Applesauce Bread

A wonderfully delicious quick bread with lots of spices!

1 hour, 15 minutes

Serves: 8-12

Medium

A fairly easy-to-make quick bread that makes a loaf with great flavor with a topping of cinnamon and sugar pecans.

WOW – this Applesauce Bread is so easy to make and it’s is FULL OF FLAVOR! There are quite a few spices in this cake-like bread loaf that make it a real treat. Perfect for breakfast or a midmorning snack. And the best part is, it comes together very quickly and makes two loaves! You can easily enjoy one today and freeze the second to enjoy later. Or give to a friend. But once you taste it, you’ll probably wanna keep the second loaf all to yourself.

In the recipe I got from Grandma (she thinks she got if from her friend Mary) she notes that once the dough is made you can add 1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped pecans or raisins. Since the recipe calls for pecans on the top of the bread (which is delicious), I opted to try raisins. I did a heaping 1/2 cup of raisins and it turned out great. I think if I make this again, I’d do the full 3/4 cup or more. If you’re a big fan of pecans though, I think I’d do a heaping 1/4 cup of pecans along with a heaping 1/4 cup of raisins.

This Applesauce Bread was very easy to make with a stand mixer but can easily be done with a hand mixer as well. There really aren’t any tricks to this bread or any special techniques you need to be aware of. It’s a great recipe to try if you’re just starting out trying to make bread (this is more like cake) or great to make with young bakers as well!

If you give this Applesauce Bread a try I’d LOVE to hear what you think. Please let me know in the comments below OR share a pic with me on Instagram (@bdhbakes).

Steps:

Preheat Oven to 350º
Mix Dry Ingredients
In a large bowl, mix all of your dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, cloves, allspice. Dump all the ingredients in a bowl and mix with a large whisk until all the spices are well blended throughout. Set aside.
Mix Wet Ingredients and Sugar
In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, add the wet ingredients: sugar, oil, eggs, applesauce and milk. Mix on low for about a minute or two and gradually raise the speed to medium and mix until all ingredients are well combined.
Mix in Dry Ingredients
Add the dry ingredients mixture into the wet ingredients mixture 1 cup at a time and mixing between each addition. Make sure each addition of dry ingredients is fully mixed in before adding the next. Continue until all of the dry mixture is incorporated.
Add Raisins
Add the raisins into the mixing bowl and stir to combine and evenly distribute.
Prep Pans
Prep your bread pans by lightly spraying them with cooking spray or baking spray. Additionally, if you have parchment paper on hand, it's a good idea to put a strip of it across the bottom of the pan so that there is extra hanging off the sides. This paper will act as a helpful handle to get the bread out of the pan after baking.
Pour Dough into Pans
Pour your dough into the pans. Try to make sure they have about equal amounts. Use a kitchen scale if you have one. It doesn't have to be exact, but you want it close. Gently smooth the top of the dough after pouring it into the pans.
Make Topping
In a small bowl, add the remaining ingredients: chopped pecans, brown sugar and remaining cinnamon. Stir until evenly distrubuted.
Sprinkle the Topping on Dough
Sprinkle half the topping on the dough and cover evenly.
Bake for One Hour
Bake the bread in the preheated oven for one hour. When done, a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf should come out clean. After baking allow the bread to cool in the pans for about 10 minutes and then remove the loaves from the pan and allow to cool on a wire rack completely.