This incredibly soft, fluffy and moist vegan apple bread is made with only 8 ingredients and comes together in one bowl! It’s delicious enjoyed by itself or with a soft dairy-free cream cheese frosting and caramelized apples. This bread can easily be made gluten-free and refined sugar-free too.

Vegan apple bread topped with cream cheese frosting and caramelized apples.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

CAKE-LIKE TEXTURE. This bread uses grated apples rather than chopped apples to give it a beautiful ‘melt-in-your-mouth’ texture.

EASY TO MAKE. You probably already have all the ingredients in your pantry to make this bread! Or, if pumpkin is more your thing, check out my vegan pumpkin bread.

VERSATILE. Enjoy a slice of this apple bread by itself for breakfast. Or top it with cream cheese frosting and caramelized apples to share for afternoon tea or any gathering!

This vegan apple bread has been adapted from reader favorite recipes on Rainbow Nourishments: my Apple Crumble Cake and Vegan Apple Muffins.

Simple Ingredients You’ll Need

Flatlay of ingredients for the vegan apple bread.

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 well with some gluten-free flour blends – check out the notes in the recipe card for details.

Brown sugar for a cozy 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 in zucchini bread, 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 as they also add natural sweetness the bread. If you prefer a less sweet bread, use a tart apple like Granny Smith.

Baking powder and soda. This recipe uses double baking agents to ensure the bread bakes through and has a fluffy texture. You don’t need eggs to make fluffy quick breads!

Apple cider vinegar (optional) helps break down the gluten to create a more tender crumb. Alternatively, you can use lemon juice or white vinegar or simply omit it.

How to Make Vegan Apple Bread

One of the best things about this recipe is that the batter comes together in one bowl. You don’t even need a mixer! To make the batter, mix the dry ingredients in a bowl until well combined. Stir in the dry ingredients and you’re done!

While this recipe is easy to make, here are some tips for the best results:

  • Measure the ingredients accurately using a kitchen scale. Too much flour will create a dry and dense bread and too much apple will make this bread too moist. If you’re in a pinch and only have measuring cups, please use the spoon and level method to measure the flour.
  • If your apple is extra juicy, add a little extra flour to the batter. Because no two apples are identical, their moisture levels can vary quite a bit and this can affect how your bread bakes. If your grated apple seems extra juicy, add a tad more flour to ensure your bread bakes up soft rather than heavy and soggy. Check the notes in the recipe card for details.
  • Don’t overmix the batter as this will make your bread tough and dense. Try folding your cake batter! It’s ok if your batter has a few lumps, as long as they aren’t lumps of dry flour.
Four image collage showing how to prepare the apple bread batter in one bowl.

Tips for Baking Apple Bread

This vegan apple bread takes around 50 minutes to 1 hour to bake.

Every oven bakes a bit differently and, with so much dispersed fruit in this bread, sometimes the top can brown quickly. Check your loaf at the 30 to 40 minute mark and if the top is already golden brown, cover the pan loosely with aluminum foil until the bread is ready.

Two image collage before and after apple bread has been baked.

Optional: Making a Caramelized Apple Topping

While this bread is wonderful by itself, topping it with caramelized apples adds even more apple flavor and makes this everyday loaf a showstopper.

Here are my top tips for caramelizing the apples:

  • 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!
Two image collage showing caramelized apples in saucepan.

More Decoration Ideas

Before baking, you can top the bread with:

  • Rolled oats
  • Pumpkin seeds, just like my vegan pumpkin bread
  • Crumble topping, either a regular cinnamon crumble or pecan crumble. This will add another 5-10 minutes to the bake time.
  • Chopped apple. I recommend covering your loaf pan with aluminum foil after 30-40 minutes of baking, as the apples may burn.

After baking, the bread will also be wonderful with:

  • Cinnamon cream cheese frosting, such as from my sweet potato bread
  • Simple sugar glaze, like my lemon olive oil cake. Feel free to replace the lemon juice with milk and add a touch of cinnamon
  • Vegan buttercream, from my ginger cake (minus the coconut)
  • Coconut yogurt (like below)
Gluten free vegan apple bread topped with coconut yogurt. Spoon is topping bread with caramelized apples.
Gluten-free vegan apple bread topped with coconut yogurt

Customizing This Recipe

How can I make a healthier vegan apple bread?

This bread will work if you replace the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour or spelt flour and using coconut sugar instead of brown sugar. These healthier alternatives are drier than the original ingredients, so you may need to add an extra dash of milk to the batter.

Some readers have successfully substituted the oil with unsweetened applesauce, however I haven’t tested it myself so I can’t vouch for results.

I don’t recommend using a liquid sweetener as it’ll throw off the ingredient ratios and make the bread too heavy and wet. Alternatively, my maple banana bread was designed to be baked with maple syrup.

Can I bake this in a cake pan or muffin pan?

For a round cake, I recommend using my apple crumb cake recipe. For muffins, check out my vegan apple muffins recipe.

Can I add anything else to the vegan apple bread?

Yes, to the batter, you can also add:
– Raisins
– Cranberries
– Walnuts or pecans, just like carrot cake
– Vegan chocolate chips

This bread will also be wonderful with a cinnamon swirl! Use the swirl from my cinnamon bread recipe and layer it into this apple bread.

Close up of slice of apple bread showing fluffy moist texture.

More Vegan Apple Recipes

Easy Vegan Apple Muffins
Apple pie bars cut into squares. One square is on its side showing the gooey layers, shortcrust pastry and crumble topping.

Apple Pie Bars (vegan)
Vegan apple cinnamon rolls in sheet pan.

Vegan Apple Cinnamon Rolls
Vegan Apple Crumble Tea Cake on plate with slice coming out

Vegan Apple Cake

Follow Rainbow Nourishments on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Pinterest, and subscribe via email to receive all of our latest recipes!

4.94 from 66 reviews

Vegan Apple Bread

Yield: 10
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 55 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Author: Anthea
This incredibly soft, fluffy and moist vegan apple bread is made with only 8 ingredients and comes together in one bowl! It's delicious enjoyed by itself or with a soft dairy-free cream cheese frosting and caramelized apples. This bread can easily be made gluten-free and refined sugar-free too.
Print Leave a Review Pin Recipe

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

Wet Ingredients

  • 1 x (~180g) medium-sized apple, grated very coarsely OR chopped finely (note 3)
  • 1 cup (240g) dairy-free milk, room temperature
  • ½ cup (110g) neutral flavored oil
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, optional
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional

Cream Cheese Icing (optional, see note 5 for alternatives)

Caramelized Apples (optional)

Instructions 

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 just combined. Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan and smooth the top.
  • Bake the apple bread for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until done. Check the bread at the 35 minute mark and if it's browning quickly on top, loosely cover it 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 moist crumbs are fine. (note 4)
  • Let the apple bread rest in the pan for at least 10 minutes the transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the 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 so if you'd like a firmer icing, double the amount of butter and add more sugar, to taste.

Make the 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 in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Notes

  1. 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 by itself. 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.
  2. This amount of sugar creates a mildly sweet apple bread. To make the bread less sweet, use 3/4 cup (150g) of brown or coconut sugar.
  3. 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, add an extra 3 tablespoons (25g) of flour to the batter.
  4. 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, tent your loaf pan with aluminum foil at the beginning of baking to prevent it from burning.
  5. The apple bread is wonderful by itself. Alternatively, you can top the bread with a simple buttercream, icing such as from my lemon olive oil cake recipe or coconut yogurt. See the post above for more suggestions.
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1slice without topping, Calories: 191kcal, Carbohydrates: 29g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 8g, Sodium: 151mg, Potassium: 43mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 7g, Vitamin A: 9IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 90mg, Iron: 1mg
Did you Make this Recipe?Rate it & leave your feedback in the comments section below, or tag @rainbownourishments on Instagram and hashtag #rainbownourishments!

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.