Easy Apple Fritter Bread ~ tart apples are swirled with brown sugar and spices in this classic loaf cake, topped with a sweet crackly glaze. This apple quick bread takes a cue from the down home deep fried apple fritters grandma made. Fall baking doesn’t get any better than this!
this apple fritter bread is just irresistible.
The minute I tossed together the chopped apples with the brown sugar and the spices, I knew this was going to be a winner. The smell of just those ingredients alone was amazing, even before it hit the oven!
If you’ve ever had an apple fritter, you know that that crunchy, sweet glaze, covering apples and dough and spices is pretty heavenly. This loaf bread is a nod towards that delicious golden apple fritter, but without the messy deep frying.
what are apple fritters?
- This quintessential fall treat has a long history that goes back to Roman times! A food has to be pretty good to survive that long.
- Apple fritters are fresh chopped apples folded into a rich batter and then deep fried, doughnut style. They’re dusted with powdered sugar, or sometimes glazed. Think doughnut meets funnel cake meets delicious.
Juicy apples and a creamy glaze are great, but the heart of any quick bread is the batter itself. The base for this recipe is the same as the cake in my Buttermilk Lemon Bread, and it’s really lovely, the texture is moist and light.
tip for getting the best texture in quick bread ~
- Make sure to beat your butter and sugar thoroughly, I usually go for a full 5 minutes, and I actually set a timer.
- Beating the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer is ideal, because it’s hands free. You’re more likely to cream your ingredients for the correct amount of time that way. You’ll be rewarded with a beautifully light textured cake.
what type of apples are best for baking?
- I used Honeycrisp here, I like them because they’re tart and hold up well during baking.
- I would also suggest Granny Smith, Gala, or Fuji. But honestly, go with what you like.
tvfgi recommends: the perfect loaf pan
Loaf pans can be surprisingly tricky to work with because they come in all kinds of sizes and most recipes aren’t specific about the dimensions. This is the classic 1 1/4 pound, 9×5 loaf pan that is your best bet for most recipes. USA pans are my favorite because they’re sturdy, and made here in the US.
I recommend having at least 2 loaf pans in your collection because many loaf cake recipes are formulated for 2 loaves.
more apple-y goodness!
- Apple Cider Doughnut Cake
- Rustic Apple Galette
- Honeycrisp Apple Cardamom Cake
- Authentic Irish Apple Cake
Apple Fritter Bread
Equipment
- standard 9×5 loaf pan
Ingredients
For the cake
- 2 large apples, cored and chopped, or about 2 and 1/2 cups chopped apples.
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup half-and-half or whole milk
For the glaze
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 5-6 Tbsp water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Butter the sides of a 9 inch loaf pan, and line with parchment paper.
- Mix the chopped apples with the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and set aside.
- In an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, letting them get fully incorporated. If the mixture starts to look a little separated and weird here, don’t worry! That’s fine.
- Add the vanilla extract, and mix to combine.
- Add the flour, salt, and baking powder to the mixer, and slowly mix to combine. While it’s mixing, slowly add the milk or half-and-half, and continue to mix until everything is just evenly incorporated.
- Spread about half the batter into your prepared loaf pan. Top with about half the apple mixture, spreading it out in an even layer.
- Spread the rest of the cake batter on top of the apples. With a chopstick, or skewer, lightly swirl the apple mixture into the batter, if you’d like. Or you can leave it in an even layer.
- Top with the rest of the apple mixture, spreading out in an even layer.
- Bake for 75-85 minutes. Towards the end of the baking time, check on your cake and tent loosely with tinfoil if the top is starting to get too brown.
- Allow the cake to mostly cool, and remove it from the loaf pan, before adding the glaze.
- To make the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar and water. Drizzle over the cooled loaf cake and allow to set before slicing.
Nutrition
I wish the texture was a little bit more doughy, other than that is was good.
This is an excellent cake Sue! Baked it and really loved it!
I’ve never heard of this bread before but it really sounds and looks fantastic! I love that you tossed the apples in the spices first – so smart! Pinned 🙂
This is screaming fall to me Sue! It looks absolutely irresistible! Perfect for those chilly mornings that are ahead with a cup of my coffee!
Hi:
This recipe sounds amazing, but is there any way you can use less than 2 sticks of butter?
I hear you Virginia 😉 but the butter really gives this bread its character. You might try substituting some apple butter or apple sauce and see how that goes.
This looks like it will be amazing. Do you think it would ruin the texture of I substituted white whole wheat flour for about half (3/4 of a cup) of the all purpose for?
I have luck with white whole wheat flour Sharon, I think it would be fine. Maybe not quite as fluffy, but you might get other benefits.
I will make this in my bread machine
Hey Faith ~ just remember this is a quick bread, so I’m not sure it would be appropriate for your machine.
OMG – apple fritter bread is my absolute favorite thing! I cannot wait to try this as soon as the weather cools off. #desertliving
Sue, I have not made this YET, but I will. Do you peel the apples?
Yes! Hope you love it 🙂
Made this yesterday & every person who was lucky enough to get a few slices loved it. I did not do the glaze in effort to cut down on some sugar, but still sooo delicious. My bread was pretty crumbly, but it may have been the almond milk that I substituted. Do u think that was the reason? Nevertheless, this recipe is awesome & can’t wait to make again. One thing I will do differently is to add some toasted chopped pecans to the final layering of the apples! Thanks for a great recipe.
Oh this looks so good Sue. I have so many appel cakes I have to make each and every fall, but I will try to squeeze this recipe in as well!
I have lived on the most famous appel growing island in Denmark (a tiny place called Fejø) and are just for ever in love with everything appel.
Hope you will have a great fall in the US.
Oh I just love that Marina, I only recently realized that Denmark is known for its apples. I would love to try one of your Danish apple recipes, let’s trade 🙂
Hi Sue
We do have really great appels because the climate in Denmark is perfect for appels. I always missed appels with more complexity when I lived in New York, but the appels from Fejø are the best in Denmark. Perfect soil, perfect climate and very skilled appelfarmers.
I am slow to posting recipes but I have two appel recipes that are special for Denmark om my blog.
This http://marinasmad.com/kage/gammeldags-aeblekage-med-karamel-og-kanelknas/ called “an old fasioned appelcake” date back hundreds of years to the time where most people did not have ovens.
This is a more modern cake: http://marinasmad.com/kage/bedstefars-aeble-skaeg/. I have not invented it, but I have made more people aware of it when I originally posted it on my old family blog. This cake is often made with raspberry jam and it is a cake forgotten by most people but loved by many in our grandmothers generation.
I have two appel cakes planned for this fall and a christmas dessert as well. That will properly be enough appels for this seasons. However I always spend a long time testing so it would be lovely to start one next years appel cakes. What would you recoment? I would love something truly american.
Appel season hugs from Denmark
The other cakes are my own inventions and don’t have as interesting a story to them.
I’ll head over to look, can’t wait!
Let me know if there is anything I can help you with.
I realise the old fashioned cake require cheap macrons and don’t recall seeing them in the US. This cake is a really big thing in Denmark and I suspekt the main reason you can buy this otherwise uninteresting little dry cakes everywhere.
Come to think of it the other cake is always such a great hit with my exchange students from the US. It is quite sweet and more so than most cakes in Denmark (I always reduce sucker when I translate american recipes). Maybe that is part of the reason they love it. Also easy to translate with no speciel requirements. Just make sure to make a flaworfull thick applesauce (what we call æblemos).
Looking forward to trying this lovely cake. Think it might actually be great with a bit of appelsause in the batter (and that is a thing for me as I try to encourage people to make and freze that so that all their appels from the garden do not go to waste).
I love your blog and your style. You write my favorit international foodblog.
Can you use salted butter?
Yes, just leave out the extra salt in the recipe.