Apple and Toasted Walnut Bread combines two favorites into one hearty, delicious loaf—perfect with coffee or tea
This Apple and Toasted Walnut Bread recipe is one I’ve used for years. Like many well-loved recipes, I don’t remember its original source. A friend once wrote it on a card, and I rediscovered that card tucked into a bag of clippings while moving. That brown bag contains several favorites I plan to bring back over time—one even includes the Beef Wellington I made for a dinner party years ago. It took three days to prepare and disappeared so quickly I wished I’d saved a bite for myself.
I baked this loaf to serve with the Maple Roasted Apple Butter with Bourbon I made last week, and I think it would be excellent with a pumpkin butter as well. What makes this bread perfect to me is the generous amount of chopped apples and the toasted walnuts. Toasting the walnuts was my only change to the original recipe. I used to prefer pecans over walnuts, but I learned I don’t like raw walnuts as much—toast them and I love them. Now, whenever I use walnuts, I toast them first.
This is an ideal time of year to make this bread, with apples in every color and size available. I prefer apples that aren’t intensely tart like Granny Smith yet still hold up during baking without turning to mush. Gala, Jonagold, and Honeycrisp are my top choices, either alone or in combination. I also don’t peel the apples—keeping the skins adds texture, flavor, and nutrients, and it makes prep faster. If you’re used to peeling apples for baking, try leaving the skins on for this loaf and you might be convinced.
This bread is easy and reliably delicious—dense, apple-studded, and full of warm cinnamon and toasted walnut flavor. Below is the recipe as I make it.
Apple and Toasted Walnut Bread
Barb
Pin Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup canola oil
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups coarsely chopped apples (skins left on if desired)
- 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, oil, and vanilla until blended. Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and stir just until moistened—the batter will be thick. Fold in the chopped apples and toasted walnuts.
- Divide the batter between two greased 8×4-inch loaf pans. Bake 50–55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the loaves cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.