Apple walnut bread is one of those recipes which sits in the gray area between bread, loaf and cake. So much so that I can’t decide whether to refer to it as apple walnut bread or apple walnut loaf! Not that it matters; this is a lovely, gently sweet cake that works toasted for breakfast or thickly sliced and unadorned for morning tea time.
The basic apple walnut bread recipe is for a yoghurt-enriched batter to keep things moist. The thing I often find with loaf cake recipes is that they can easily be dry or crumbly. Call me picky but I want a cake that’s damp and sturdy and doesn’t dry out on the first day after baking! My recipe has a heavier texture, giving it the kind of substance I find really satisfying.
Apple and walnut loaf is really adaptable, so I’ve listed some delicious variations further down for you. Let’s bake!
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What kind of apples to use in your cake
You can use most types of apples in your apple and walnut bread. Some apple recipes are finicky, but not this one! You only need two apples, so if you have eating apples in the fruit bowl, use what you’ve got.
I frequently use Pink Lady apples because they’re what we buy for eating here. I’ve also used Granny Smiths, Gala and Fuji apples. All work well.
Different ingredients in your apple walnut bread
I said my apple walnut bread recipe was adaptable, and I wasn’t kidding.
If you want to change things up, try any of the following:
- Date and walnut loaf: add half a cup of chopped dates to the batter with the apples and walnuts.
- Apple and pecan loaf or apple and pistachio loaf: omit the walnuts, using pecans or pistachio nuts instead.
- Berry and walnut loaf: swap the apple for the same volume of frozen blueberries, raspberries or blackberries.
- Chocolate raisin bread: swap the apple for the same volume of raisins and the walnuts for semisweet chocolate chips.
You’ll see there are so many ways to make this recipe your own. I’d love to hear in the comments section if you make substitutions and how it goes for you!
How to make apple and walnut bread
This is a very simple melt-and-mix loaf, so all you’ll need is two bowls and a spoon. No mixer required today!
The complete ingredient list and method are below in the printable recipe card, but here are the visual steps.
Just before you start, prepare your apples and walnuts. Peel and core the apples and dice them. I go for pieces around ½ inch (1 ½ cm). The walnuts should be chopped to a similar size. If you don’t like the ‘crumby’ bits of nuts that come from chopping, try breaking up the walnuts with your fingers instead. It makes for slightly irregular pieces in the finished loaf, which is nice.
Once your oven is preheated and you’ve lined a loaf pan with parchment paper, make the wet mix. Stir together the melted butter, eggs, yoghurt and vanilla.
For the dry mix, whisk the sugar, flour, baking soda and salt together in a separate bowl. Pour the wet ingredients in and stir, stopping when you have a few streaks of flour in the bowl still.
Tip in the apples and walnuts and fold through. Like a muffin mixture, stir until everything is combined but don’t overmix.
Scrape the batter into your prepared pan and bake!
The apple and walnut bread is done when a skewer tests clean in the middle. Let it cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes before turning out onto a rack to cool completely.
Let me know if you try this lovely loaf, it’s a winner with almost everyone at my house and I know it will be at yours too.
Happy steam oven cooking, see you here again soon.
Want more of my delicious baking recipes? Try these!
Easy Parmesan Garlic Bread Twist
Steam Oven Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread
Twisted Cinnamon Bread (Babka) with Honey Syrup
Chocolate Monkey Bread with Pecans and Burnt Caramel
Steam Oven Spiced Apricot, Date and Seed Bread
Have you made and enjoyed this recipe? I’d love if you’d be kind enough to rate and review it via the stars in the recipe card, and leave a comment below! Ratings and reviews help other readers to find and understand my recipes from a reader’s perspective.
Apple Walnut Bread
Ingredients
- 1 stick butter melted, or 1/2 cup neutral-tasting oil
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 1/3 cup Greek yoghurt unsweetened
- ¾ cup brown sugar firmly packed
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour plain flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda bicarbonate soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 2 apples large Pink Ladies or Granny Smiths, peeled, cored and diced into 1/2 inch (1½ cm) pieces
- 2/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Instructions
- For conventional oven baking, preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. For steam oven baking, preheat to Combi Steam, 350°F/180°C, 30% (low) humidity. Grease and line a 9×5 inch (23x13cm) loaf pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- Whisk the melted butter with the eggs and yoghurt.1 stick butter, 2 eggs, 1/3 cup Greek yoghurt
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, baking soda, cinnamon and ginger. Pour in the wet mixture and stir until it’s almost (but not quite!) combined. Stop when there are a few streaks of flour and a few lumps left.¾ cup brown sugar , 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ground ginger
- Add the diced apple and nuts and fold through. Make sure the mixture is fully combined with no streaks of flour, but don't overmix it.2 apples, 2/3 cup chopped walnuts
- Pour into the lined pan, smooth the top and bake until the loaf is deep golden brown and cooked through. In a conventional oven this will take about 55 minutes, in a steam oven it'll be about 45 minutes. Be guided by doneness rather than time; it needs to test clean with just a few crumbs attached when a skewer is inserted into the center.
- Leave the loaf to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before turning out onto a rack to cool completely.
Notes
-
If you want to change things up, try any of the following:
- Date and walnut loaf: add half a cup of chopped dates to the batter with the apples and walnuts.
- Apple and pecan loaf or apple and pistachio loaf: omit the walnuts, using pecans or pistachio nuts instead.
- Berry and walnut loaf: swap the apple for the same volume of frozen blueberries, raspberries or blackberries.
- Chocolate raisin bread: swap the apple for the same volume of raisins and the walnuts for semisweet chocolate chips.
Nutrition
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7 Responses
Sorry this didn’t work for you. You’ll see from the images in the post that the finished cake batter is quite thick, like a muffin batter, and that the ratio of apples is very high. When stirring, it takes a bit to come together and is easiest if you use a folding action with the mixture rather than stirring it around in circles. It would be fine, though, to use less apple pieces if your preference is for more cake:less fruit. Apologies for the mention of salt; I had used it in earlier testing but removed it from the final recipe as it threw off the balance a of flavors a bit. Have now removed from mention in the post wording!
The recipe doesn’t include salt, yet you mention salt in your narrative. 2 large apples was WAY too much for only 1 1/2 cups of flour. It needs more liquid. Impossible to actually stir.
Thanks for your lovely feedback, Margaret! I’m always happy to hear that people enjoy my recipes.
Really nice & easy cake recipe. I used Blenheim Orange Apple & walnut. It’s the addition of ginger that makes it stand out against other apple cake recipes.
Also I really appreciate the way your recipes flow. Thanks this one ,it’s a keeper for all my homegrown apples.
Baking soda for this recipe! I just noticed the typo in the body of the post mentioning baking powder, though – now fixed!
Is baking powder or baking soda used in the recipe?
I just got my new combo steam oven before Christmas your website has been amazing I made this tonight and it was an absolute success thank you for sharing your knowledge.