This Paleo Apple Cinnamon Bread is a healthy breakfast or snack that’s made with applesauce! This gluten-free and grain-free spiced loaf is so easy and moist.
Hello from Costa Rica!! When this post goes out, I’ll probably be laying in the sun, basking in the 90 degree heat (not to brag or anything). As I write this though, I’m waiting for my delayed flight to Houston, where I’ll then connect to Liberia, Costa Rica.
I was supposed to meeting up with my sister and mom during the connection, but because of my delay, I’l be on different flight to Costa Rica now. I won’t land there for another twelve hours and I’m yearning to be in the warmth! ☀️☀️
In the meantime, I’ll distract myself from the wait by talking to you about this week’s baking expeditions! Namely, this apple cinnamon bread. This recipe was one I expected to work on the first try, and that was sooo not the case. I tested and tweaked and finally, we have a winner!
This bread is full of apple flavor. It’s not just that the apple chunks help flavor the bread – the base is made with applesauce, so that sweet + fresh apple flavor permeates every bite of it. The applesauce also helps keep the bread super moist and tender. Because it has natural sweetness, you barely have to use any additional sweetness – just a 1/4 cup of coconut sugar does the trick.
In one iteration of this bread, I left the sugar out entirely and it wasn’t bad at all. I preferred it with a little extra sweetness but if you have less of a sweet tooth, you could try playing with the amount.
Coconut flour is what holds this bread together. Unfortunately, you can’t substitute anything else. Coconut flour is it’s own animal – it’s much more absorbent than any other flours and isn’t easily substituted.
Thankfully, it’s not too expensive and a little bit goes a long way. A bag will last you a heck of a long time, and there’s a bunch of delicious recipes on my site and around the web for you to use it in.
I added toasted pecans to this apple cinnamon bread too. I love some crunch in my baked goods and I loved the toasty, rich flavor they brought here. Of course, those of you cringing at my addition of nuts can definitely leave them out. Alternatively, use your fave nut in place of the pecans (walnuts would be good).
This wouldn’t be apple cinnamon bread without a healthy dose of cinnamon, and some nutmeg and allspice round out the spice party.

This apple cinnamon bread is delicious warm, but the flavors of the bread come together and get more prevalent a day after the loaf is baked, so make sure it lasts that long :) it’s awesome on it’s own, and even better with a little slather of almond butter. Enjoy!
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Paleo Apple Cinnamon Bread
Ingredients
- 1½ cups unsweetened applesauce
- 4 eggs, room temperature
- ½ cup creamy almond butter
- ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons coconut flour
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 medium apple, peeled, cored and diced
- ½ cup pecans, chopped and toasted
Instructions
- Grease a 9"x5" loaf pan and preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- In a large bowl or mixer, combine the applesauce, eggs, coconut oil, coconut sugar, vanilla extract and nut butter until fully combined.
- Add the coconut flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and sea salt to the wet ingredients and mix well. Fold in the apple chunks and pecans.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenly.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 50-60 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean, and the top should spring back slightly when pressed. If you touch the top and it feels wet or sinks down at all, it’s not done yet!
- Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for about ½ hour. Flip out onto a cooling rack to finish cooling completely. Store leftovers in an airtight container the refrigerator for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

I found this recipe in a google search because I had apples and coconut flour to use up before their expiration date. It seemed like there would be far too much moisture in the recipe, so I upped the coconut flour by about two tablespoons, and left out an entire egg. Instead of Almond butter, I used PB2 that I rehydrated with a little water. I also baked it for about 1 hour 20 minutes at 375 (I keep a thermometer in my oven for verifying temperature). The bread turned out well, although still considerably more moist then I’d like. I’d prefer my quick breads to have more structure – difficult with a paleo recipe, I guess. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Jamie, sorry you had trouble! The fats in the nut butter definitely help provide some structure, so using the PB2 + water could have caused some excess moisture as well. Hope you’re still able to enjoy it!
It doesn’t seem like you should rate her recipe poorly based on your alterations. You aren’t really rating her recipe.
OMG! I made this this evening after I had also made some orange and cranberry muffins. The bread is so moist and to die for. I wouldn’t really call it a bread…delicious….so glad that I came upon this recipe. I will definitely be making it again. I used sunflower butter.
So thrilled to hear you’re loving it Kathy! Thanks for the feedback.
Where do you add the sugar tho? Assuming with the dry ingredients before it’s combined with the wet, but it’s not stated. So I made it without sugar.
So sorry about that Nicco! The recipe has been updated to reflect where the coconut sugar is added.
Can I make this Apple Loaf with chia eggs?There are 4 eggs in this recipe, so that’s a lot of eggs….I’m afraid to substitute that many eggs. Suggestions?
Hi Ally…it would probably make it too wet. I’m actually actively working on this problem, so I’m hoping to have a vegan version of this soon-ish. If you were to try to substitute, you’d probably want to add a little extra coconut flour and leavener too.
What a great recipe. The texture is great. I didn’t want to use coconut sugar so just replaced it with the same amount of additional coconut flour. Didn’t know what would happen but am really happy with how it turned out. Oh, and I used walnuts instead of pecans.
Great to know that worked out well, Jessica! Thank you for sharing your feedback :)