Applesauce Bread

Applesauce Bread is a quick bread recipe which requires no yeast! A lightly spiced applesauce bread made with lots of moist ingredients like oil, buttermilk, and applesauce. Topped with a buttery brown sugar & oatmeal crumble topping. 

For more applesauce quick breads be sure and try my One Bowl Applesauce Muffins and these Cinnamon Applesauce Muffins. 

Applesauce Bread Recipe (Quick Bread)

There are not enough words to describe how deliciously moist, soft, and no fail this applesauce bread recipe is. Easy to make with ingredients like oil, buttermilk, and applesauce which not only make this bread moist but it helps the bread bake up beautifully each time. I love that this bread uses applesauce because you still get that apple taste without the chunks of apple through out. 

The best part is that buttery brown sugar & oatmeal crumble topping. It’s sweet, crunchy, and provides such a nice contrast in texture to the soft bread. 

This is a quick bread recipe meaning that it’s ready in about an hour, and there is no yeast involved so it’s perfect for any skill level. 

Ingredients Needed

• Applesauce Bread

  • Granulated Sugar
  • Large Eggs
  • Canola or Vegetable Oil – Use a neutral oil like canola or vegetable. I always have canola oil in my pantry so that is what I use. 
  • Applesauce – Just regular original applesauce is what you need. No need for the flavored stuff. You can also use sweetened or unsweetened applesauce. I have not noticed a huge difference between the two. My kids prefer sweetened applesauce so that is what I have always used in this recipe. 
  • Buttermilk
  • All-Purpose Flour
  • Ground Cinnamon
  • Baking Soda
  • Baking Powder
  • Salt – Table salt (iodized slat) is what I use. 

• Crumble Topping

  • Quick Oats – These are preferred because of their smaller size. You can use old-fashioned whole oats if wanted. 
  • Brown Sugar
  • All-Purpose Flour
  • Cinnamon
  • Butter – I use salted butter. The recipe calls for the butter to be very softened + halfway melted. Read the tips in the recipe card to learn how to do this. 

How to Make Applesauce Bread with a Crumble Topping

You won’t need a mixer to make this recipe. Just a mixing bowl, a whisk, and a rubber spatula is all it takes. 

• Prep : Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Spray two 9×5-inch loaf pans with cooking spray or baking spray (Baker’s Joy – cooking spray + flour). Set aside for later.
• Sugar + Eggs + Oil : Add the sugar, eggs, and oil to a large mixing bowl and stir with a wire whisk until combined. 
• Applesauce : Add the applesauce and buttermilk, stir to combine. 
• Dry Ingredients : Add the dry ingredients and stir with a spatula just until combined and no flour streaks or pockets remain in the batter. 
• Loaf Pans : Divide the batter evenly between the two loaf pans. Each pan should be about 3/4 of the way full, maybe slightly less. 
• Crumble Topping : Mix up all the ingredients for the crumble topping in a small bowl. Mix together until large crumbs form. Sprinkle it evenly on top of the batter between the two loaf pans. 
• Bake : Cook for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. 

Applesauce Bread FAQ’s

• Variation & Substitution Ideas

  • Buttermilk – If you don’t have buttermilk you can use sour cream in it’s place or try a Buttermilk Substitute. 
  • Applesauce – You can use either unsweetened applesauce or sweetened applesauce. I prefer the flavor of the sweetened applesauce when I make this bread. You can also substitute cinnamon applesauce if wanted. There is not a huge difference in flavor between the applesauces, although using sweetened applesauce will give the bread a very slightly sweeter flavor, which is always a good thing 😉
  • Oil – Any liquid oil can be used but I do recommend using a neutral flavored oil like canola oil or vegetable oil. 

• How To Store Applesauce Bread

  • Store any leftover bread in an air-tight container, or Ziploc bag, at room temperature for up to 3-4 days. 
  • The bread actually gets more moist, and a more pronounced apple flavor, as it sits for a couple days. Leftovers are my favorite with this recipe!

• Can I Freeze Applesauce Bread with a Crumble Topping?

  • Yes you can freeze this bread. Prepare as directed in the recipe and let it cool completely to room temperature. Double wrap the loaf in tin foil and freeze for up to 2-3 months. 
  • Let the bread thaw in the fridge, or out at room temperature, before eating. 
  • I have never personally frozen this bread so I can’t say for sure how it would turn out. The crumble topping might become separated once thawed from frozen, but it also may be completely fine. You could also experiment and freeze individual slices of the bread instead. 

• Serving Suggestions

  • Eat this applesauce bread as is or try warming a slice up in the microwave. 
  • Slather some butter on a slice and/or some honey. 
  • You could also eat it with some Apple Butter for more apple goodness. 

Recipe Tips

Here are a few of my tips so that you can have success recreating this recipe in your own kitchen ♥

• Use All-Purpose Flour : Using whole wheat flour in baked good, like this quick bread, can result in a very dry & dense bread. You need a lot more moisture if using whole wheat bread and different measurements. This recipe has been tested and developed using all-purpose flour. I always use unbleached all-purpose flour because that’s what I prefer. 
• Don’t Skip The Crumble Topping : You will love the chunky crumble topping with brown sugar and oats. It’s the perfect texture in contrast to the soft applesauce bread. Of course you can leave it off if you want but I promise that this bread is so worth having the crumble topping. 
• Slicing Tip : Quick breads slice much prettier and cleaner if you let it cool completely to room temperature, or better yet, let it sit overnight (covered of course) and slice it in the morning. 

More Apple Recipes You’ll Love

• Easy Apple Dump Cake – Canned apple pie filling is topped with a crumble oatmeal topping that uses a cake mix. Eat with ice cream!
• Apple Walnut Chicken Salad – A favorite at my house served on croissants. 
• Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars – A sweet brown sugar streusel crust that doubles as the bottom crust and the topping! A creamy cheesecake layer in the center with chunks of apple, and finished off with a caramel glaze on top. 
• Oatmeal Cooke Apple Crumble – Fresh chunks of apple baked with an oatmeal cookie dough crumble topping. Serve with ice cream for one of my personal favorite desserts!
• Simple Apple Crisp – Fresh apples topped with a simple shortbread topping. No big chunks of oatmeal crumble in this recipe, just a layer of a shortbread-like crumble topping.