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Bread machine apple cinnamon bread is a soft, lightly sweet loaf with fresh apple baked into every slice and just enough cinnamon. It slices like sandwich bread, toasts up beautifully for breakfast, and turns the last few slices into an easy French toast.
Table of Contents
- Notes from My Kitchen
- Ingredients for Bread Machine Apple Cinnamon Bread
- Yield Notes
- How to Make Bread Machine Apple Cinnamon Bread
- Tips for the Best Bread Machine Apple Cinnamon Bread
- Bread Machine Apple Bread Variations
- Serving Bread Machine Apple Cinnamon Bread
- Bread Machine Apple Cinnamon Bread FAQs
- More Bread Machine Recipes
- Bread Machine Apple Cinnamon Bread Recipe
- More Apple Recipes
Apples and cinnamon show up together in pies, crisps, and cakes, and they’re just as good in a yeast bread. Here the apple bakes into a soft bread machine loaf, with tender pieces all through the crumb.
It’s lightly sweet, so think breakfast toast and not dessert. A little honey or maple syrup sweetens the dough, and the apple adds the rest. For a sweeter apple loaf, there’s sourdough apple fritter bread.
Fresh apples are what make this loaf, and fall is when there are plenty to go around. A loaf only takes a couple, so save the rest for an Italian apple cake or a pan of apple pie shortbread bars. Anything left over can go into one of these ways to preserve apples.
If you like this one, bread machine cinnamon raisin bread is its closest cousin. When you want something different, there are 50+ bread machine recipes to keep the machine busy the rest of the week.
Notes from My Kitchen
We love heirloom apples, and every fall we’re looking for delicious ways to work our pick-your-own harvests into our autumn cooking.
My kids absolutely love this bread and ask for it by name all year. What started out as an autumn splurge is now one of their favorite breakfast breads.
Ingredients for Bread Machine Apple Cinnamon Bread
Honey or maple syrup both work as the sweetener, and so does plain or brown sugar. Butter or a neutral oil works for the fat, and almond or oat milk can stand in for dairy milk.
The recipe card gives three loaf sizes, so you can match the recipe to your machine.
- Milk: Milk keeps the crumb soft, and starting it at room temperature helps the yeast get going. Almond or oat milk works, and so does water, though a water loaf won’t be quite as soft.
- Apples: Firm, crisp apples hold up to the kneading. Any apple that keeps its shape in a pie works. Our Newtown Pippin tree is the one we use most for pies, and this list of pie apples has plenty of others.
- Honey or maple syrup: Sweetens the dough and gives the yeast something to feed on. Honey does the same job in bread machine honey white bread, and maple syrup does it in bread machine maple oatmeal bread. Either one works here.
- Butter or oil: Softened butter gives the loaf a rich flavor and a tender crumb. A neutral oil like avocado or refined coconut oil works too.
- Bread flour: I tested this loaf with bread flour, and its extra protein makes a stronger dough that holds up all that apple. All-purpose flour doesn’t have as much structure, so I’d stick with bread flour here.
- Salt: Fine salt seasons the bread and keeps the yeast in check, so the loaf rises steadily.
- Cinnamon: Ground cinnamon gives the loaf its warm spice. Cinnamon also slows yeast, so adding a lot more can hold back the rise.
- Yeast: SAF instant yeast or bread machine yeast. Bread machine yeast is an instant yeast too, so the amount is the same for both. Measure it level, since extra yeast makes the loaf rise fast and then fall.
Yield Notes
The 1 1/2-pound loaf takes 3 cups of bread flour and 1 1/2 cups of diced apple, which is about 2 medium apples. If you weigh your flour, a cup of bread flour is 120 grams.
The recipe card also has a 1-pound loaf (2 cups of flour and 1 cup of diced apple) and a 2-pound loaf (4 cups of flour and 2 cups of diced apple).
For raisins, toasted pecans, or a mix, use 1/3 cup total in the 1-pound loaf, 1/2 cup in the 1 1/2-pound loaf, and 2/3 cup in the 2-pound loaf.
How to Make Bread Machine Apple Cinnamon Bread
Everything goes into the pan at the start, apples and all, and the machine does the rest. The only hands-on step is a quick look at the dough while it kneads.
The apples don’t wait for the beep, so this loaf works in machines that don’t have an add-in signal at all.
Prep the Apples
Peel and core the apples, then dice them into 1/2-inch pieces. That’s bigger than you’d cut for muffins, because the paddle breaks some of them down as it kneads.
An apple peeler corer makes quick work of it if you bake with apples often. Measure the apples after dicing.
Load the Bread Pan
Add the milk, diced apples, honey, and butter to the bread pan. Spoon the flour over the top so it covers the liquid.
Put the salt and cinnamon in the corners, and make a small well in the center of the flour for the yeast. If your machine’s manual calls for a different loading order, follow the manual.
Set the Machine
Choose the basic (white) setting and a medium crust, plus your loaf size if your machine has that setting, then press start. It’s the same basic cycle you’d use for bread machine white bread.
I bake mine in a Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme, but the recipe only needs a basic cycle. Don’t use the delay timer for this one. Fresh milk and fresh apple shouldn’t sit in the pan for hours before the machine starts.
Check the Dough
Take a look during the first few minutes of kneading. The dough will look wet at first, but it should still be a dough and not a batter.
Give it time. By the end of kneading, it comes together into a soft, slightly tacky ball that bakes up nicely.
Apples vary in how juicy they are. If the dough is still smearing on the sides of the pan late in kneading, add flour a spoonful at a time. If it looks dry and crumbly, add milk the same way.
Let It Rise and Bake
Don’t add anything at the add-in beep, unless you’re making the raisin or pecan variation. Let the machine finish the rise and bake on its own.
Keep the lid closed from here on. Opening it lets the warm air out, and the top can sink.
Cool Before Slicing
Take the loaf out of the pan as soon as the cycle ends, so the crust doesn’t steam and go soft. Set it on a wire cooling rack.
Let it cool for at least an hour before slicing. The apple pieces hold a lot of steam, and cutting in early makes the crumb around them gummy. A bread knife cuts clean slices without squashing the loaf.
Tips for the Best Bread Machine Apple Cinnamon Bread
Measure the flour carefully. Scooping the cup straight from the bag packs in extra flour, and the loaf comes out dry and dense. Weigh it on a digital scale, or spoon the flour into the cup and level it off.
Pick firm apples for bigger pieces. The paddle kneads the apple the whole time, so soft apples mostly break down into the crumb. Firm, crisp apples keep more of their shape, and you get more tender pieces in each slice.
Stick with a medium crust. I bake this loaf on medium. A light crust can leave a fruit bread slightly underdone, since the apple adds so much moisture. A dark crust can burn the sugars.
Bread Machine Apple Bread Variations
These are the easy swaps for this loaf.
- Apple cider syrup: Use it in place of the honey for a stronger apple flavor. You can buy apple cider syrup or make your own boiled cider.
- Sugar: Use the same amount of white or brown sugar in place of the honey. Sugar has no liquid of its own, so watch the dough late in kneading and add a spoonful of milk if it looks dry.
- Raisins: Add them at the add-in beep, or in the last few minutes of kneading if your machine doesn’t beep. Small, dry fruit mixes in fine that late. If you want raisins front and center, bread machine cinnamon raisin bread is the loaf to make.
- Toasted pecans: Add them at the same time, on their own or mixed with the raisins.
Serving Bread Machine Apple Cinnamon Bread
This bread makes great toast, and a thick slice with butter is plenty. It’s even better with apple butter or maple whiskey pear butter.
Day-old slices make a good French toast, since the bread is already lightly sweet and spiced. Cut the slices thick so they soak up the custard without falling apart.
Bread Machine Apple Cinnamon Bread FAQs
These are the questions readers ask most about this loaf: when the apples go in, what makes a loaf sink, milk swaps, applesauce, and how long the bread keeps.
The add-in beep comes at a different point in different machines, sometimes only a few minutes before kneading ends. That isn’t enough time for the paddle to work in this much wet apple, and the pieces end up on the outside of the loaf. Loaded at the start, the apples knead into the dough, and their juice becomes part of the liquid. It also means you don’t need an add-in beep for the apples.
The usual causes are too much yeast, too much liquid, or opening the lid during the rise or bake. Measure the yeast level, and weigh the flour if you can. Late in kneading, check that the dough is a soft ball and not smearing on the sides of the pan. There are more fixes in my bread machine troubleshooting guide.
Yes. Almond and oat milk both work, and so does water, though the loaf won’t be quite as soft. Water adds a bit more liquid than milk does, so check the dough late in kneading and add a spoonful of flour if it’s smearing on the sides of the pan. Whatever you use, start it at room temperature.
I’d stick with fresh diced apple. Applesauce and stewed apples are wetter than fresh dice, so they change the liquid balance of the dough, and I haven’t tested them in this loaf. Fresh apple also gives you the tender pieces through the crumb.
Wrap the cooled loaf and keep it at room temperature for 2 to 3 days. For longer storage, slice it, freeze it in a freezer bag for up to 3 months, and toast the slices straight from the freezer.
More Bread Machine Recipes
More loaves to bake in the bread machine.
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Bread Machine Apple Cinnamon Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
Liquids and Apples (Add First)
- 3/4 cup Milk, room temperature, see notes
- 1 1/2 cups Apples, peeled, cored and diced, see notes
- 2 Tbsp Honey, or maple syrup, see notes
- 2 Tbsp Butter, softened, or a neutral oil
Dry Ingredients (On Top)
- 3 cups Bread Flour, spooned and leveled, see notes
- 1 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Cinnamon, ground
- 1 1/4 tsp SAF Instant Yeast, or bread machine yeast
Instructions
- Peel, core, and dice the apples into 1/2-inch pieces.
- Add the milk, diced apples, honey, and butter to the bread pan. Spoon the flour on top, put the salt and cinnamon in the corners, and make a small well in the center of the flour for the yeast. If your machine’s manual gives a different loading order, follow the manual.
- Select the basic (white) setting, a medium crust, and your loaf size if your machine has that setting, then start the machine. Don’t use the delay timer.
- Check the dough during kneading. It looks wet at first but should still be a dough, not a batter, and by the end of kneading it comes together into a soft, slightly tacky ball. If it’s still smearing on the sides of the pan late in kneading, add flour a spoonful at a time. If it’s dry and crumbly, add milk the same way.
- Don’t add anything at the add-in beep unless you’re making the raisin or pecan variation (see notes). Keep the lid closed and let the machine finish the rise and bake.
- Remove the loaf from the pan as soon as the cycle ends, and cool it on a rack for at least 1 hour before slicing.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
More Apple Recipes
A few more ways to bake with apples.
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I made the bread yesterday. While I was a little skeptical that my bread was not going to rise with 1 1/2 cups of apple that I added, it came out fantastic! I also added 1/2 cups of raisins. I used my Hamilton Beach bread machine on the sweet bread setting. I will be making this Apple Cinnamon bread again
I’m so glad you like it!
Hola, realice este pan, exquisito con la manzana pink lady! quedó incorporado a mis favoritos.
gracias por compartir la receta.
¡Qué bueno que te gustó! Gracias por contarme.
So glad you liked it! Thanks for letting me know.
This recipe is ideal. When white whole wheat flour is used, it yields a nice loaf with a delicate crumb. It’s very versatile as well. It’s been made with fruitcake fruits with delicious results. Now we’re trying roasted garlic with olive oil (no cinnamon). A perfect way to move to whole wheat options.
Wonderful! Roasted garlic and olive oil sounds delicious.