Y’all I know I love a loaf of good quick bread and judging from the number of views of the Quick Breads that are already on my site, I think you do, too. Amirite? I think you guys will like this Apple Fritter Bread just as much. Who wouldn’t love an easy quick bread that tastes like a cross between apple fritter and cake? I mean really doesn’t that sound the best thing ever?
Apple Fritter Bread
Apple Fritter Bread is great for snacking and since Quick Beads share a lot in common with muffins, you can have the cake, uh, I mean bread, for breakfast, too! It’s the perfect thing for brunch. Now Brunch. There’s something I can really get behind. A lazy weekend morning. People sitting around drinking coffee and reading the paper (or looking at their phones). Robes and slippers. Having slices of the Apple Fritter Bread. Sounds idyllic to me.
About Apple Fritter Bread:
This is one of my favorite quick breads, and the folks, my favorite octogenarians as I call them, both loved it! There was hardly a crumb left and it didn’t even make it to the next morning’s breakfast. There are little chunks of apple throughout the bread but what really “makes it” is random swirls of brown sugar and cinnamon that doubles a just a bit of a topping. There’s not too much, though. This IS still a quick bread, not a cake!
I had a little trouble when I first started making Apple Fritter Bread. I loved the idea of it and I’d try a recipe every now and then but I just wasn’t quite happy with the way they turned out. Finally, I adapted this bread partially from my Cinnamon Swirl Quick Bread. That gave this my Apple Fritter Bread such a great texture; it’s a nice loaf, not very tall, but with a nicely domed top and it’s well-behaved – you can eat it with a fork or if the slice is a bit thicker, out of hand. You might want to check out that Cinnamon Swirl Bread, too. It’s another fave!
Because Apple Fritter Bread is just the perfect texture, not too heavy, not too delicate, that makes Apple Fritter Bread a fabulous item to tote somewhere, too. May be to a bake sale or pot luck or maybe a food day at work. Fair waning; they may keep asking for it again and again wherever you take it.
Making Apple Fritter Bread:
This is a super simple recipe, with just a couple extra special touches that makes it divine. Use a good, tart apple for this, like a Granny Smith. I don’t know who she was, but I’m telling you, she was smart. Granny Smiths are awesome for baking. They’re beautifully soft in the bread and still stay a little distinct. If the apples you use are too soft and giving up lots of juice, the batter could be a little wet. It’s easy to cut the apples into fairly uniform pieces if you have one of those round apple cutter/cores. Just peel the apple, press down and they’re cut in one fell swoop. Line the cut slices up and cut across several at once.
For the best swirls, take a little care when adding the brown sugar-cinnamon mixture in the center of the bread. It doesn’t have to be absolutely even and it’s actually a little better and more random if it isn’t. When cutting with the knife, be sure to not go overboard. You want some fun swirls, not a lot of fine lines and be sure to lift the knife up and down as you’re cutting in so the swirls go throughout.
The glaze on top is divine and really takes the Apple Fritter Bread over the top. It’s completely optional though. The trick I’ve found for a better, more distinct glaze it to use butter and once made, let it sit in the Ziploc until nearly cool; it gets a bit thicker and the gorgeous results speak for themselves.
Apple Fritter Bread, without the glaze
Saving Money on Apple Fritter Bread:
An Apple Fritter Bread, like most quick bread is fairly inexpensive to make. This particular one does use butter rather than oil, which makes it slightly pricier than some but pays off in flavor. Shop well for butter. If you have an Aldi or Costco, their everyday prices rival that of the grocery store sales prices. If not, stock up when it’s on sale, especially around “baking” holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. Seriously stock up. Figure out how many weeks until the next holiday and buy enough to last. Just chuck it in the freezer as is and it keeps well for several months.
I’ve just pretty much stopped buying brown sugar. I mix up my own using molasses and granulated sugar. See my post on Homemade Brown Sugar for more information. It’s super easy to make your own and so much cheaper! All you need is a little molasses which isn’t pricey and keeps forever in your pantry.
Baking is a great way to use up any apples that might be languishing on your counter and the best part is they don’t have to be in perfect condition to do so. If there’s a little wrinkling, they’re peeled for recipes. A soft brown spot or two can be cut out before the apple is peeled and sliced. Fyi, if the apple happens to be a little dry, well it won’t do this recipe any harm at all. All that being said, beautiful fresh apples are great too! Watch for apples on sale, different varieties will rotate in and out of sale in the fall. There will almost always be a big drop in price in January to February, too, as apples come out of cold storage.
Apple Fritter Bread
Apple Fritter Bread
- Total Time: 1 hr 15 min
- Yield: 1 loaf 1x
- Category: Breakfast or Brunch
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
For the Apple Mixture:
- 2 apples, peeled and chopped into about 1/2 inch dice, perhaps a bit smaller
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon sugar
For the Swirl & Topping mixture:
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
For the bread:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick of butter) softened to room temperature
- 2/3 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup milk
For the Optional Glaze:
- 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1 tablespoons butter, melted
- enough milk or buttermilk to thin to desired consistency, 1 teaspoon to a tablespoon or so.
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray or oil a 9 x 5 loaf pan. Set aside.
- Prepare Apple Mixture by tossing in the sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
- Prepare the Swirl & Topping mixture by mixing together the brown sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
Proceed with the bread:
In a mixing bowl, cream butter until lightened in color. Add sugar and blend, stopping to scrape down bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping after each. Mixture might seem curdled.
In a smaller bowl, mix together flour and baking powder. On low speed, add to butter mixture. When incorporated, add the milk and mix on low, stopping to scrape, until mixture comes together. It will be quite thick.
Dollop half the batter onto the bottom of the pan and nudge into a somewhat even layer. Add half the Apple Mixture, then top with half the Swirl & Topping mixture. Add the remainder of the batter, again gently dolloping and carefully smoothing. Add the remaining Apple Mixture, gently patting the apples into the batter. Top with remaining Swirl and Topping mixture.
Using a butter knife, cut through the layers, pushing the knife here and there back and forth through the batter, lifting now and then, several times.
Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean, approximately 50-60 minutes. Allow to cool in pan for about 10 minutes before running a knife along the edges of the pan and removing the loaf.
If desired, use the Glaze to drizzle on the completely cooled bread.
For the Glaze:
Mix all ingredients and put in a Ziploc bag. In judging the amount of liquid, remember that this mixture won’t be fully thickened until cool. Wait until nearly cool then cut off a small corner and squeeze across the top of the cooled loaf.
Keywords: Apple, Bread, Breakfast or Brunch Dish, Frosting, Frugal Hausfrau, Fruit, Quick Bread
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I’ll be sharing my Apple Fritter Bread Recipe this week at Fiesta Friday, The two co-hosts this week are Zeba @ Food For The Soul and Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook.
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