Some recipes make the whole house smell like you've got your life together, even if there's a sink full of dishes lurking just out of frame. This apple fritter bread is one of them. It's packed with tender apples, ribbons of cinnamon sugar, and a sweet vanilla glaze that somehow makes an ordinary Tuesday feel a little more forgiving. No yeast. No deep fryer. Just an easy loaf that tastes like the best part of an apple fritter without turning your kitchen into an oil slick.
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You may know this recipe as Amish apple fritter bread or country apple fritter bread. Whatever name you call it, it's a buttery apple quick bread layered with cinnamon sugar and finished with a sweet vanilla glaze. One slice is never enough, and that's between you and the loaf pan. You'll get no judgement from me.
🥰 Is this apple fritter bread recipe for you?
- You'd rather bake one loaf than stand over a pot of hot oil playing dodgeball with splattering grease.
- You're looking for a cozy recipe that's just as welcome on a holiday brunch table as it is next to your Thursday afternoon coffee in July.
- You believe recipes should impress people without requiring a culinary degree, a stand mixer the size of a lawn mower, or twelve obscure ingredients.
- You know "I'll just have one slice" is the baking equivalent of famous last words and you're ok with that.
🧾 Ingredients
Most of these ingredients are probably already hanging around your pantry waiting for something more exciting than watching you make another batch of toast. Today is their day.
- All-purpose flour: The sturdy foundation that keeps this loaf from becoming apple cobbler with an identity crisis.
- Baking powder & baking soda: The dream team that gives your bread a tender, lofty crumb.
- Granulated sugar: Sweetens the batter and helps create that golden crust.
- Brown sugar: Mixed with cinnamon to make those gooey swirls everyone fights over.
- Powdered sugar: Whisked into a simple vanilla glaze because restraint is overrated.
- Vanilla extract: Adds warm, bakery-style flavor.
- Fresh apples: Peel them, chop them, and try not to eat half of them before they make it into the bowl. I like to use a combination of Honey Crisp and Granny Smith but use your favorite.
- Eggs: Hold everything together and keep the loaf rich and tender.
- Cinnamon, cloves, and ginger: The cozy little trio that makes the whole house smell like good decisions and Christmas.
- Kosher salt: Not pictured because it wandered off during the photo shoot, but it wakes up every other flavor.
- Buttermilk: Keeps the crumb soft, moist, and just a little tangy.
- Butter: Because butter is out here doing the Lord's work one loaf at a time.
Download the free printable apple fritter bread kitchen cheat sheet for extra tips, variations, and more.
📖 Recipe
Apple Fritter Bread
Print Pin Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
Apple Bread Batter
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup white sugar
- ½ cup buttermilk
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Apple Mixture
- 1 pound apples, about 2 cups or so, peeled and diced
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon cloves, optional
Glaze
- 1 cup Confectioners sugar
- ¼ cup Melted butter
- 1 tablespoon cream, or milk if needed for consistency
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan, line with parchment, then grease the parchment.
- Mix brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves together in a bowl.
- Stir into peeled and diced apples until the apples are covered in the spice mixture.
- Beat the white sugar and butter together until light and fluffy.
- Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, and beating about 1 minute after each addition.
- Stir in vanilla.
- Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder together in a bowl.
- Stir the flour mixture into the creamy butter mixture.
- Stir in the buttermilk.
- Spoon half the batter into the pan, evening out the top with the back of your spoon.
- Add half the apples that are coated with the cinnamon brown sugar mixture.
- Spoon the remaining batter over the apples.
- Top with the remaining apples and cinnamon mixture, pressing down lightly.
- Sprinkle with a little extra brown sugar if desired.
- Bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Bread will be about 200℉ in center when done.
- If it begins to brown to much on the top just tent it with aluminum foil.
- Let cool completely before removing from pan.
- Drizzle with the glaze.
Glaze
- Mix the confectioner's sugar and butter together. Add cream as needed to make a drizzly glaze
- Spoon over the cooled bread.
Notes
- I use a mixture of honeycrisp and granny smith apples for best flavor but you could use MacIntosh, Northern Spy, Braeburn, or whatever you like.
- You don't need to use parchment if you don't want to but it does help with the removal of the apple fritter bread!
- If your parchment paper keeps popping out of the prepared loaf pan, use some chip clips to hold the paper in place. Just remember to remove the clips before baking, of course!
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
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🔪 How to make this apple fritter bread recipe
Don't let the cinnamon swirls fool you into thinking this is fussy. It's an easy quick bread with a few simple layers that create all that apple fritter magic.
- Toss the diced apples with the brown sugar and spices until every piece is coated in cinnamon goodness.
- Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the vanilla and eggs.
- Stir the dry ingredients into the butter mixture just until combined. Don't overmix unless tough bread is your life goal.
- Pour in the buttermilk and stir until the batter is smooth and no streaks remain.
- Spread half the batter into the prepared loaf pan, smoothing it into the corners.
- Scatter half the cinnamon-spiced apples over the batter for the first delicious layer.
- Carefully spoon the remaining batter over the apples and gently spread it to cover them.
- Finish with the rest of the apples and, if you're feeling generous, a sprinkle of brown sugar. Bake until golden, your kitchen smells amazing, and the hardest part is waiting for it to cool.
😱 What can go wrong (and how to fix it)
🍎 The center is still gooey.
It probably just needs more time in the oven. Tent the loaf loosely with foil if the top is getting too brown and keep baking until the center reaches about 200°F or a toothpick comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
🍎 The apples sank to the bottom.
Cut the apples into small, even pieces and stick to the amount in the recipe. Oversized chunks or extra apples can weigh the batter down.
🍎 The cinnamon swirl disappeared.
Don't stir the layers together. Gently spread the batter and let the apples and cinnamon sugar stay in distinct layers so you get those pretty swirls in every slice.
🍎 The glaze ran right off the loaf.
The bread was probably still too warm. Let it cool completely before glazing so it settles into a thick, bakery-style drizzle instead of puddling on the parchment.
Marye's Tip: Sprinkling to top with a little brown sugar or turbinado sugar before baking gives it a little crunch. Use about a tablespoon.
👩🍳 FAQs
Usually it's caused by underbaking, opening the oven too early, or adding too many apples. Bake until the center reaches about 200°F, and avoid slicing until the loaf has cooled.
No, but I recommend it. Peeled apples give the loaf a softer texture, while the peels stay a little firmer after baking.
📚 How about some more quick bread recipes?
If you're anything like me, one quick bread recipe usually turns into three. Here are a few more favorites worth turning on the oven for.
This apple fritter bread has everything you love about a bakery apple fritter without the frying, the splattering oil, or wondering if your smoke detector is judging your life choices. It's the kind of cozy loaf that mysteriously disappears one slice at a time. In the mood for fall? Try these pumpkin scones or gingerbread waffles.
Kristen @ A Mind Full Mom says
Sounds like an amazing place that inspired this recipe for you--and I love that you added Whiskey 🙂
Melissa says
We just started picking apples on our farm. This Fritter Bread looks so good. It's perfect for fall.
Susan | LunaCafe says
These look so decadent. And I'm going to look for that interesting whiskey. Who could resist? 🙂
Shannon @ rumblyinmytumbly says
LOVE the idea of putting some whiskey in the glaze. Yours turned out beautifully.
Sherry Wright says
Do you mind sharing the brand of Apple pie filling you used since you said it was so good and contains no corn syrup? Also, are there no other apples, other than what's in the canned apple pie filling? Thanks, Marye.
Marye Audet says
The pie filling is the only source of apples. It's the Lucky Leaf Premium.. fruit, sugar, cornstarch. spice... not thing else. 🙂
Carolyn Winter says
I really wish I had read this reply from you before I made the bread. I just read your comment and I made it with just any old pie filling I picked up on sale. It was pretty messy. Unless it’s supposed to be only something you serve in a bowl.
Carolyn
Marye Audet says
Aww I'm sorry. :/