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Healthy Apple Cinnamon Bread — a cross between moist apple cake and banana bread. Made with a mixture of gluten free flour, honey, and juicy apples. The perfect healthy fall recipe!
Yep. Sign me up for making this healthy apple cinnamon bread for the rest of my life.
I like to call this bread a happy accident, a good mistake, a successful experiment. I went to make my standard cinnamon roll banana bread and then saw some of the apples that I had sitting on the counter.
I instantly started thinking about how I could use them that day because we were leaving for vacation and then it came to me that I needed to add them to this bread.
A healthy apple cinnamon bread. A beautiful marriage between apple cake and banana bread, but with cinnamon and so much goodness. Doesn’t that sound pretty good to you?
I brought the first rendition over to my girlfriends when we were all hanging out a few weeks ago, and even though there were plenty of things that I wanted to tweak with it, they all raved about it.
After you make this, if you’re still looking for more apple recipes, try my Easy Apple Galette and Apple Crumble Cake Recipe.
So I knew I had to make it again until I got it perfect, because no matter what, I always feel better when I feel 100% confident in a recipe, instead of just 75% confident.
So now that it is officially fall and the weather is really starting to turn, and the leaves are changing colors, nothing really screams autumn than a comforting loaf of warm apple bread.
Made with some of nature’s best ingredients because that’s what we do here over at Erin Lives Whole.
Natural, good for you, satisfying, nutrient dense.
So go ahead and make this bread and eat it for breakfast, top it with cinnamon sugar apples for an added punch, pack it up for your afternoon snack or even throw a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top for dessert. That sounds pretty perfect to me.
Move aside pumpkin bread, healthy apple cinnamon bread is here!
Healthy Apple Cinnamon Bread
Healthy Apple Cinnamon Bread — a cross between moist apple cake and banana bread. Made with a mixture of gluten free flour, honey, and juicy apples. The perfect healthy fall recipe!
Ingredients
BREAD
- 2 cups gluten-free flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill GF all purpose baking)
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 overripe large bananas, mashed (or 3 medium bananas)
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 eggs, room temperature
MIDDLE CINNAMON LAYER
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 3 Tbsp. melted coconut oil
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
For the topping, mix half of above cinnamon sugar mixture with 1 cup finely chopped apples (I used one Gala + one Granny Smith).
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F
- In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large bowl, add mashed bananas, honey, oil, and vanilla. Stir to combine.
- Whisk in two eggs.
- Fold dry ingredients into wet, stirring until completely combined.
- Pour half of batter into greased bread loaf pan.
- In a small bowl, mix coconut sugar, coconut oil, and cinnamon with a fork.
- Sprinkle half of cinnamon sugar mixture on first half batter.
- Pour remaining half of batter on top.
- Add apples to cinnamon sugar mixture and toss to coat.
- Sprinkle apple cinnamon sugar mixture on top.
- Bake in 350F oven for 40-44 minutes – using a toothpick to test. I took mine out at 40 minutes and it was done.
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Darlene says
I did this recipe gluten free using cup4cup and it was wonderful, delicious and very moist. It’s hard finding good gluten free recipes, but this one converts wonderfully. It’s a keeper. Thank you for posting.
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Darlene, so happy you enjoyed it so much! 🙂
Rachel S says
HUGE HIT!!! Moist and delicious! Will absolutely be making again!
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Rachel, so glad you love the bread!!
Samantha says
Hi! Do you mean the red Bob’s Mill bag that doesn’t have xanthan gum? Or the blue 1 to 1 baking flour bag? Thanks 🙂
Erin says
Hi Samantha, you’ll want to get the blue 1-1 bag! Let me know how the bread comes out!!
Sarah says
I’ve made this bread at least six times and it never lasts more than a few days it is so delicious! I go HEAVY on the cinnamon, it is definitely my favorite type of banana bread that I’ve ever had. I sub 1/2 apple sauce for the 1/2 cup of coconut oil (probably why it took a little longer to bake). Currently waiting for my bananas to ripen to make another loaf asap!
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Sarah, I am so glad you enjoyed it so much and make it your own! 🙂
Matias says
Would this work with oat flour?
Erin says
Hi Matias! Yes, you can use oat flour for the bread. Before you bake just be sure to check the ratio because some flours are not a 1:1 ratio. Let me know how it comes out!
Becca says
Great recipe! I ended up making homemade apple sauce and subbed that for the bananas because I didn’t have any. I did have to bake it a little longer then the 45 minutes but overall it is delcious!
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Becca, thanks for your kind words! I am so happy you enjoyed it and made it your own!
Jess says
Can I use regular flour with this?
Erin says
Hi Jess, yes, you can use a different flour. Before you bake just be sure to check the ratio because some flours are not a 1:1 ratio. Let me know what flour you use and how it comes out!
Julia says
Really enjoyed this recipe! Made the house smell amazing & everyone loved it. I made half a recipe & added apples throughout the batter. Thank you for sharing!
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Julia, thank you so much for your kind words! I am so happy everyone enjoyed them!!
Audrey says
I made this loaf earlier today and I loved it! Planning to top it with pb and strawberries tomorrow morning.
Erin says
Thanks for sharing Audrey!! Glad you love it!
Nita says
I so want to try this recipe but grain free. Will a combination of almond and coconut flour work here?
Erin says
You should be able to make that work. I have a couple other bread recipes that you could use as a base.
Claire says
Any way to make this grain free or flourless?
Erin says
You could try with almond flour – I would consider adding in another egg, though!
Rachel Goldstein says
Hi! I made this today with my daughter, and it’s delicious! I had to cook a bit longer because the batter under the apples was still wet after 45 mins. I did use a lot of apples, maybe too many! Yummy though, and fun to make with my 6 year old. Might try to make this into muffins next time. Thanks for a great recipe!
Erin says
Hi Rachel! Thanks so much for letting me know! My oven at home is very powerful so maybe I’ll add in some more time 🙂 I hope you enjoy them if you try muffins!