Cinnamon Spice Applesauce Bread with Honey Butter
Applesauce Bread with Cinnamon Honey Butter — This applesauce bread is packed with fall flavors and comes together quickly. I serve mine with homemade honey butter, because why not?
Spiced Applesauce Bread Recipe
You won’t need scented candles ever again. Just make this applesauce bread. The scent of apples, cinnamon, coconut oil, and bread baking makes your house smell absolutely heavenly.
The bread is supremely moist and soft, with just enough cinnamon to complement the applesauce, without being overpowering. It’s actually more like an apple spice cake that happens to baked in a loaf pan, so we’ll call it bread. You know, because bread is healthier than cake so you can have extra.
I didn’t add ginger and allspice so it’s not quite as spicy as spice cake, but you can always add them if you want. I used every softening and moistening trick in the book to keep this loaf supple and tender. Applesauce, coconut oil, and sour cream all lend moisture to the bread. I loathe dry bread and cake, and this is anything but.
I love baking with coconut oil in place of other cooking oils especially for quick breads, muffins, cookies, and far prefer it to melted butter. Oil in general keeps things softer, springier and bouncier than butter.
The crust is slightly firmer and chewier, while the interior soft, fluffy, and springy. It’s great zapped in the microwave for a few seconds to warm it with a big dollop of honey butter, or toast it.
What’s in Applesauce Bread?
For this applesauce bread recipe, you’ll need:
- Eggs
- Cinnamon applesauce
- Granulated sugar
- Melted coconut oil
- Light brown sugar
- Sour cream
- Vanilla extract
- Ground cinnamon and nutmeg
- Salt
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda and baking powder
And for the cinnamon honey butter, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Honey
- Cinnamon
How to Make Applesauce Bread
To make this homemade applesauce bread, whisk together everything but the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Once the mixture is well combined, stir in the remaining ingredients. Turn the batter into a greased 9×5-inch loaf pan.
This quick bread will need to bake for roughly an hour, or until the top is set and firm and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. In the last 15 minutes of cooking, tent your bread with a sheet of foil if it’s looking a bit darker before you anticipate the center to cook through fully.
Let the applesauce bread cool for 30 minutes in its pan before slicing and serving it. It needs that extra bit of time to set up.
How to Make Honey Butter
To make the cinnamon honey butter, simply stir together the softened butter, honey, and cinnamon. You can add as much or as little cinnamon as you’d like, it’s up to you!
Can I Make This Into Muffins?
Probably, but you’d need to drastically shorten the cook time. Baking this as a loaf is easier though, in my opinion, so definitely try this recipe as written first!
Can I Use a Coconut Oil Substitute?
I didn’t notice any overt coconut flavor, but if you’re concerned you can use another oil (such as vegetable or canola). Between the applesauce, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla, any coconut flavor is masked though.
Can I Use a Sour Cream Substitute?
Yes, plain Greek yogurt can be used in place of the sour cream. You don’t want to use regular yogurt here though, as it’s much runnier than Greek yogurt.
Can I Bake This in a Smaller Loaf Pan?
No, you need to use a 9×5-inch loaf pan for this recipe. The batter will overflow if you use a smaller pan and you’ll wind up making a huge mess.
Can I Make This with Homemade Applesauce?
I don’t see why not! You’ll want to use smooth applesauce for this recipe though, not chunky.
Can I Freeze Applesauce Bread?
Yes, you can freeze this loaf for up to 6 months. Simply wrap it in a few layers of plastic wrap or store in a freezer-safe bag. When you’re ready to eat it, set it out on the counter to thaw.
Tips for Making Applesauce Bread with Honey Butter
I used store-bought cinnamon applesauce. If you use plain applesauce, you may want to bump up the cinnamon in the batter. I haven’t tried using reduced sugar applesauce, and while I’m sure the recipe works, it won’t be as sweet. I love the bread as is and wouldn’t make the sacrifice.
I served this applesauce bread with cinnamon honey butter, but you could also try a simple butter and confectioners’ sugar glaze, a vanilla cream cheese glaze, or just eat it plain. It’s soft, moist, and flavorful enough that it doesn’t ‘need’ anything. But you know.
And I’m sure would make great French toast, but this loaf never made it long enough to turn into French toast. It was gone in just over a day. That drippy, glistening honey butter gets me every time.

Applesauce Bread with Honey Butter
This applesauce bread is packed with fall flavors and comes together quickly. I serve mine with homemade honey butter, because why not?
Ingredients
Bread
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup cinnamon applesauce (plain may be substituted, consider adding more cinnamon)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup melted coconut oil (canola or vegetable oil or melted butter may be substituted)
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup sour cream (lite okay; Greek yogurt may be substituted)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon (not teaspoon)
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Honey Butter
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, extremely soft
- 1/4 cup honey, or to taste
- pinch cinnamon, optional and to taste
Instructions
Make the Bread
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with floured cooking spray, or grease and flour the pan; set aside (don’t use an 8-by-4-inch pan; it’s too small)
- In a large bowl, whisk together the first 7 ingredients, through optional salt.
- Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and stir until just combined; don’t overmix. Batter will be thick and with a few lumps. Don’t try to stir the lumps smooth.
- Turn batter out into prepared pan, smoothing the surface lightly with a spatula.
- Bake for about 56 to 63 minutes (I baked exactly 60), or until top is set and firm, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. In the last 15 minutes of cooking, tent bread with a sheet of foil (lay it loosely over top of pan) if your bread is looking a bit darker before you anticipate the center to cook through fully; I tented mine.
- Allow bread to cool in pan on top a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before turning out onto rack to cool completely.
Honey Butter
- Combine the butter (make sure it’s extremely soft and squishy), honey, and optional cinnamon in a small bowl and whisk vigorously until smooth and fluffy.
- Extra portion will keep airtight in the fridge for at least 1 month.
Notes
Bread will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 5 days, or may be frozen for up to 6 months.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 340 Total Fat: 19g Saturated Fat: 13g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 4g Cholesterol: 54mg Sodium: 153mg Carbohydrates: 41g Net Carbohydrates: 0g Fiber: 1g Sugar: 25g Sugar Alcohols: 0g Protein: 3g
More Fall Quick Bread Recipes:
The Best Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread — This pumpkin chocolate chip bread is truly the best homemade pumpkin bread you’ll ever make. It’s moist, packed with chocolate chips, and tastes like fall!
Carrot Apple Bread — This apple carrot bread tastes like carrot cake that’s been infused with apples. It’s a no mixer recipe that goes from bowl to oven in minutes!
Pumpkin Banana Bread — Fast, easy, and everyone will go nuts for this comforting loaf.
Cinnamon Sugar Crust Cinnamon Ribbon Bread — The cinnamon-sugar crust is like sweet bark that encases the moist, light, soft and fluffy bread.
Cream Cheese-Filled Pumpkin Bread — The cream cheese layer that runs through the bread is like having a layer of cheesecake baked into pumpkin bread
Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Bread — Super soft, tender, moist pumpkin bread with a slightly crunchy cinnamon sugar topping!
Apple Fritter Bread — The bread tastes as decadent as the apple fritters of my childhood, no deep frying required and it’s more like cake disguised as bread.
I baked this today & it is great! Especially with the honey butter:)
I added a little extra applesauce & this will be our Rosh Hashanah dessert.
Thanks Averie!
Thanks for trying it and how nice it will be your Rosh Hashanah dessert! Happy New Year!
Made this bread twice in the last week! Has just the right amount of spice and sweetness without being too much. I really enjoy reading your blog and trying your recipes!
Thanks for making it, and twice in one week! Love that! Thanks for reading and glad you’re enjoying my site and recipes!
I have made this a couple times. Very good, but definitely very coconutty!
Funny I really don’t taste the coconut oil but if you do and if anyone is sensitive to it, just sub with canola or veg oil like I wrote in the recipe. Thanks for trying this recipe a few times!
Was about to make some persimmon butter when I realized that I had persimmon puree from LAST year still in the freezer. I tripled this recipe and made no changes other than subbing persimmon puree for the applesauce. Oh, and I had no nutmeg, but used ginger.
It smells divine and tastes sooooo good! They are perfect. Sometimes recipes are too oily and sometimes too dry. These came out perfect! I got 2 loaves and a dozen muffins out of it and I’ve already eaten 2! It is 85 degrees and sunny in San Diego, but at least it smells like fall here! Thank you!!!
I live in San Diego too! And yes, it’s HOT here! Small world :)
I wish I just had a random stash of persimmon on hand and could sub that for applesauce, wow, how wonderful that sounds! And the ginger for nutmeg. Glad the texture was perfect, not too oily and not too dry! Stay cool on this ‘fall’ day :)
Loving your ‘breads’ :) Have you (or anyone else) ever tried them using coconut flour? If so, what quantities/substitutions would you use?
Coconut flour is sooooo highly absorbent and really is like a sponge! So without trying it first hand in this recipe, I really don’t know what to recommend. I don’t bake with it often enough to be able to guesstimate, either.
Hi. I love this bread. I’m wondering if I could bake it as muffins as well. Would I need to change anything? I tried to scan the comments to see if this was already asked/answered, but there were so many! Thanks!
Probably would be just fine as muffins and other than reducing the baking time dramatically, I would just make as-is! Keep me posted how it goes if you try!
Hi there ,,,can you make the Applesauce bread in muffin tins ?? The honey butter sound yummy too ,,,ty
Ooops ,,,saw the above comment
Just made this! It really does make the house smell great and tastes great too!!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you!
I love your recpies.
Thanks!
Could I use a vanilla yogurt? I don’t have Greek or sour cream, but I’m pregnant and must make this today. Lol Thank you!
I haven’t tried with regular yogurt. It’s thinner and runnier than Greek or sour cream so am a bit concerned you would need to alter the flour and maybe other things too. Good luck!
When you realize you have all the ingredients on hand to make this right now! Heading into the kitchen asap!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Awesome! I hope it turned out great for you. Let me know!
Would olive oil work in place of coconut oil as I am allergic to coconuts and can’t have anything coconut around. So please if I can help me I would appreciate it
Thanks
Merry
Yes it would be okay I think. BUT…I would recommend vegetable or canola oil over olive oil for this one.
This Applesauce Bread was delicious, The honey butter made it perfect. This is definitely a keeper. Thank you Averie!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad that the bread and the honey butter were both perfect!
I just made this and it turned out wonderfully. So good and moist!! The honey butter was the cherry on top. I’ll definitely be making this again and I can’t wait to bring in the rest to work tomorrow
I am glad you loved the bread and the honey butter, too! Glad to hear you’ll be making it again and you have lucky coworkers!