Spiced Applesauce Bread

This applesauce bread recipe is the best quick bread! It’s unbelievably tasty and cozy spiced. Step it up with an easy icing drizzle!

There’s zucchini bread for the summer and pumpkin bread for the fall…but here’s a cozy quick bread that works for anytime. This spiced and iced Applesauce Bread recipe! This one is perfectly spiced with cinnamon, allspice and cloves, and studded with oats. It’s so tasty and perfect for special occasions! Suffice it to say, it went over very well in our house. Take it over the top with an easy icing drizzle. It’s great for an occasional treat or as a way to use up applesauce. Here’s how to make this impressive loaf!

Ingredients in applesauce bread

This applesauce bread is an easy quick bread, just like zucchini, pumpkin, and banana bread. But the fruit puree here is applesauce! We got the idea from brainstorming ways to use applesauce after making our family favorite applesauce cookies. Turns out: applesauce works in quick breads too! Here’s what you’ll need for this tasty bread:

All purpose and whole wheat flour: A mix of flours adds a nuance to the flavor a pinch of nutrients.
Granulated and brown sugar: Using two sugars also adds nuance to the flavor.
Eggs, baking soda, baking powder, & salt: The regular players for a quick bread.
Cinnamon, allspice, and cloves: The perfect mix of spices.
Applesauce: We like unsweetened, but you can use sweetened if it’s all you have.
Neutral oil: We like oil in our quick breads because it doesn’t require melting like butter: one less step! It also makes it dairy free and easily vegan.
Vanilla: A hefty dose of vanilla gives it a smooth flavor.

What to expect with this applesauce bread

While it’s not as rich as banana, applesauce adds a nice lightness and moistness to breads and also works as a substitute for oil. Here are a few things to expect with this applesauce bread:

The texture is light and moist, not rich and oily. It’s not quite as dense or oily as a typical quick bread: the texture is lighter here.
Oats add interest to the texture. There’s just a 1/2 cup, but it adds a nice intriguing lightness as well.
Bake time depends on the pan size. Keep in mind: bake time varies whether you use an 8-inch or 9-inch pan. You’ll want to pull the bread when it feels solid and a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs clinging on. Don’t wait until it’s fully clean, or you risk overbaking!

Step it up with powdered sugar icing!

This applesauce bread is delicious as is and perfectly sweet: it’s a total treat bread! (It’s not really in the healthy category, like you could argue with this Healthy Pumpkin Bread.) So if you really want to take it to treat status, drizzle it with our easy powdered sugar icing! It takes literally one minute to stir together. Here are some notes:

Use our 1 minute powdered sugar icing recipe. It’s so fast to stir up, and works for any diet.
For less sugar, use a half recipe! You can use just a half of the recipe for a glaze that’s lightly sweet. Or use a full recipe for maximum wow factor.

Mix-ins for applesauce bread

Of course, you can customize this bread even further with mix ins! If you like chunks in your bread, there are lots of options. Here are a few ideas of mix-ins for applesauce bread:

Walnuts
Pecans
Hazelnuts
Almonds
Chocolate chips
Dried cherries or cranberries
Shredded coconut

Vegan variation

Do you eat vegan, or cooking for someone who is? Because this applesauce bread is made with oil instead of butter, it’s naturally dairy free. As we noted above, we prefer using oil in our quick breads because it makes them even quicker: you don’t have to melt butter! Here’s the only thing you need to do to make this bread vegan:

Use flax eggs! A flax egg is simply ground flax seed mixed with water. When it sits, it forms a gel like substance that you can use in vegan baked goods like muffins, cookies, and quick breads. We’ve found it works well, like in our Vegan Banana Bread and Vegan Zucchini Bread. It changes the texture a bit, but it’s still just as delicious.

Applesauce bread storage

This applesauce bread stores very well! You’ll find on the day of baking it has a crisp crust, but as you store it it becomes softer. (It’s delicious both ways!) We like to keep it at room temperature because it’s so beautifully moist and you can eat it right away. But here are a few options for storage:

How long does applesauce bread last at room temperature? 4 to 5 days, covered in aluminum foil..
Can you refrigerate applesauce bread? You can! Keep in mind that it does dry out a bit in the fridge. It also tastes a little better at room temp, so if you refrigerate it be sure to let it come to room temperature before enjoying.
Can you freeze applesauce bread? Yes! Slice it into pieces and wrap it in plastic wrap and then place it in a freezer safe bag or container. It stays good for about 3 months.

This applesauce bread recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.