I started making this apple pie yeast bread years ago when I had too many apples and zero desire to make another pie crust. Turns out, wrapping that classic apple-cinnamon filling in soft yeast dough gives you something even better. This sweet pull-apart loaf has become my favorite thing to bake on slow Saturday mornings when the air has finally turned crisp. The dough takes its sweet time rising, but once you pull this golden loaf out of the oven, you’ll understand why it’s worth the wait. Each piece pulls apart with pockets of soft, cinnamon-spiced apples, and yep, it tastes as good as it sounds.
Fair warning: this isn’t your average dump-and-stir quick bread. You’re working with real yeast dough here, which means kneading and two separate rises. But don’t let that scare you off. It’s worth the effort.
Table of Contents
Ingredients and Tools You’ll Need
Tart apples like Granny Smith or Honeycrisp work best here since they hold up well during baking. But you can use sweeter ones like Gala or Fuji if you want your bread sweeter. Oh, and you don’t need to activate your yeast first.
Equipment
- 9×5 bread loaf pan
- Pot
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour (you may need a tad more)
- 1½ teaspoons instant yeast
- 2 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature
- ⅓ cup water
- ⅓ cup milk
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ¾ teaspoon salt
For the Apple Filling
- 3 apples
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Optional Garnish
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter cubes
- Sesame seeds or pearl sugar
- Plain sugar (if using sesame seeds you will mix it with them)
Instructions
All yeast breads follow the same basic process: knead, rise, shape, rise, bake. This is no different. We’ve just stuck in a few extra steps of making an apple filing and shaping it in a different way to get that filling inside.
If you’ve never made bread before, I wouldn’t recommend starting with this recipe. Read my beginner’s guide to yeast bread and choose something super-simple first.
You will probably, like me, prefer kneading this in a stand mixer with the dough hook or in your bread machine on the dough cycle.
Step One: Make The Dough
Mix all the bread ingredients in a bowl. The dough might be slightly sticky to the bowl or counter but should not stick to your hands. Add a little more flour if you need to. Knead until it’s smooth and stretchy and you can see windows in the dough (this means you stretch out a small amount of dough and see a translucent area.
Cover and let rise for an hour in a warm spot. I always use a slightly warmed but turned-off oven.
Step Two: Prep The Apples
While the dough rises, dice your apples and mix with cinnamon and sugar.
Cook them in a pot over medium heat until soft. Add water if they stick. Set aside to cool.
Step Three: Shape The Bread
Grease your loaf pan well. Divide the risen dough into 12 pieces.
Roll each into a small circle, add a spoonful of apple filling, fold in half, and place seam-side down in the pan.
Step Four: Second Rise
Let the shaped dough rise again for 45 minutes.
Step Five: Bake
Heat oven to 375°F. Add butter cubes and seeds on top if you want.
Bake 30-35 minutes until golden.
Step Six: Cool
Cool 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out and cool completely on a rack.
Storage Instructions
I usually don’t have leftovers, but if you do, store them in an airtight container for 3 days on the counter. You can also freeze this for later. Once it’s cooled, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and place it in a freezer bag for up to 3 months.
Questions and Troubleshooting
You either overfilled the pieces or didn’t seal them well enough, next time use less filling and really pinch those edges before placing them seam-side down.
After the first rise, punch it down and stick it in the fridge overnight. Let it come to room temp before shaping the next morning.
YES. Raw apples won’t soften enough during baking and you’ll get weird crunchy bits nobody wants.
More Apple Recipes You’ll Fall In Love With
Because nothing quite beats an apple recipe made in the fall. It’s one of the best things of life.
- This apple pie on the rocks is one of my favorite drinks, and it’s ready in 5 minutes!
- When the weather starts to cool, make some crockpot pork chops with spiced apples for dinner.
- If you do want to make apple pie, here is my brown sugar apple pie with an oatmeal topping.
- If you’re into canning, make some apple pie filling so you can make an apple pie whenever inspiration strikes.
- Apple cinnamon quick bread will make your house smell amazing and is, to be honest, much easier!
Printable Recipe
Apple Pie Yeast Bread
Equipment
- 9×5 bread loaf pan
- Pot
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour may need more
- 1½ teaspoons instant yeast
- 2 tablespoons butter softened to room temperature
- ⅓ cup water
- ⅓ cup milk
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ¾ teaspoon salt
For the Apple Filling
- 3 apples
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Optional Garnish
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter cubes
- Sesame seeds or Swedish pearl sugar
- plain sugar (if using sesame seeds)
Instructions
- Make dough. Mix the dough ingredients well in a large bowl with a wooden spoon. If the mixture seems too sticky to handle, add more flour until a dough forms. The dough should be slightly sticky but not too hard to work with. Knead into a soft dough by hand or machine. Dough is finished kneading when smooth and stretchy.
- Rise. Cover with a clean, damp tea towel and leave the dough in a warm place to rise. It may not double in size but should become noticeably puffier. This will take at least 1 hour.
- Prepare apple mixture. While the dough rises, wash, peel, and dice the apples. Mix apples, cinnamon, and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a bowl. Mix gently and set aside.
- Cook apples. Heat a deep pot over medium heat and add the apples. Cook until soft. Note: If they start to burn, add 2 tablespoons of water. Set aside to cool.
- Prepare a bread pan. Prepare a bread loaf pan by liberally coating it with oil or cooking spray.
- Divide dough. After the dough has risen, divide it into 12 equal balls.
- Flatten, fill, and fold. Roll out each ball into a circle about 2-3 inches in diameter and ¼ inch thick. Add some of the apple filling and fold in half. Place in the prepared loaf pan with the filled side down. Repeat the step with each ball of dough.
- Second rise. Arrange the dough balls in the loaf bread pan and set aside for at least 45 minutes or until it increases in size.
- Prepare oven. Preheat oven to 375℉.
- Garnish bread (optional). Add cubed butter to the top and sprinkle with sesame seeds and sugar.
- Bake and cool. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the apple bread from the oven and let it cool for 10-15 minutes before removing it from the loaf pan. Then, leave it on a wire rack to cool completely.
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Notes
Nutrition
Love,
Could canned apples be used for this recipe?
hi Nancy, yes! or use apple pie filling and use it as is.