Apple Cinnamon Streusel Bread
A soft, buttery apple bread layered with warm cinnamon-spiced apples, topped with a thick brown sugar streusel, and finished with a sweet cinnamon glaze. The buttermilk keeps the loaf incredibly tender and moist, while chunks of fresh apple make every slice taste like fall.
Apple Cinnamon Streusel Bread Recipe below!
Apple Cinnamon Streusel Bread
A soft, buttery apple bread layered with warm cinnamon-spiced apples, topped with a thick brown sugar streusel, and finished with a sweet cinnamon glaze. The buttermilk keeps the loaf incredibly tender and moist, while chunks of fresh apple make every slice taste like fall.
Yield: 1 loaf, about 10 slices
Ingredients
Cinnamon Apples
1½ cups (180 g) peeled and chopped apples, cut into ¼ or ½-inch pieces
⅓ cup (67 g) packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Apple Bread
1¾ cups (219 g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
½ cup (100 g) packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
⅓ cup (80 g) Apple butter or unsweetened applesauce *Apple Butter linked here
1 teaspoon pure vanilla paste or extract
½ cup (120 ml) buttermilk, room temperature *you can substitute whole milk
Brown Sugar Streusel
½ cup (100 g) packed light brown sugar
½ cup (63 g) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
½ cup (113 g) cold unsalted butter, cubed
Cinnamon Glaze
1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 to 3 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan and line it with parchment paper, leaving enough overhang on the sides to easily lift out the finished loaf.
2. Make the cinnamon apples. In a medium bowl, toss the chopped apples with the brown sugar and cinnamon until evenly coated. Set aside.
3. Make the streusel. Combine the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl. Add the cold cubed butter and work it into the dry ingredients with your fingertips or a pastry cutter until large, buttery crumbs form. Refrigerate while you prepare the batter. A cold streusel will hold its shape better.
4. Mix the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
5. Cream the butter and sugars. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium-high speed with a hand mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
6. Add the wet ingredients. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Mix in the buttermilk, apple butter or applesauce, and vanilla until combined. The batter will look curdled after the addition of the buttermilk - this is normal.
8. Fold in half of the apples and spread half of the batter into the prepared pan. Spoon the remaining cinnamon apples and any juices evenly over the batter. Add the remaining batter on top and gently spread it to the edges of the pan.
9. Crumble the chilled streusel generously over the entire top of the loaf, keeping some larger pieces for extra crunch. Bake on the center rack for 60 to 75 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out almost clean with a few moist crumbs. If the streusel begins browning too quickly, loosely tent the loaf with a piece of foil.
11. Let the bread cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then carefully lift it out and transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.
12. Make the cinnamon glaze. Whisk together the powdered sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons milk until smooth. Add additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until the glaze is thick but pourable.
13. Finish the loaf. Once completely cooled, drizzle the cinnamon glaze generously over the streusel. Let the glaze set for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing.
Styling Notes
Keep the streusel chunky when adding it to the loaf so you get those beautiful oversized golden crumbs after baking. Drizzle the glaze back and forth over the top, allowing a few ribbons to naturally run down the sides.
Get Creative
For an extra fall twist, add chopped toasted pecans or walnuts to the streusel.
For a maple cinnamon glaze, replace 1 tablespoon of the milk with pure maple syrup.
