3 Ingredient Apple Bread

3 ingredient apple bread is a wonderful and simple quick bread that’s perfect for breakfast or as an afternoon snack. The easy apple bread is made with applesauce, condensed milk, and self-rising flour and comes together in one bowl with one hour of prep time. No oil, eggs, milk, or sugar needed!

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Easy apple bread with applesauce

3 ingredient apple bread is a tasty breakfast + snack and makes a great addition to lunch boxes. The recipe is super moist, lightly sweet, and loaded with applesauce. It’s always a hit with our family of apple lovers.

This easy apple bread is based on our 3-ingredient banana bread and condensed milk pumpkin bread. They are 2 other quick bread recipes with minimal ingredients and big flavor. Be sure to check them out after this one!

Why you’ll love 3 ingredient apple bread

• Great taste + texture: The bread tastes sweet and moist with a tender crumb and soft, fluffy texture.
• Just 3 ingredients: The recipe is made with 3 staple ingredients you might already have in your pantry.
• Minimal prep: It takes just one bowl and 10 minutes to whip up the batter!
• No oil, butter, eggs, or added sugar.

Ingredients

Gather up the following ingredients when you’re ready to make your 3-ingredient apple bread. Check out the recipe card at the end of the post for specific quantities.

• Applesauce: You need 2 cups unsweetened applesauce. Unsweetened applesauce is a must for this recipe! Sweetened applesauce would add too much sugar and not enough liquid. You can use homemade applesauce or your favorite store-bought brand. I’ll also show you a quick 10-minute microwave applesauce in the recipe card.
• Sweetened condensed milk: The recipe calls for 1 can of sweetened condensed milk. I prefer full-fat, but you can use low-fat or dairy-free coconut condensed milk just as well.
• Self-rising flour gives the bread structure and ensures it rises during baking. It’s a mix of all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. I’ll explain how to make your own later.

How to make 3 ingredient apple bread

Let’s discuss each step of this recipe in detail. The easiest 3-ingredient apple bread awaits!

Step 1: Prep for baking

• Adjust a rack in the center position of the oven and preheat to 350°F / 180°C / gas mark 4.
• Spray a 9 in x 5 in / 23 cm x 13 cm loaf pan with cooking spray and line with a piece of parchment (baking) paper, creating an overhang on both sides. Set aside.

Step 2: Combine wet ingredients

• Add the applesauce and sweetened condensed milk to a large mixing bowl.
• Whisk them together until the mixture is perfectly combined, about 2 minutes.

Step 3: Add dry ingredients

• Pour the self-rising flour into the applesauce-condensed milk mixture and stir until just combined, and you no longer see streaks of flour.
• Be careful not to overmix, or you’ll end up with tough apple bread.

Step 4: Bake

• Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes.
• If your oven tends to brown things a lot, tent the bread with foil after 25 to 30 minutes.
• When done baking, a toothpick or skewer inserted in the center of the bread should come out clean.

Step 5: Let cool

• Remove your applesauce bread from the oven and let cool completely in the pan.

Step 6: Serve

• Cut the bread into slices, serve, and enjoy! We love it slightly warm with a bit of butter.

Helpful tips

Although this is an easy apple bread already, I have a couple of helpful tips and tricks that will help you nail it on your first try.

• Pan size matters: The bread rises quite a bit when baking and pretty much fills up a 9 in x 5 in loaf pan. If you don’t have such a pan, you could also divide the batter between two 8 in x 4 in / 20 cm x 10 cm pans. The bread won’t be just as tall, and the baking time will be shorter.
• Measure the flour accurately: The inclusion of too much self-rising flour will lead to dry, tough apple bread. Weight the flour with a digital kitchen scale for accuracy. Or, if you don’t have one, fill your measuring cup employing the spoon and level technique.
• Grease the pan well: Be sure to coat your pan with a generous amount of nonstick cooking spray, and don’t forget the parchment paper. It might be difficult to remove the finished bread from the pan otherwise.
• Cover the top with foil: If the top of the loaf is browning more than you like, tent a piece of foil over the top of the pan during the last 20 to 30 minutes of baking.

Variations & add-ins

I kept things simple by just using 3 ingredients. You may customize this applesauce bread with any additions and mix-ins of your choice if you’d like. Here are some tasty ideas!

• Spices: Stir 1 to 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon, apple pie spice, or pumpkin pie spice into the batter together with the flour.
• Mix-Ins: Load the bread with 1 cup of chopped walnuts or pecans, shredded coconut, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, raisins, or dried cranberries. Mix raisins, nuts, and chocolate chips with 1 tablespoon of flour before adding them to the batter to prevent them from sinking to the bottom during baking.
• Topping: Brush the top of the bread with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Storage instructions

How to store 3 ingredient apple bread

Keep leftover apple bread in an airtight container or large zip-lock bag. Store it either in the refrigerator or leave it out on the counter. It’ll last 3 to 5 days at room temperature and for up to a week in the fridge.

Can you freeze 3 ingredient apple bread?

Yes, you can certainly freeze this applesauce bread in case you’d like to store it for a longer period of time (up to 3 months). Simply wrap the cooled loaf in plastic wrap (cling film), then freeze it in an airtight container. To defrost, unwrap your bread and let it thaw out on the counter or in the fridge. Alternatively, freeze slices and grab one when the craving hits.

FAQ

Can I turn this into muffins?

Absolutely! Turn the easy apple bread recipe into muffins by switching to a muffin pan rather than a loaf pan. Line your muffin pan with paper liners and reduce the baking time to 18 to 20 minutes.

Can I make gluten-free apple bread?

I haven’t tried this 3 ingredient apple bread with gluten-free flour yet. But I had great success with King Arthur’s gluten-free all-purpose flour and Bob’s Red Mill’s 1-to-1 gluten-free baking flour in other recipes. Once you add baking powder, I’m pretty confident that it would work well here.

What can I use instead of applesauce?

Feel free to swap out applesauce for pear puree, pumpkin puree, mashed bananas, or any other fruit puree that has a similar consistency to applesauce.

Can I make this with regular milk?

Yes, any type of milk works here! You can try whole milk, 2%, or non-fat for a no sugar apple bread.Or dairy-free milk such as almond milk, soy milk, or oat milk. Condensed milk turns this into a sweet, quick bread, whereas regular milk will create a bread that is more like unsweetened yeast bread.

Could I use apple butter instead of applesauce?

I don’t think that would work since apple butter is thicker than applesauce. You can, of course, serve the bread with a good helping of apple butter.

More apple recipes

Whenever I have apples to use up, like when we get a bumper crop from our garden, I find myself turning to these tried and tested apple recipes again and again. They are some of our favorites along with this 3-ingredient apple bread.

• Apple Crumble
• Applesauce Donuts
• Easy Apple Hand Pies
• Apple Crisp Bars
• Maple Frosted Applesauce Cake Bars