This easy applesauce bread recipe is soft, moist, and full of warm cinnamon flavor. Made with simple pantry ingredients and smooth applesauce, it bakes into a tender loaf with a beautifully cracked top and just the right amount of sweetness. Because there are no nuts or chunks of fruit, it’s a family-friendly quick bread that’s perfect for breakfast, an afternoon snack, or a simple dessert.
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Why This Applesauce Bread Recipe Works?
This applesauce bread stays soft and moist thanks to the applesauce, yogurt, and coconut oil. Oats add a little heartiness, while brown sugar and cinnamon give it warm, simple flavor. The result is an easy quick bread with a tender, rustic crumb that slices beautifully.
Easy Applesauce Bread Recipe Ingredients
- Brown sugar: provides a hint of molasses.
- Coconut oil: slightly melt solid coconut oil to liquid form before measuring.
- Eggs: binds the bread batter together.
- Fat free plain Greek yogurt: sour cream can be substituted, but the yogurt has less fat.
- Pure vanilla extract: adds flavor.
- Flour: the base of every bread recipe.
- Oats: add heartiness and texture.
- Baking powder & baking soda: leavening needed for the bread to rise.
- Salt: flavor balancer.
- Cinnamon: other spices can be substituted for part of the cinnamon. Nutmeg or allspice would be good choices.
- Unsweetened applesauce: adds moisture and mild apple flavor.
- Other tasty additions: raisins, chopped walnuts or pecans, sliced almonds.
How To Make
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, coconut oil, eggs, yogurt, and vanilla. Stir by hand with a large spatula.
- Add the oats. Stir to combine and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 2 increments, stirring gently after each addition.
- Stir in the applesauce just until the batter is evenly combined and no dry flour remains.
- Using a large cookie scoop, divide the batter between 4 prepared small bread pans.
- Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until knife inserted in center of loaf comes out clean.
- Cool slightly and then remove from pans.
Tips for Moist Applesauce Bread
- Don’t overmix the batter.
- Make sure to use unsweetened applesauce.
- Measure the flour correctly. Lightly spoon it into the measuring cup and level off the top with a knife. Too much flour can make applesauce bread dry.
- Let the bread cool slightly before slicing.
- Check early for doneness since small pans bake quickly.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for two days. After that, store in your refrigerator.
- This is the perfect “make-ahead and freeze” recipe.
Recipe update: I recently retested this longtime recipe and made a few small adjustments to improve the texture. The updated bread is soft and moist with a hearty, rustic crumb and a mildly sweet applesauce flavor.
Easy Applesauce Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup refined coconut oil (in liquid form)
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 3/4 cup old fashioned oats
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large bowl combine the brown sugar, oil, eggs, yogurt, and vanilla. Stir by hand with a large spatula.
- Add the oats and stir to combine. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 2 increments, stirring gently after each addition.
- Stir in the applesauce just until the batter is evenly combined and no dry flour remains.
- Using a large cookie scoop, divide the batter between 4 prepared small bread pans.
- Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until knife inserted in center of loaf comes out clean.
- Cool slightly and then remove from pans.
Notes
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
If you try this recipe, I’d love to hear what you think. A quick rating or comment is always appreciated, and helps other readers too.
If you enjoy simple homemade quick breads, make sure to try my applesauce muffins recipe too. They are soft, lightly sweet, and perfect for breakfast or lunchboxes. For a version made with fresh fruit, my classic apple bread recipe is another family favorite. It’s filled with tender apples and warm cinnamon flavor, making it especially good during apple season and throughout the fall months.
Shop & Source
- Goldtouch mini loaf pans
- Grain sack kitchen towel
- Clear Pyrex mixing bowl
- Small serrated knife
- Round wood board with handle
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I haven’t made this bread yet, but it sounds so delicious. I was wondering, do you think it would work to substitute apple butter for the apple sauce? I know I would also have to adjust for the spices, but I just love apple butter. Thanks for all your helps and suggestions!!!
Hi Chris…I haven’t tested this bread with apple butter myself, so I can’t promise exactly how it will bake up, but I can tell you what I would expect. Apple butter is really just applesauce cooked down much longer, until it is thick and dark. Most kinds also have added sugar and spices like cinnamon and cloves, where the applesauce here is unsweetened. So an even swap, one cup for one cup, should work fine. Your loaves might turn out a little denser, sweeter, and with more spice flavor. If you want to try it, I would use the same amount and maybe cut the brown sugar back by a tablespoon or two, since the apple butter is very sweet. If you do give it a go, I would love to hear how it turns out.
What size loaf pan would be suitable? 4×8 or 5×9? Thank you.
Hi Deborah…to be honest, I’ve never made this particular recipe in a large loaf pan. I think either size would work. The thing about baking in large loaf pans is getting the inside done without burning the outside. If you try a larger pan, let us know how it comes out!
Hi Ann, I made this bread today! Wonderful! It’s a new favorite for us. I like that it’s not so sweet. I don’t have small bread pans so I doubled the recipe and it made three large loaves. Thanks for sharing!
In the applesauce bread recipe, is the 1/2 cup of coconut oil a 1/2 cup solid that you would then melt or 1/2 cup liquid form? Thanks for the clarification!
Hi Gayle…thanks for this question! I added clarification to the recipe card. You want to slightly melt the solid coconut oil to liquid form before measuring. You don’t want it hot, just melted. Enjoy the bread!
This bread made for an amazing breakfast treat, making the house smell deliciously of apples and fall scents.
Could I replace half the oats with sweetened coconut but use canola oil?
Yes! I think that would be delicious. Please let us know how it comes out!
Made this recipe this afternoon. My grandkids came in after school and loved the smell. They kept asking when they could have a sample taste! Love your recipes, they are basic and I usually have the ingredients on hand. Thanks!
ANN. Made the Applesauce Bread this morning. Was quick and really good with a coffee break from making a Computer generated photo album.
As always we have liked all of your recipes
Definitely going to try this tonight!
I can’t wait to try this recipe this weekend using my homemade applesauce. This looks really yummy. Thank you for sharing.