly 25% more flour than the recipe called for if you just doonk (official baking term right there) your measuring spoon into the flour container and scoop. Gently spoon your flour into your measuring cup then level it off with the back of a knife. Trust me! It makes a difference.
My tools
Here are my must-have tools I use for making this loaf bread. Affiliate links provided.
Whisk (or stand mixer or handheld mixer)
Mesh sieve (because sifting is KEY )
Can I make this in a 9x5 pan?
This also works in a 9x5 pan, but may be a little shorter. You can increase the batter by 50% (or multiply each ingredient by 1.5) to get a full-to-the-top 9x5 loaf, indicated below. The streusel amounts can remain the same.
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
1 ½ cups (345g) 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
Apple Streusel Loaf
- prep time: 25-30 minutes
- bake time: 40-45 minutes
- total time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
servings: 12-16
Ingredients:
for the loaf
- 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 cups (230g) apple cider (not apple juice)
- 1 tablespoon (13g) pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 4 tablespoons (56g) avocado, grape seed, 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 cinnamon streusel
- 1 cup (136g) flour
- ⅔ cup (133g) packed light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon (8g) ground cinnamon
- ½ cup (1 stick or 113g) salted butter, cold and cut into small cubes (add a pinch of salt if using unsalted butter)
Instructions:
- Preheat your oven to 350F/175C (375F/190C if at high altitude, but bake for less time). 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 ⅓ cup in volume (or reduces to ⅓ of its original volume). Set in the fridge to cool. While the cider reduces, you can work on the next tw steps.
- 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 inch square. Otherwise, your muffins 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.
- Make the streusel. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and pumpkin spice. Add the butter cubes and use your fingers or a pastry blender to break up the butter. You want to make sure all of the flour is coated in butter, but don’t let it become a paste.
- Using a large fine mesh sieve, sift then whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
- 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 by hand 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.
- Note: don’t try to peel and chop the apples at this step. You want them chopped before you start, because once you’ve mixed the wet and dry ingredients, you need to work quickly to get the muffins in the oven so they don’t become dense and chewy.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the streusel mixture evenly on top and gently press it in slightly. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until golden on top and a toothpick inserted in a middle muffin comes out with some moist crumbs. Check early so it doesn’t over bake. Let cool in pan 15-20 minutes before slicing.
Enjoy with your morning coffee!
Store leftovers in an airtight container. It should last 3-5 days, if well-sealed.