Apple cinnamon pull-apart bread - this is the ultimate share-and-tear loaf! It is soft, sweet and sticky, with a warming spiced apple flavour and a sweet vanilla glaze.
Serve it warm for breakfast or brunch and there's no need to slice it, just let everyone tear it apart!
This delicious sharing loaf is made with a soft and tender yeast dough filled with apples and buttery cinnamon sugar and topped with a sweet, sticky vanilla glaze.
The enriched dough is spread with the apple cinnamon filling, and then cut into squares which are stacked on top of each other in a loaf tin. This process ensures that the filling is evenly layered and every bite is full of flavour.
Ingredient Details:
Bread flour: White bread flour helps to give this bread it's soft, fluffy, chewy texture. Plain (all-purpose) flour will also work though the texture isn't quite the same. I don't recommend using wholemeal flour as that will make the bread too dense.
Instant/fast action yeast: I always prefer to use fast action yeast when making bread as it can just be added straight to the flour and doesn't need to be activated first.
Salt: You simply cannot make good bread without salt. Don't omit it.
Non-dairy milk: Soy milk is always my favourite for baking as it has the highest protein content so most closely resembles dairy milk. Any variety of non-dairy milk will work however, but go for an unsweetened one if you can.
Sugar: I use caster sugar in the dough as it dissolves easily; it can be swapped for granulated if that is all you have. Light brown sugar is best for the apple filling as it adds flavour, dark brown will also work. You will also need icing (powdered) sugar for the glaze.
Vegan butter: A block style butter such as Flora plant butter or Naturli vegan block really is best. A spreadable one will work but your dough may be softer and therefore harder to work with.
Apples: A sharper variety of eating apple such as Braeburn, Cox or Granny Smith is best.
Cinnamon: You could use pumpkin or apple pie spice instead.
How To Make Apple Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread:
(Full measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page)
Step 1: To make the dough, mix the bread flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Add the milk and vanilla and mix to form a shaggy dough.
Step 2: knead for 5-10 minutes until smooth and elastic.The dough will be sticky at first.
Step 3: Knead in the butter then place in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise until doubled.
Step 4: Roll the dough out into a large rectangle and spread the butter all over the surface.
Step 5: To make the filling, mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, cornflour and diced apples.
Step 6: Spread the apple filling evenly over the dough then use a pizza wheel or sharp knife to cut the dough into 20 squares.
Step 7: Stack the squares into 5 piles, each with 4 squares.
Step 8: Stack the dough piles upright in the tin. Gather up any apple filling that fell off and scatter it over the top. Cover and leave to rise until puffy.
Step 9: Bake for 50 minutes.
Top Tips:
All of my recipes are developed using grams, and as with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!
Make sure that your yeast hasn’t expired! Out of date yeast can lead to bread that doesn’t rise.
Don't be tempted to add more flour to the dough (unless it is wet rather than sticky), it is supposed to be a bit soft and sticky. If you add too much flour the bread will end up being dry and dense, not light and fluffy.
If you want, you can give the dough it’s first rise overnight in the fridge rather than at room temperature. This breaks up the workload and gives the bread an even better flavour.
The rising time of the dough will vary depending on how warm it is; on hot days it will rise much faster than on cold ones. If you refrigerate the dough for it's first rise, the second rise will take longer than if it's first rise was at room temperature.
The best way to tell if a loaf of bread is cooked in the middle is to use a probe thermometer. It is impossible to give a one-size-fits-all baking time as ovens vary so much. The bread should be done when it reaches 90°C / 195°F.
Flavour Variations:
1: Omit the apples for a classic cinnamon pull-apart bread.
2: Swap the cinnamon for pumpkin spice or apple pie spice.
3: Add a couple of handfuls of chopped pecans to the filling.
4: Swap the apples for pears.
5: Add some raisins, sultanas or dried cranberries to the filling (soak them in water for an hour and then drain them well before adding them so that they don't burn in the oven).
6: Use chocolate chips instead of apples.
7: Drizzle the loaf with caramel sauce or cream cheese frosting instead of the vanilla glaze.
FAQ's:
This apple cinnamon pull-apart bread really is best eaten on the day it is baked, but it will keep for 2-3 days in an airtight container at cool room temperature.
I wouldn't necessarily recommend making and freezing the loaf in advance of serving it, but any leftovers can be frozen, well wrapped, for up to 3 months. Allow to defrost at room temperature to serve.
This is a soft, sticky dough so it is easiest made in a stand mixer. You absolutely can knead it by hand if you don't have one, just be prepared to get a bit messy.
When kneading, you shouldn't flour the surface as you will end up incorporating too much flour and making the dough too dry. Instead, if the dough is sticking too much, you can lightly oil the worksurface and your hands to help, or just be prepared to get a bit sticky!
A bench scraper is incredibly handy when kneading dough by hand to unstick the dough from the surface.
No, I’m afraid that you cannot use gluten free flour. Making gluten free bread is tricky and the entire recipe would need reworking. Gluten free baking is not my area of expertise so I cannot advise you. It is best to use a recipe that is designed to be gluten free rather than trying to adapt a non gluten free recipe.
More Sweet Vegan Breads:
- Maple pecan bread wreath
- Lemon coconut pull-apart bread
- Jamaican spice bun
- Vegan banana monkey bread
- Vegan pumpkin pecan babka
- Almond bread twist
- Vegan stollen wreath
- Vegan chocolate babka
- Plum and marzipan bread
- Apple cinnamon brioche
If you tried this recipe let me know how it went! Rate it, leave a comment or tag @domestic_gothess on Instagram and hashtag it #domesticgothess
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Apple Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread (Vegan)
Ingredients
Dough:
- 400 g (3 ⅓ cups) white bread flour
- 7 g (2 ¼ teaspoons) instant/fast action yeast
- 45 g (¼ cup) caster or granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 270 g (1 cup + 2 Tablespoons) unsweetened non-dairy milk (I use soy) lukewarm
- 60 g (¼ cup) vegan block butter softened
Filling:
- 60 g (¼ cup) vegan butter softened
- 3 large eating apples
- 100 g (½ cup) light brown soft sugar
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon cornflour (cornstarch) (optional)
Glaze:
- 110 g (1 cup) icing (powdered) sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-2 Tablespoons non-dairy milk
Instructions
- To make the dough, place the bread flour in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, add the yeast to one side and the salt and sugar to the other, stir to combine.400 g (3 ⅓ cups) white bread flour, 7 g (2 ¼ teaspoons) instant/fast action yeast, 45 g (¼ cup) caster or granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon table salt
- Add the lukewarm milk and mix to form a shaggy dough. Knead with the mixer or turn out onto an un-floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes until smooth and elastic. The dough will be sticky at first but resist the temptation to add extra flour, it will become smooth after a minute or two of kneading (you may need to scrape it off the surface with a dough scraper).270 g (1 cup + 2 Tablespoons) unsweetened non-dairy milk (I use soy)
- Add the softened vegan butter. Continue to knead until the butter is fully incorporated and the dough is smooth and elastic. It may seem greasy and messy at first but keep kneading and I promise you the butter will all mix in and the dough will become smooth.60 g (¼ cup) vegan block butter
- Once the butter is fully incorporated the dough should look smooth and silky and it should pull away from the work surface or sides of the bowl cleanly. It should still be soft and slightly sticky however.
- Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and set aside to rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1-2 hours. Line a 2 lb loaf tin with greaseproof paper.
- Punch down the risen dough and give it a brief knead to knock out any air bubbles. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface into an approx 30 x 45cm (12 x 18 in) rectangle. Use your hands to spread the softened butter evenly over the dough.60 g (¼ cup) vegan butter
- Peel, core and dice the apples and mix them together the brown sugar, cinnamon and cornflour if using. Do not do this step too far in advance as the apples will start to release lots of juice.3 large eating apples, 100 g (½ cup) light brown soft sugar, 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon cornflour (cornstarch)
- Spread the apple filling plus any juices evenly over the buttered dough.
- Slice the dough widthways into 5 even strips (a pizza cutter is the ideal tool), then lengthwise into 4 strips, to make 20 squares of dough. Stack the squares into 5 piles, each with 4 squares.
- Stack the dough piles upright in the lined tin, squashing them together to fit them all in. Gather up any apple filling that fell off and scatter it over the top. Loosely cover the tin, and leave to rise in a warm place for about 45-60 minutes until puffy.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 190°C/170℃ fan/375°F/gas mark 5.
- Bake for about 50 minutes until the temperature in the centre registers at least 90°C/194°F on a probe thermometer, or a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean, with no bits of raw dough on it. Loosely cover the bread with tin foil towards the end of baking if the top starts to get too dark.
- Allow to cool for 15 minutes in the tin on a wire rack.
- Meanwhile, make the glaze; sift the icing sugar into a small bowl and stir in the vanilla and milk. It should be a pourable consistency, add a little more milk if it is too thick or a little more icing sugar if it is too thin.110 g (1 cup) icing (powdered) sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1-2 Tablespoons non-dairy milk
- Turn the bread out onto a serving dish and pour over the glaze. Serve warm.
Notes
- See post above for tips, details and step-by-step photos. If you have a question about the recipe I may have already answered it above!
- As with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!
V L
Fabulous recipe, really easy to make and delicious. I have made it twice now and worked well both times.
M
We can use dairy for this recipe and it will work out the same, correct?
Hannah
Yes that will work.
Lisa
Thanks for the recipe! So moist and delicious. Kneading by hand was tricky indeed, but worth the effort. I will definitely make this again.
G
The dough was almost soupy - far softer than i would have made it if i were making up a recipe on my own - and the resulting bread was SOOO good. dlish.