Apple walnut bread sits happily in that gray area between a loaf cake and a quick bread. It’s not overly sweet or fancy. It’s just a really good, satisfying bake that comes together quickly and works for breakfast, morning tea or an afternoon snack.
The batter is enriched with yogurt, which keeps the crumb moist and dense rather than dry and crumbly. Fresh apple pieces go through in generous chunks and walnuts add crunch throughout. The result is a sturdy, flavorful loaf that tastes just as good on day two or three as it does fresh from the oven.
Both conventional and combi steam oven methods are included here. Either way, this is a reliable and adaptable recipe you’ll come back to often.
I made this tonight and it was an absolute success, thank you for sharing your knowledge.
-Marise
Why does apple walnut bread work so well in a steam oven?
Loaf cakes are prone to uneven baking. This is because the outside can set and color before the center is fully cooked through. In a conventional oven, this means watching the clock carefully and often tenting the pan with foil toward the end.
Combi steam at 30% humidity solves this neatly. The moisture in the oven slows the crust from setting too quickly. The center of the apple walnut bread bakes through more evenly and the finished loaf is moist all the way through, not just in the middle. The baking time is shorter too; around 45 minutes in a steam oven versus 55 minutes conventionally.
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Ingredients and substitutions
You probably have most of the ingredients for apple walnut bread on hand already! See the recipe card further down for full method and ingredient quantities.
- Butter: Melted. A neutral-tasting oil (such as vegetable or canola) can be substituted for a dairy-free version.
- Eggs: Room temperature eggs incorporate more evenly. Take them out of the fridge before you start.
- Greek yogurt: Unsweetened, full-fat. This is what gives the loaf its moist, dense crumb. Sour cream works as a substitute. For dairy-free, use a thick, unsweetened coconut yogurt.
- Brown sugar: Firmly packed. Gives a deeper, more caramel-like sweetness than white sugar.
- All-purpose flour (plain flour): Standard all-purpose flour. No need for anything special here.
- Baking soda (bicarbonate of soda): The leavening agent. Make sure it’s fresh for the best rise.
- Cinnamon and ginger: The spice combination that makes this loaf stand out. Adjust to taste — more cinnamon and less ginger if you prefer a more classic flavor.
- Apples: Two large apples, peeled, cored and diced. Most varieties work well — Pink Lady, Granny Smith, Gala and Fuji all give great results. No need to be too precise about the variety. Use what you have.
- Walnuts: Chopped to roughly the same size as the apple pieces. Breaking them up with your fingers rather than chopping gives slightly more irregular pieces, which I find nice in the finished loaf. Pecans can be substituted.
Apple walnut bread variations
The base recipe for this loaf is flexible and adapts easily.
Chocolate raisin loaf: Swap the apple for raisins and the walnuts for semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Date and walnut loaf: Add ½ cup of chopped pitted dates to the batter with the apples and walnuts. Reduce the apple quantity to half (1 large apple instead of 2), so the loaf holds together better.
Apple and pecan loaf: Swap the walnuts for an equal quantity of pecans.
Apple and pistachio loaf: Use roughly chopped pistachios in place of walnuts for a slightly different flavor and a pop of color.
Berry and walnut loaf: Replace the apple with the same volume of frozen blueberries, raspberries or blackberries. No need to thaw first.
How to make apple walnut bread
View, save and print the recipe card further down in this post; read on for the visual walk-through.
Peel, core and dice the apples into ½ inch (1½cm) pieces. Chop or break the walnuts to a similar size. Set aside. Preheat your oven and line a 9×5 inch (23x13cm) loaf pan with parchment paper (baking paper).
Whisk the melted butter with the eggs and yoghurt until combined.
In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, baking soda, cinnamon and ginger. Pour in the wet mixture. Stir until almost — but not quite — combined. Stop when a few streaks of flour remain.
Add the diced apple and walnuts and fold through. The batter will be very thick, like a muffin batter — this is correct. Stir until no flour streaks remain, but don’t overmix.
Scrape the apple walnut bread into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until deep golden brown and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. This takes around 55 minutes in a conventional oven at 350°F (180°C), or around 45 minutes at 350°F (180°C) combi steam at 30% humidity. Be guided by the skewer rather than the clock.
Leave the loaf to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely, then slice.
Tips for success
Don’t overmix the batter. This is a melt-and-mix loaf — stir until just combined, then stop. Overmixing develops gluten and makes the finished loaf tough.
Expect a thick batter. With two large apples going into only 1½ cups of flour, the mixture is very dense — closer to a muffin batter than a standard cake batter. This is intentional. Fold rather than stir to bring it together.
Use the skewer test rather than the timer. Ovens vary, and the high apple content affects baking time. Start checking at 40 minutes in a steam oven and 50 minutes in a conventional oven.
Let it cool properly – cutting too soon causes the loaf to crumble. A full 15 minutes in the pan, then cooling to room temperature on a rack, makes a big difference to the final texture.
Serving suggestions
This loaf is excellent sliced thickly and eaten as is — no butter needed, though it’s always welcome.
It toasts beautifully on the second and third day. A little butter or cream cheese is all it needs.
Slices freeze well. Wrap individually in plastic wrap (cling wrap) and freeze for up to two months. A great option for lunchboxes or a quick breakfast.
This is a quiet, unfussy kind of bake. It doesn’t demand attention or special equipment. It just reliably produces a loaf that’s moist, warmly spiced and genuinely satisfying every time.
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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
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
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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.
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.