Apple Pull-Apart Bread is an ooey-gooey homemade bread that is filled with spiced apples and topped with a sweet glaze. Try my Apple Fritter Monkey Bread for a similar recipe using store-bought biscuits. For a fried apple treat, give my Apple Fritters a try!
Apple Pull-Apart Bread
Pull-apart bread goes by many names, like monkey bread, bubble loaf, sticky bread, and a few more. But, whatever you call this bread, it’s so delicious! It is meant to be shareable, but once you ‘pull apart’😉 your own piece, it will be hard not to eat the entire loaf yourself!
What Kind of Apples are Best?
I used Granny Smith apples for the recipe because they remain firm when baking. They won’t turn to mush and they tend to retain their shape when baked. A few other options you could try would be Honeycrisp apples, Braeburn, or Pink Lady apples.
Can I use a Different Pan?
You may see a lot of pull-apart bread made in a bundt cake pan, but I made this Apple Pull-Apart Bread in a loaf pan. You can really use any pan you have on hand, just be sure to watch the bake time to make sure the center is completely cooked.
Can I Make Apple Pull-Apart Bread Ahead of Time?
Yes! You can make this the night before. Well, some of it! Right after you make the dough you can place it in the fridge overnight. Just remove it and allow it to come to room temperature in the morning, then continue the recipe as directed.
How to Freeze
Prepare and bake the bread as instructed, but leave off the glaze. Let the loaf cool completely in the pan; then wrap it tightly in aluminum foil. (Do not use plastic wrap here; it could trap in condensation and make the loaf soggy.) Place the loaf in a freezer bag or storage container and freeze for 2-3 weeks. Be sure to label and date the packaging.
Apple Pull-Apart Bread
Ingredients
Filling
- 3 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and diced
- ½ cup (100 g) light brown sugar, packed
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Dough
- 3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2¼ teaspoons instant yeast
- ¼ cup (½ stick / 57 g) unsalted butter, melted
- ⅓ cup (82 g) whole milk, warmed (about 110°F)
- ¼ cup (62.5 g) water, warmed (about 110°F)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
Glaze
- 1 cup (125 g) confectioners' sugar
- 3-5 teaspoons water
Instructions
FILLING
- In a medium bowl, combine the apples, brown sugar, melted butter, and cinnamon. Stir to combine, set aside.
DOUGH
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, mix together the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt.
- With the mixer on low, slowly add butter, milk, water, eggs, and vanilla. Turn the mixer on medium-low and knead until the dough is soft and smooth (about 2 minutes). If it seems too dry add a little water, if it seems too sticky add just a little flour, up to a ¼ cup.
- Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and allow to rest until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Spray a 12 x 4½-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. (You can also use two 8×5-inch pan or smaller; you will just need to equally divide the dough between the pans.)
- Punch down the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.
- Roll the dough into a 12×20-inch rectangle.
- Spread the apple filling over the entire top on the dough.
- Cut the dough crosswise into 6, 3½x12-inch strips.
- Stack the strips on top of one another.
- Cut the stack into 6 pieces, about 2×3½-inches each.
- Turn the pieces on edge, and place them in the loaf pan one in front of the other from one end of the pan to the other, squeezing them in tight. I sprinkled any pieces of apple that had fallen off over the top of the dough after I put it into the pan.
- Cover the pan and allow the loaf to rise for 30-60 minutes, or until almost doubled in size. While the loaf is rising, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake for 45-55 minutes in the center of the oven, tenting it with foil after 30 minutes. Remove the loaf from the oven, and transfer it to a rack to cool for 15-20 minutes before turning it out of the pan to cool completely.
- While the bread is cooling, prepare the glaze.
Glaze
- Make the glaze by whisking together the confectioners' sugar and 3 teaspoons of water. Add more water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until a pourable consistency is reached. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled bread.
Did you make this recipe?
Thank you for making my recipe! You took pictures, right? Well go ahead and post them on Instagram! Be sure to mention me @iambaker and use the hashtag #YouAreBaker.
All these recipes looks amazing 🤩
I definitely want to try a few of these recipes
They look 👀 amazing
Will the cooking time be different if you need to use two pans instead of one?
I made this recipe and it turned out really well. I used active dry yeast (didn’t have instant) dissolved in the warm milk then added. Let it rise a little longer and it worked just fine.
Love this..very easy. Thinking I will try making it into cinnamon rolls or just loaves
Delicious! I made this pull apart bread yesterday and it was fantastic! I followed your recipe to a tee and watched the video on how to cut and place the dough in the loaf pan.
The dough rose and baked beautifully and texture was so soft. Thanks for sharing this recipe and for making an afternoon tea with my elderly parents extra special!
the bread itself was good, but… as the recipe states; you do not need to put the yeast in warm water first, which I thought was odd, but with the recipe’s 5-star review I thought it couldn’t be that bad. So, as usual after an hour, I look to see how much my bread rose, it didn’t. The yeast was not mixed into the bread and was just sitting there in the bread, I was very disappointed.
I’m so sorry you missed steps 1 & 2 in the directions, where the yeast is mixed in with the other dough ingredients. This is a 5 star recipe when you are able to follow the directions provided. If the yeast wasn’t mixed into the bread, you didn’t mix it in.
DOUGH
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, mix together the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt.
With the mixer on low, slowly add butter, milk, water, eggs, and vanilla. Turn the mixer on medium-low and knead until the dough is soft and smooth (about 2 minutes). If it seems too dry add a little water, if it seems too sticky add just a little flour, up to a ¼ cup.
I just had to reply to your reply. 😂 I love your response and always wonder why more chefs or bakers don’t point out that so many bad reviews come from the lack of following directions.