Vegan Apple Bread
Fluffy and moist vegan apple bread that comes together in one bowl using only 8 ingredients! The bread can easily be made gluten-free and refined sugar-free too.
This vegan apple bread has been adapted from reader favorite recipes: Apple Crumble Cake and Vegan Apple Muffins.
Why you’ll love this recipe
TASTE/TEXTURE: This bread is moist, cake-like and uses grated apples for a ‘melt-in-your-mouth’ texture.
DIFFICULTY: This apple bread uses common pantry ingredients and is easy to make! Alternatively, you may like my vegan pumpkin bread.
OCCASION: Enjoy a plain slice of apple bread for breakfast or top it with frosting and caramelized apples for afternoon tea or a gathering!
Ingredients you’ll need
The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Notes about the ingredients
All-purpose flour for the fluffiest vegan apple bread! This bread works wonderfully gluten-free (gluten-free ingredient quantities are in the notes of the recipe card at the bottom of this post).
Brown sugar for depth of flavor. If you prefer a less sweet bread, I recommend coconut sugar. Alternatively, you can use a granulated sugar replacer such as erythritol!
Apple, coarsely grated or finely chopped. Similar to zucchini bread, the grated apple ‘melts’ away and makes this bread very moist! I recommend using a sweet snacking apple such as a Fuji, Gala or Honey Crisp. If you prefer a less sweet apple bread, use a tart apple like granny smith.
Baking powder and soda. We’re using double baking agents to make sure the vegan apple bread is fluffy and bakes in the middle. You don’t need eggs to make fluffy quick breads!
Apple cider vinegar (optional) helps create a more tender crumb. Alternatively, you can use lemon juice or white vinegar or simply omit it.
How to make vegan apple bread
The batter is easy to prepare! In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients and mix until combined.
For the best results, here are my top tips:
- Use a scale to measure the ingredients. Mis-measuring the flour, sugar or apples will affect the texture of your final apple bread.
- Your apple shouldn’t be too juicy after you grate/chop it. If it leaks any juice, add a little extra flour (details are in the notes of the recipe card at the bottom of this post).
- Don’t overmix the batter. I often ‘fold’ my cake batter to prevent this from happening. A few lumps in the batter are fine, as long as they aren’t lumps of flour.
Baking tips: troubleshooting
This vegan apple bread takes around 50 minutes to 1 hour to bake, depending on whether your oven runs hot or cool.
If the top of your bread is browning quickly at the 30 to 40 minute mark, loosely cover your baking pan with aluminum foil. Some ovens have very strong top heating elements and will cook the surface more quickly. If so, cover your apple loaf once the top looks dry to the touch.
On the other hand, make sure your oven isn’t too cool otherwise your bread will be too dense!
Making caramelized apples for the topping (optional)
I love topping my vegan apple bread with caramelized apples. It’s not only very eye-catching but adds a lot of flavor!
My top tips for caramelizing the apples are:
- The longer you cook the apple pieces, the softer and more caramelized they will be.
- Once you add the sugar, don’t walk away from the stove as sugar burns easily!
Other topping suggestions
The vegan apple bread is delicious by itself with no toppings!
However, before baking, you can top the bread with:
- rolled oats
- pumpkin seeds, just like my vegan pumpkin bread
- crumb topping, either a plain cinnamon crumble or pecan crumble
- chopped apple. I recommend covering your loaf pan with aluminum foil as the apples may burn.
After baking, I topped my bread with a soft cream cheese icing and caramelized apples. Alternatively, you can top it with:
- simple sugar glaze, like my lemon olive oil cake
- vegan buttercream, from my ginger cake (minus the coconut)
- coconut yogurt (like below)
Customizing this recipe
I recommend replacing the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour or spelt flour and using coconut sugar instead of brown sugar.
Some readers have successfully substituted the oil with unsweetened applesauce, however I haven’t tested it myself.
Unfortunately, a liquid sweetener such as maple syrup won’t work well in this recipe. The apple bread is already packed with fruit and a liquid sweetener will make the bread too dense.
For a round cake, I recommend using my apple crumb cake recipe. For muffins, check out my vegan apple muffins recipe.
Yes, to the batter, you can also add:
– Raisins
– Cranberries
– Walnuts or pecans, just like carrot cake
– Vegan chocolate chips
You can also incorporate a cinnamon swirl to the loaf! Use the swirl from my cinnamon bread recipe and layer it into this apple bread.
More vegan apple recipes
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Vegan Apple Bread
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups (315g) all-purpose plain flour, (note 1 for gluten free)
- 1 cup (190g) packed brown sugar, coconut sugar or granulated sugar (note 2)
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch of salt, optional
Wet Ingredients
- 1 x (~180g) medium-sized apple, grated very coarsely OR chopped finely (note 3)
- 1 cup (250g) dairy-free milk
- ½ cup (120g) neutral flavored oil
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, optional
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
Cream Cheese Icing (optional, see note 5 for alternatives)
- ¼ cup (60g) vegan cream cheese, room temperature
- ½ cup (50g) powdered sugar / icing sugar, or to taste
- 2 tablespoons (20g) vegan butter, room temperature
Caramelized Apples (optional)
- 1 x (~180g) medium-sized apple, cubed
- 1 tablespoon (15g) vegan butter, oil or water
- 2 tablespoons (25g) packed brown sugar, or coconut sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease or line an 8-inch (20 cm) loaf pan with parchment paper.
Make the Vegan Apple Bread:
- Add all the dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl. Mix until there are no lumps. Add all of the wet ingredients to the bowl and mix until combined. Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan and smooth the top.
- Bake the apple bread for around 50 minutes to 1 hour or until it is done. Check the bread at the 35 minute mark and if it's browning quickly on top, loosely cover the bread with aluminum foil. The bread is ready when you can insert a toothpick in the center and there's no wet batter on it, though some crumbs on your toothpick are fine. (note 4)
- Let the apple bread rest in the pan for at least 10 minutes. Remove the bread from the pan and let it cool on a wire rack.
Cream cheese icing (optional)
- Add all the icing ingredients to a small bowl and mix until smooth. This icing is quite soft at room temperature but if you'd like a firmer icing, double the amount of butter and add more sugar, to taste.
Caramelized apples (optional):
- Add the apples and butter to a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Saute until the apples are almost tender and slightly golden brown.
- Add the sugar to the saucepan and gently mix the apples while they caramelize. If the apples stick to the saucepan, add a dash of water. The longer you cook the apples, the more caramelized they will be.
Serving the apple bread:
- When the apple bread has cooled down, dollop the cream cheese frosting (or desired frosting) on top and top with caramelized apples. Slice and serve!
- Store the apple bread in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 day or in the fridge for 4 days. Or store individual slices of the undecorated apple bread for up to 1 month.
Notes
- Gluten-free apple bread: Substitute the flour with 1 1/2 cups (150g) almond flour and 1 cup (160g) gluten-free all-purpose flour (or fine white rice flour). Alternatively, this bread works well with King Arthur’s gluten-free measure for measure flour. Your batter will be thicker and I recommend baking the bread for 65-70 minutes. I don’t recommend using Bob’s Red Mills 1:1 gluten-free flour.
- This amount of sugar creates a mildly sweet apple bread. To make the bread less sweet, I recommend using 3/4 cup (140g) of brown or coconut sugar.
- This bread will be too moist if you grate the apples too finely. Ideally, the grated apple shouldn’t leak any juice. If your apple is extra juicy, use an extra 3 tablespoons (25g) of flour to the batter.
- The baking time will hugely depend on your oven. If it takes longer than 1 hour to bake, that’s absolutely fine. If your oven has strong heating elements on top, I recommend tenting your loaf pan with aluminum foil at the beginning of baking. Alternatively, place a rack at the top of the oven (above your apple loaf) and an empty baking tray on the rack. This will prevent your loaf from burning.
- The apple bread is wonderful by itself. Alternatively, you can top the bread with a simple buttercream made by whipping 100g vegan butter and 200g powdered sugar, a simple sugar icing such as from my lemon olive oil cake recipe or coconut yogurt. See the post above for more suggestions.
This post was originally published in October 2019 and has been updated several times since then.
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.
This is a fantastic recipe! The cake is incredibly moist, my friend and I enjoyed it very much. We topped it with a glaze made of lemon juice and powdered sugar, can highly recommend. 🙂
We’re so glad you and your friend enjoyed the apple bread! Your lemon glaze sounds like a delicious twist! Thank you for sharing and leaving a comment x
Just made this today and it’s delicious!
Thank you for sharing.
Yay, we’re so happy it was a hit! Thank you for sharing with us ☺️
When you say you don’t recommend the Bob’s Red Mills gluten free flour, do you mean on it’s own as a replacement or would it be fine to combine with almond flour? This looks amazing and am hoping to make this for my fiancés birthday! Thank you in advance!
Hi Kaila, I don’t recommend Bob’s Red Mills flour on its own as it hasn’t worked well for readers. I haven’t tested it when combined with almond flour though! I hope that helps!
Can I substitute brown sugar with date paste or will that make the cake too soggy?
Hi Jocelyn, unfortunately this won’t work unless you make other adjustments to the recipe. You’ll need to tweak the liquid ingredients and raising agents to make sure it’s not too soggy and heavy. Hope that helps!
Hi Anthea, I had a similar question and wondered if blending soaked dates with the dairy-free milk per recipe would work? So we’re not adding more liquid. Cheers!
Hi Jin, it may work but you will still need to adjust the quantities as dates isn’t a 1:1 replacement for milk (added fiber, sugar etc). Feel free to experiment with quantities to find something that you enjoy!
This recipe was amazing. I followed it to a T, and babyyy, I was surprised at how amazing it came out. It was nice and moist, mouth watering. My nice, son, and husband loved it and wanted more. I’m making it again this weekend. Thank you, Anthea for your tasty vegan recipes. Thank you for being so responsive to me on IG. Looking forward to making more of your recipes and grabbing that baking book soon.
Hi Dana, awww I’m so so happy that you all loved this bread and that the recipe is a keeper for you!! Thank *you* for taking the time to leave a comment here and I hope you enjoy any other recipes that you get to make! x
Can I use water in replacement to dairy free milk? Oat, almond and coconut milk allergy here
Hi Katie, yes you can though the bread won’t be as moist on the second/third day and may taste a bit more flat. Hope that helps!
I made this bread with freshly picked apples this fall and it was a huge hit!! The grated apples in the batter added moisture and amazing flavor. Frosted it with a simple vegan buttercream and added the caramelized apples but am thinking of making a double batch soon with nothing on top because the bread is that delicious!
Hi Amy, I’m over the moon that you loved this recipe! Freshly picked apples would make it even more incredible (and I’m envious of you having access to truly fresh apples). I’m glad this recipe will be a keeper for you too :). Thanks so much for your kind feedback and happy baking!
Made this for my work colleague and everyone really loved it, beautiful flavour of apple and cinnamon. Such a easy recipe to follow
We’re thrilled that everyone enjoyed it! Thank you so much for trying the recipe and sharing your feedback ☺️
Can I substitute the flour for 1:1 oat flour?
Hi Susana, I don’t recommend oat flour for this recipe. It absorbs liquids differently from all-purpose flour and won’t bind the ingredients in this loaf. Hope that helps!
I made this recipe for a work morning tea and it was extremely well received. It was soft, fluffy, moist and very tasty. More of a loaf shaped cake than a bread but who cares? It was delicious! I added a few extra spices and some walnuts for crunch and the whole loaf disappeared very quickly! My colleagues thank you for this recipe Anthea!
Hi Caity, that’s wonderful to hear and I’m thrilled your colleagues enjoyed it too 🥰. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment here, I appreciate it a lot!
I tried this recipe, and after 50 minutes, the batter was undercooked, as if only 10 minutes had passed. I put it back in there for lots about 30 more minutes, and it was fine. The oven definitely needs to be hotter, or maybe something is wrong with my oven!! Either way, the bread looked and smelled amazing, we did a cinnamon swirl in the middle, strudsel on top, an extra apple, and a little nutmeg! I dont think i can call it bread anymore haha but I will make it again for sure. Cant wait to dig in Thank you!
Hi Jaz, it sounds you troubleshooted your apple bread well! It does seem like your oven runs a bit cooler, which is actually pretty common. Adding a few extra ingredients can definitely extend the baking time, but it’s great that you put the bread back in to finish baking. I’ll have to try the recipe with your additions next time! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
I made it today and it was WONDERFUL!!
Thank you for this delicious and super easy recipe!!
I will follow your blog for more recipes like this!!
Hi Gabriela, I’m thrilled you loved this recipe! It’s definitely one of my favorites. Thank you so much for following along 🙂
What would you say the best apples to use for this recipe would be?
I like using sweet snacking apples for this, such as Fuji, Gala or Pink Lady 😊
Would I be able to substitute the oil for greek yogurt?
I haven’t tried it, but from experience it will work with different results (the bread will be denser and chewier).
A fantastic recipe.
The best loaf I did ever make.
You have talent.
A french Girl from Paris
Awww that’s amazing, Audrey! Thanks so much for your lovely feedback and kind words x
I made the gluten free recipe but used a 1:1 gluten free flour instead of the almond and it was a dough! (this is completely on me lol) nowhere near the batter texture but i rolled it into cookies and baked them for 20 minutes. Still tastes amazing but not quite what i planned on making and a lot of trial and error haha. After the cookies have cooled i plan on icing them and dressing them with the apples :D!
Oh no! Unfortunately not all 1:1 gluten-free flours are created equal! I’ve only had success with King Arthur’s measure for measure flour for this recipe (and the almond flour version). Can I ask which brand of flour you used?
I made these w/the gluten free version. I cooked them in a cupcake pan, they took 40 minutes to cook. I’m watching my sugar intake so I didn’t frost them. They were delicious and moist.
Hi Stephanie, aw I’m so glad that you enjoyed the gluten-free version! Thanks so much for letting me know about the bake time too and for your feedback 🙂
Hi
For the recipe can you use gluten-free all purpose flour.
And no almond flour.
Hi, I don’t recommend using only gluten-free all-purpose flour as it’ll result in a gummy bread. For this recipe, only King Arthur’s measure for measure flour has worked for me – it tends to work well 1:1 and in eggless recipes. Hope that helps!