Apple Harvest Bread
This Apple Harvest Bread is a homemade yeasted bread stuffed with apple pieces…and topped with a cinnamon streusel!
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Apple season in upstate New York is in full swing, and I couldn’t be more excited! I really look forward to eating a nice, juicy, crisp apple at lunch every day. (Plus, an apple a day…eh, you know the rest.) My dog Maximus absolutely loves apples, too! I’ve never seen anything like it…whenever I pull an apple out of the fridge, he practically stands right on top of my feet until I give him a piece. The sound of a dog chomping on a crisp apple always makes me chuckle! Both of my dogs also love the days when I bake fresh bread…so you can imagine their reaction when I made this Apple Harvest Bread! Fresh apples are baked right into the bread, and then the whole loaf is topped with a cinnamon streusel before going into the oven. This Apple Harvest Bread is the perfect way to welcome in Autumn!
A couple of years ago, my wife and I lived in Atlanta, and a Great Harvest Bread opened near us. I had never heard of Great Harvest before, so of course I had to check it out. And I’m glad I did! They made a half-dozen or so different kinds of bread each day, and they rotated their flavors for the seasons. We’d always pick up a loaf or two for special occasions. Once we moved to New York, though, the closest Great Harvest Bread is a couple hours away. So what did I do? Well, I set out to create similar versions of their bread here at home of course! While this Apple Harvest Bread is not meant to be an exact copy, I was nevertheless inspired by Great Harvest’s Apple Scrapple Bread.
To be clear, this bread is more similar to sandwich bread than a quick bread. It does have a touch of sweetness from the apples and the cinnamon streusel, but it is not overly sweet in my opinion. I absolutely love toasting slices of this bread and topping it with a smear of peanut butter or Biscoff Spread! But it’s also delicious just toasted with butter. And my wife had the genius idea last night to use this bread to make a delicious grilled cheese sandwich…so don’t be surprised if that shows up here on Spiced soon!
Apple Harvest Bread
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 5 cups bread flour recommended brand: King Arthur Flour
- 3 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp instant dry yeast
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter softened
- ¾ cup apple sauce
- ½ cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1½ cups Granny Smith apples diced
For the Streusel Topping
- ½ cup cake flour
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- In the bowl of a countertop mixer with the dough hook attached, add all ingredients for the dough (flour, brown sugar, salt, yeast, cinnamon, nutmeg, egg, butter, apple sauce, milk, vanilla, and diced apples). Mix on low speed until dough comes together.
- Increase to medium speed and mix for 7-8 minutes. Dough should be fairly slack and slightly sticky to the touch. Adjust with more flour or water if needed.
- Cover and allow dough to rest in a warm (80°-85°F) location for 1 hour.
- Transfer dough to a well-floured counter and fold. Cover and return to warm location for 1 more hour.
- Meanwhile, combine all of the streusel ingredients in a small bowl and mix until well combined.
- Divide the dough into 2 pieces of equal weight. Loosely shape into ball, cover, and let rest for 10-15 minutes. Shape dough into tight rounds and place on parchment paper. Press 1/3 cup of the streusel into the top of the dough. (If the streusel doesn't stick, just lightly spray the top of the loaf with water. Press the streusel down into the top of the dough.)
- Cover loaves lightly and allow to rest in a warm location for 1.5 hours.
- Very carefully transfer rounds to a sheet pan or peel and place in the oven.
- Bake at 375°F for 35-40 minutes, or until golden brown in color. (Note: After 25 minutes, tent the loaves with aluminum foil to prevent streusel from burning.)
Well that sounds yummy. You just can’t go wrong with brown sugar, cinnamon, and BUTTER.
You’ve got that right, SueAnn! This bread is amazing when toasted with a little butter…yum!
This bread is stunning. I love the idea of apple bread smeared with biscoff spread. I’ve got to go apple picking!
Thanks, Vicki! Don’t you love this time of the year??
Apple season is surely in full force in Upstate NY and this bread is just perfect to celebrate fall.
PS: I didn’t know you lived in Upstate as well!
I do indeed live in upstate NY…I didn’t realize you were in this area! What area are you from?
This sounds like heaven! I can’t wait to try it!
Thanks so much, Carol! It really is the best bread ever for morning toast in the Fall!
I think I could eat the entire loaf of this! That is too funny about your dog! Also great latin name he’s got there!! My dog once stole an apple from this girl who was walking by! oops!
Hey Molly! Nice pick-up on the dog name. Very impressive. (It also work because I’m a huge Dr. Seuss fan, and the Grinch’s dog was named Max.) I wish I could’ve seen your pup steal an apple from the random girl walking down the street. Please video that and instagram it. Thanks!
This bread is amazing. I couldn’t wait and had a piece hot out of the oven. Mmmmmm oh so good.
Thank you so much, Jennifer! Hot bread right out of the oven is really hard to beat…especially when it involves apples, too. 🙂 I’m really glad you enjoyed this bread, and thanks for coming back and leaving a note!
SUPER tasty!!
The only comment I have would be: Instead of mixing all the ingredients together, I have found it helpful to mix everything together but the flour. Then, mix the flour in a little at a time until you reach a dough-like consistency. Then kneed and add extra flour as needed. I have made this recipe a few times now, and I have found that when you add all five cups of flour, the loaf gets to be VERY dense. I would not recommend adding all 5 cups of flour.
Super tasty recipe. So happy I found it! Thank you!!
Thank you so much for the thoughts and tips here! I’m really glad you enjoyed this recipe. 🙂
Really reminded me of apple scrapple!
Awesome – I’m so glad you enjoyed this bread, Rita! It’s been a few years since I’ve made a batch, but I’ve been thinking about making some bread soon…perhaps I should make this one again! 🙂