Dutch Apple Bread (Easy Recipe)
This post has affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for your support.
This easy dutch apple bread recipe will be a huge hit with your family. If you’re growing a bunch of baking apples or you’re headed to the orchard to pick them this cinnamon apple bread with its crispy brown sugar topping is one of the best ways to use fresh apples!
This apple quick bread has everything you love in three fabulous layers. A soft tender quick bread full of cinnamon apples is topped with crumbly brown sugar streusel topping and baked up to perfection. Then it’s drizzled with
Whether you’re baking for your family or for friends they’re going to love this sweet and seasonal Dutch Apple Bread. You could make this into smaller loaves to share with friends. Or serve it for brunch with coffee! This bread fits in everywhere and is the perfect way to say I love you!
easy apple bread ingredients
One of the best things about this recipe is that you don’t need any special ingredients, well beyond the apples anyway, they’re the only thing that’s special here! You need basic ingredients for this quick bread, such as:
Bread ingredients:
- Softened or room temperature Butter
- white Sugar
- Eggs (Missing eggs? These simple swaps will save the day)
- Vanilla extract
- all-purpose flour
- Salt
- Baking powder
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Baking apples–you need firm apples for this bread recipe-think granny smith apples, pink lady apples, Honeycrisp apples
- Pecans
Streusel ingredients:
- Cold butter
- Flour
- Brown sugar (Short on sugar? Try these swaps)
- Cinnamon
Icing Ingredients:
- Butter
- Milk
- Vanilla
- Powdered sugar
Tools needed to make this bread
The best part of this recipe is that you don’t need ANY special tools for this bread.
- Large mixing bowl
- Medium mixing bowl
- Small mixing bowl
- Bread pan
- Cooling rack
- Whisk
- Mixer, either a stand mixer or hand mixer
- Spatulas or wooden spoons
- parchment paper
Best Apples for this easy apple bread recipe
You know I have things to say about the best apples for baking! You have to know what kind of apples to get or else you’re going to end up with soggy messy bread. Or Dutch Apple Pie. Or Apple Pie Cookies.
Here’s a great write up about different kind of apples. I refer to it again and again. I think you might find it handy as well.
Baking apples are SO important in this recipe. You can’t use any mushy mealy soft apples. If you’re at the store ask the produce manager which of their apples are the best for baking. Likewise, if you’re at an orchard and ask them to send you in the direction of the baking apples.
You have to start with a firm baking apples such as a Granny Smith, a Gala, Pink Lady, or even a Honeycrisp. These are all apples that hold up their shape when you bake with them. But likely you’ll find more apples that fit the bill out in the stores or orchards!
See those big pieces of apples in the bread? That’s what you’re looking for when the apples are baked.
Soft apples have their place in the world! They make wonderful apple sauces, they can be nice for small kids to eat as they are not crispy or crunchy, and they’re generally easy to eat. I also, and this is the rebel in me, add 1-2 softer apples to my apple pies. I love the contrast of the softer apples as they melt into the filling. But that’s me!
How to store Dutch apple bread
This is a quick bread with fruit in it, so it’s moister than a plain loaf, and it doesn’t sit as long. Cool it completely first, and I mean completely, because wrapping a warm loaf traps steam against the crumb and that’s how you get a soggy top and a loaf that goes off early.
Wrapped or in an airtight container at room temperature, it’s good for 2 days. After that, it goes in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, though it firms up in there. A slice in a low oven or a dry skillet for a minute brings it right back.
It freezes for 3 months, and I’d slice it BEFORE it goes in. Wrap the slices in pairs, and then you can pull out exactly as much as you want, instead of thawing a whole loaf to have one piece with your coffee.
You know we love other fall-forward easy recipes!
You know we love apples around here. They’re just about the perfect fruit all year round but specifically in the fall they’re just over the top. This Apple Tart is so beautiful for special dinners. Apple Pie Cookies and this French Apple Cake are another great way to use apples.
If you have to take a
Dutch Apple Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
Streusel
- 3 tbsp cold butter
- 1/3 cup of all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
Apple Bread
- 1/2 cup softened room temperature butter
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 1/2 cup peeled and chopped crisp baking apples use baking apples such as honeycrisp, granny smith or pink lady, or other firm apples
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Vanilla Cream Icing
- 1 tbsp melted butter
- 1 tbsp milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°
- Grease a 9×5 loaf pan, you can also line it with parchment after greasing, set aside
- Make the streusel: mix the cold butter, flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon together until crumbly set aside in the refrigerator
- For the bread: cream butter and sugar in a large bowl on medium speed together until light
- Beat in the eggs, and vanilla
- Once they're incorporated beat in the milk, then set the bowl aside
- In a medium bowl mix the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg
- Then stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients
- Stir in the apples and the chopped pecans
- Scrape into the prepared baking pan and level gently
- Sprinkle with the cold streusel
- Baked in the preheated oven for 60-65 minutes
- When a toothpick comes out clean it's baked through
- Leave to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes in the pan, then gently ease it out of the pan and cool completely before icing
- Make the icing by mixing the melted butter, milk, and vanilla together
- Stir in the powdered sugar until smooth
- Drizzle the icing over the cooled loaf and let it set up before slicing
I like to bake breads like this in smaller pans and share with single friends and empty nesters in our neighborhood. Can’t wait to try this one.
You need to fix the oven temp to 350 instead of 315. Have had the bread in my oven for an hour and a half at 315 and the dough is still raw.
You are correct. I don’t know how I entered the wrong temperature but I did. I’m sorry about that.
Thank you for fixing it. Once baked at the correct temp, the bread is delicious. Great recipe. —Amy