Blueberry Apple Quick Bread is bursting with fresh berries and sweet apples
This blueberry bread is perfect for a quick snack or a delicious breakfast. You can also easily make muffins using this recipe.
Jump to RecipeHow to make Blueberry Bread:
Quick breads, unlike regular breads, do not use yeast so you can prepare and have fresh bread in about an hour!
When you are mixing this blueberry bread recipe together the batter will seem thick, and this is normal. The moisture from the apples will release during cooking.
- Combine dry ingredients and set aside – flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt
- Mix sugar, oil, and eggs together in a large bowl. Add peeled, chopped apples and mix to coat
- Add dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Do not overmix!
- Gently stir in blueberries (and nuts, if desired)
- Pour into a loaf pan – about 3/4 full – or fill muffin tins 3/4 full
- Bake bread for about 1 hour at 350°F.
- Muffin cooking time will vary depending on the size of your muffin tins. Start with 18 minutes and test from there.
- A toothpick or skewer inserted should come out clean
- Cool bread for about 1 hour
Add-ins: Beyond just Blueberries!
This blueberry quick bread was originally made with cranberries instead of blueberries, which is beautiful for the holidays.
Blueberries are my favorite fruit so I decided to swap it out and Apple Blueberry Bread was born!
Any berry can be substituted 1:1 for the blueberries, so feel free to make your own special version with blackberries or raspberries. If you use strawberries be sure to cut them into smaller pieces.
Best apples for Blueberry Apple Quick Bread:
I recommend using Granny Smith or Honeycrisp apples, with a balance of sweet and tart flavors that won’t break down in the cooking process. They hold up well in the heat. Try mixing in Fuji or Gala apples if you like a sweeter taste.
The apples in Blueberry Apple quick bread will keep it moist for nearly a week. I recommend keeping this bread tightly sealed in the refrigerator.
How to line a loaf pan with parchment paper:
If you line your loaf pan with parchment paper it will be so much easier to remove the whole loaf, once it is cooled. Spray the pan well with non-stick spray or brush with oil before putting the parchment inside.
- Measure your loaf pan lengthwise
- Cut a piece of parchment paper to match the length of the pan
- The rectangular pieces should be long enough to cover the bottom of the pan and hang over the sides of the pan. These are your “handles” when you want to pull the bread out of the pan
- Coat with non-stick spray again
- See below for a photo of the pan lined.
Other easy bread recipes to try:
- Classic Zucchini Bread
- Pumpkin Quick Bread
- Blueberry Lemon Scones
- Beer Bread and Beer Bread Dinner Rolls
- Irish Soda Bread with no Yeast
- Buttermilk Banana Bread
Blueberry Apple Quick Bread
Equipment
- Loaf pan or muffin tin
Ingredients
- 1½ cup flour
- 1½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 cups apples, peeled and chopped into 1/2" dice Granny Smith recommended
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup blueberries, or cranberries
- ½ cup walnuts, roughly chopped, Optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare an 8.5" x 4.5" loaf pan by coating well with non-stick spray, and line with parchment paper if desired.
- In a bowl combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside
- In a large bowl mix sugar, egg and oil. Stir in apples and mix well.
- Add flour mixture, stirring just until combined. Batter will be thick.
- Gently stir in blueberries and walnut (if desired), just to coat. Do not overmix.
- Spread batter evenly into prepared pan, filling about ¾ full.
- Bake for about 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool completely before cutting and serving.
John
what a fantastic combination of ingredients. was a little skeptical at first when the batter was so thick. went back 3 times to reread the recipe before plopping it into the loaf pan. Leaving the apples in chunks instead of grating them totally took the flavor up a few notches….Easy recipe and clean up was a breeze.Awesome tasting….what do you have for strawberries?
Sara
I used a half a stick of butter instead of the oil. I also used a mix of grated and diced apples. Good stuff.
Cyndy
Hi Sara – thanks for letting us know about the variations – I have never made it with butter so really glad to know it worked! Love the idea of diced and grated apples.
Laurie
I used coconut oil and increased it to 1/4 cup. I also used 1 cup sugar.(1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar). It turned out great!
joan naimark
I tried this recipe as written, with only 2 tablespoons of oil. The batter was more like a scone batter, and I had to supplement with more oil eggs and sugar. Can you tell me what I did wrong?
Jayne
Hi Joan – sorry to hear you had troubles. Normally if a quick bread appears too dense there are a few reasons. One is over mixing the ingredients, which is really common. Second idea is to check your flour to make sure it is fresh. If it is older it may tend to absorb more liquid. Thirdly, the size of the eggs used. If the eggs were small then there would not be enough liquid. I hope this helps and you will give it another try!
Debra Diroll
Made this this morning. It came out perfect.
Jayne
So happy to hear it – it’s a family favorite of ours too!
Maryann Beveridge
Can I freeze apple/blueberry bread?
Jayne
Hi Maryann – Yes, you definitely can! Just let it cool completely first, wrap in foil and seal tightly in a freezer safe bag. Thanks for stopping by! Cyndy
Amy Zimmerman
Hi Cyndy!
I made the Blueberry Apple Quick Bread, it was fantastic!
I love “The Art of Food and Wine”!! There are several recipes that I am anxious to sample.
Thank you for sharing!
Jayne
Thanks Amy! So glad you liked it!