Go Back

Apple Fritter Bread

Apple fritter bread with cinnamon-brown sugar apple chunks and a vanilla glaze. Layered batter bakes into a moist loaf with gentle knife swirls and a tender, lightly spiced crumb.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 10 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Brown sugar
  • 0.3333333333 cup brown sugar packed
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar use 2 tbsp for tossing apples
Cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Flour and leaveners
  • 1.5 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1.75 tsp baking powder
  • 0.5 tsp salt
Butter, eggs, and vanilla
  • 0.5 cup butter, softened
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
Milk
  • 0.5 cup milk
  • 2 tbsp milk 2-3 tbsp total for glaze
Apples
  • 2 apples, peeled and chopped
Sugar for loaf and glaze
  • 0.6666666667 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup powdered sugar

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan
  • 1 loaf pan

Method
 

Prep and preheat
  1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease and line a 9x5-inch loaf pan. Make sure the pan has full coverage so the loaf releases cleanly.
Make cinnamon sugar and coat apples
  1. Mix brown sugar and ground cinnamon, then toss the chopped apples with 2 tablespoons of the mixture. The apples should look evenly coated with a sandy cinnamon coating.
Make the batter
  1. Beat the softened butter and granulated sugar until fluffy. Scrape the bowl as needed so the batter turns lighter in color and texture.
  2. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract until smooth. Stop as soon as the mixture looks uniform.
  3. Whisk the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt together. This keeps the leavening evenly distributed before you add it to the wet batter.
  4. Add the dry ingredients to the batter alternately with the milk. Start and end with the dry, mixing just until no dry streaks remain.
Layer and swirl
  1. Spread half the batter in the loaf pan. Level the surface so the layers stack evenly.
  2. Top with half the apples and half of the remaining cinnamon sugar. Distribute the apples so they peek through the layer rather than clumping.
  3. Repeat with the remaining batter, apples, and cinnamon sugar. Tap the pan lightly to help settle the layers.
  4. Swirl gently with a knife through the top layer. Make 6-8 passes for visible swirls without fully mixing the layers.
Bake and glaze
  1. Bake for 50-55 minutes at 350F until a toothpick comes out clean. The loaf should look set in the center and lightly browned on top.
  2. Cool for 15 minutes before glazing. This prevents the glaze from melting into the loaf.
  3. Whisk powdered sugar with 2-3 tablespoons milk until smooth, then drizzle over the warm loaf. Let the glaze fall in thick ribbons for the classic fritter-bread look.

Notes

Pro tip: For cleaner slices, cool the loaf at least 15 minutes (as written) and let it fully cool before cutting if you want neat layers. Store covered at room temperature up to 3 days or refrigerate up to 5 days; freeze slices up to 2 months and thaw overnight in the fridge. If you want a lighter option, use reduced-fat milk in both the batter and glaze (texture will be slightly less rich but still works).