Cranberry Apple Bread with Crumb Topping
This Cranberry Apple Bread is filled with cinnamon, diced apples, applesauce, and fresh cranberries for the PERFECT fall/winter flavor combination. The apples keep the bread soft and moist, while the cranberries add bursts of bright, tart flavor in every bite. It's also topped with a crisp, crumb topping and a sweet glaze to make it one of the best holiday desserts!
Servings 8 servings
Calories 421kcal
Cost $15
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Oat Topping
- 4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
For the Apple Bread
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour, plus 2 tablespoons extra for coating the apples
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- ⅔ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup fresh cranberries, halved
- ½ cup peeled and diced honeycrisp or granny smith apples (about ½ an apple)
For the Glaze
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk of choice
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray an 8x4x3-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray. Line with parchment paper and allow it to hang over the long sides for easy removal.
- Make the topping by adding cold cubed butter, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt to a mixing bowl. Use a pastry cutter or fork to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles a pea-sized crumb. Set in the refrigerator to keep cold until ready to use.
- Make the bread: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- To the bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, add butter and sugar. Beat together until pale and combined, about 3 minutes.
- Beat in egg until combined. Add applesauce and vanilla extract. Beat again.
- Pour flour mixture into the wet batter. Beat until just combined and there is no dry flour remaining.
- To a medium bowl, add cranberries, diced apples, and 2 tablespoons flour. Stir to coat the fruit in the flour.
- Add diced apples and cranberries to the bowl with the rest of the batter. Using a rubber spatula, fold them into the batter.
- Scoop batter into prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle cold crumb topping evenly over top.
- Bake for 85 to 90 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean with just a few crumbs. You may need to tent the bread with foil if the crumb topping starts to get too brown.
- Allow bread to cool for 30 minutes in the pan before using the parchment paper sling to remove it and placing it on a wire rack to cool completely.
- When the bread is cool, prepare the glaze: Add powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract to a small bowl. Whisk to combine. Pour glaze on top of the bread. Let sit a few minutes for the glaze to firm up before slicing and serving.
Notes
- Because of the moistness from the cranberries and apples, this bread has a slightly longer baking time than others. Make sure to watch it carefully so the crumble on top doesn’t burn! Check after about 30 minutes and tent with foil to bake covered for the remainder of the time once the crumb topping looks perfectly golden.
- If you don't have fresh cranberries available, you can use dried cranberries instead!
Nutrition
Calories: 421kcal | Carbohydrates: 69g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 58mg | Sodium: 243mg | Potassium: 92mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 42g | Vitamin A: 487IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 36mg | Iron: 2mg
