This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure and privacy policy.
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure and privacy policy.
This delicious and nutritious applesauce oatmeal bread recipe is a perfect addition to any breakfast or snack. Oil-free, gluten-free and vegan, it is packed with fiber and nutrients–a tasty way to start your day!
The smell of apples and spices wafting through the kitchen signals comfort to me—and this healthy applesauce oatmeal bread delivers all those cozy vibes in the simplest way.
It also takes me straight back to my childhood home. We had a gravenstein apple tree in our backyard (it produces sweet-tart heirloom apples). My parents both loved to cook and bake, so the scent of cooking, baking, and stewing apples will always be familiar and beloved.
The bread is an easy, wholesome recipe that comes together quickly and makes the perfect anytime snack or a grab-and-go breakfast. I especially love making it when I’ve got a fresh batch of homemade applesauce from my Instant Pot or slow cooker, but it turns out just as delicious with store-bought, too.
With warm spices throughout and an (optional) applesauce glaze on top, it’s a treat that feels indulgent but is made with feel-good, pantry friendly ingredients.
Recipe Benefits
This healthy applesauce oatmeal bread is both delicious and nutritious. It is also:
- A great breakfast or healthy snack
- Vegan (egg-free, dairy-free)
- Packed with 4 grams protein per slice
- Packed with 4 grams fiber per slice
- Gluten-free
- Oil-free (E.g., no butter, coconut oil, or avocado oil)
- Wheat-free
- Low in added sugar
- Super easy to make
- Made in one bowl
Ingredients
The exact amounts of each ingredient are indicated in the recipe card at the end of the post. Toggle between US Customary (volume) and Metric (weights) for preferred measurement option.
The basic ingredients for the vegan gluten-free applesauce oatmeal bread are pantry staples. Here is what you will need:
- Unsweetened applesauce (see options in the notes and recipe card)
- Rolled oats (you will grind into a flour) or Ready-to-Use Oat Flour
- Coconut sugar (see options in the notes and recipe card)
- Flaxseed meal
- Vanilla extract
- Ground spices (e.g., see my notes; or use all ground cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, or apple pie spice)
- Baking powder (certified gluten-free, as needed)
- Salt
Make Your Own Oat Flour
Unless I am pressed for time, I prefer to make oat flour from rolled oats. It is less expensive than buying ready-to-use oat flour, plus it is fast and easy to make.
Process the rolled oats in a blender or food processor until the oats resemble super-fine flour. This will take seconds in a high speed blender. It will take longer in a regular blender (about 30 to 45 seconds), or about 2 minutes in a food processor.
If you have oat flour on hand, skip the steps in my recipe for grinding the oats and see the measurement equivalent in the recipe notes. Use the same weight of oat flour as rolled oats (the volume measurement is less).
Step by Step Instructions
Note that the complete directions are also in the recipe card below.
- Preheat Oven & Prepare Baking Pan: Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Line a 9×5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper. If you eat oil, you can opt to lightly spray the pan with nonstick cooking spray, or grease, instead.
- Grind the Oats into Oat Flour: While the oven preheats, grind the oats into a fine flour. You can use a food processor or blender, but if using the former, take an extra minute to grind the oats super-fine. (Skip this step if using pre-made oat flour).
- Whisk the Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk the oat flour, flaxseed meal, coconut sugar, baking powder, spices, and salt until blended.
- Stir in the Wet Ingredients: Add the applesauce, 1/4 cup (60 mL) water, and the pure vanilla extract to the bowl. Use a spoon or rubber spatula to stir the mixture until completely blended. The batter will be thick.
- Spread Batter into Prepared Pan: Scrape and pour batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top.
- Bake the Bread: Bake the bread in the preheated oven for 45 to 48 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted near the center of the loaf comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached.
- Optional: Brush the top of the warm bread with the 1/4 cup applesauce. This adds extra moisture and apple flavor.
- Cool the Bread: Cool the bread in the loaf pan for 15 minutes before removing and cooling completely on a cooling rack.
Tip: Cool the Bread Completely Before Slicing
Be sure to cool the bread completely before slicing it. The bread is much easier to slice when it is completely cooled (especially the next day), or, even better, if it is chilled.
Storage
Store the cooled healthy oatmeal applesauce bread in an airtight container at cool room temperature for 2 days, the refrigerator for 1 week or the freezer for up to 6 months.
FAQ
- What is the Taste & Texture of the Applesauce Oatmeal Bread? This is a hearty, just sweet enough, wholesome (yet still tender) loaf. Oat flour yields quick breads with a more dense crumb than those made with all-purpose wheat flour.
- What Spices Do You Use in Your Spice Mix? I use the following for my mixed spice blend: 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom. Feel free to make your own blend! Limit the amount of nutmeg to 1/2 teaspoon, and cloves to 1/4 teaspoon, if you choose to use either of these spices in your blend. You can also use pre-made blends, such as pumpkin spice blend or apple spice blend.
- Can I Toast this Healthy Applesauce Oatmeal Bread? Yes! Slices of the bread make great toast (lots of nooks and crannies in the morning, plain or topped with jam, peanut butter, or other nut/seed butters.
- Is the Applesauce Glaze Necessary? No, you can leave off the additional applesauce “glaze.” You can leave the top of the bread plain, or sprinkle it with one or two tbsp of extra oats before baking.
- What Kind of Rolled Oats Should I Use? You can use either old-fashioned rolled oats or quick oats. It does not matter since they are ground into flour. If you need to guarantee that the bread is gluten-free, use certified gluten-free oats.
- Can I Leave Out the Coconut Sugar? You can, but the bread will not be very sweet at all. Unsweetened applesauce does not have very much natural sweetness.
Substitutions
- Can I Use Something Other Than Oat Flour? I do not recommend using other flours in this recipe (e.g., chickpea flour, all purpose gluten-free flour, cassava flour, or almond flour).
- What Can I Use in Place of Flaxseed Meal? I have only tested this applesauce bread recipe with flaxseed meal, but you should be able to use a scant half cup (80 grams) of chia seeds, ground into meal as a substitute.
- I Only Have Sweetened Applesauce. Can I Use It Here? Yes, definitely. The only change is you may want to reduce the amount of coconut sugar by one or two tablespoons, depending on the sweetness of the applesauce.
- Can I Use Baking Soda in Place of Baking Powder? Yes. Replace the baking powder with 3/4 teaspoon baking soda (add with the dry ingredients) plus 1.5 teaspoons lemon juice or light-colored vinegar (add with the wet ingredients).
Happy Baking!
Related Recipes
Healthy Applesauce Oatmeal Bread (Oil-Free, GF)
Equipment
- 1 9×5 inch loaf pan
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups rolled oats, (see note for using pre-made oat flour)
- 3/4 cup flaxseed meal, (see notes for options)
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, certified GF, as needed
- 2 teaspoons ground mixed spices , (see notes below for suggestions)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups unsweetened applesauce
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar, (see notes for options)
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Optional Glaze: 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Line a 9×5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper. If you eat oil, you can opt to lightly spray the pan with nonstick cooking spray, or grease, instead.
- While the oven preheats, grind the oats into a very fine flour (use a food processor or blender).
- In.a large bowl, whisk the oat flour, flaxseed meal, baking powder, spices and salt until blended.
- Add the 2 cups applesauce, coconut sugar, water and vanilla, stirring until completely blended and smooth.
- Spread batter evenly in prepared pan, smoothing the top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes until deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached.
- Optional: Brush the top of the warm bread with the 1/4 cup applesauce. This adds extra moisture and apple flavor.
- Cool the bread in the pan for 15 minutes before removing to a cooling rack. Cool completely before slicing.
This was a big hit with the whole family. I increased the sweetener to 1/3 cup, because I thought it would need it, but next time I’ll stick with your guidelines and use 1/4 cup only. I might add some raisins, too. This is especially good toasted.
I am so glad this was a success, Maya! I love raisins, so adding them into your next batch sounds like a great idea to me.
Hi Camilla, could I substitute the same amount of the flaxseed with the oat flour? If so, any adjustment? Thank you.
Hi Janice! I would not advise replacing the flax meal with more oat flour in this recipe. I experimented with an all oat flour version and did not get good results. It came out dense and gluey, and the center sunk.
Hi Can I substitute maple syrup or honey for the sugar, if so how much? Thanks
Hi Juanita, I have not tried it, but I think that will work fine. Use 1/4 cup maple syrup and cut back on the added water from 1/4 cup to 2 tablespoons. Cheers.
Hi Camilla,
Pardon me for wondering, but I can’t help myself… most recipes I see call for something along the lines of a tablespoon ( or a little more) of flax and often it’s included as an egg replacement or a binder. In this recipe, the amount is substantially greater, so I was curious as to what its function is here, for you?
Thanks in advance, I’d love to know. It would satisfy the baking geek in me!
Hi LJ! Great question. I am using the flaxseed meal as more than an egg replacement. Instead, the flaxseed meal acts more like a flour, adding much needed structure to the bread. In the absence of both eggs and gluten, breads are prone to be squishy and or deflated (the protein in eggs and protein of gluten are the infrastructure in most quick breads). Flax eggs alone usually cannot do the job for both eggs and gluten.
Also, I love using flaxseed meal as a solo ingredient. I have breads and rolls on the site that are 100% flaxseed, as well as some 100% flaxseed cookies, tortillas and muffins. It can stand on it’s own in a variety of recipes 😊 Cheers!
As soon as I saw this recipe I knew i had to make it. Usually I read reviews before I try new online recipes, but this was so new there were no ratings or comments. I made it minutes after reading the recipe, let it cool as instructed, sliced and then toasted it. I slathered some vegan butter on it, took a bite and then floated into heaven. Thank you, Camilla, your recipes never fail. I know that when I look at your posts I will find tantalizing recipes that fit neatly into my (self)restricted diet. Thanks, again.
Caryn, you made my day! Thanks for so many kind compliments, and for being the brave first tester/reviewer of the bread 😊. I am so glad you love the bread as much as I do!
This sounds like just what I’ve been wanting lately! Maybe I’m missing something, but I’m confused about the amount of oats (or oat flour) called for. The ingredient list says 2 1/2 cups, but the notes say 250 grams or 2 cups plus a TBS. Should I just default to the weight? Thanks so much for posting this autumn-y bake!
Hi Rebecca! So sorry for being less than clear. I hope this clarifies: (1) You will use 250 grams of rolled oats or pre-made oat flour; (2) The volume measurement for rolled oats and oat flour is different. 1 cup of rolled oats weighs 100 grams, whereas 1 cup of oat flour weighs 120 grams; (3) Therefore, if you are grinding your own oats into oat flour, you will measure out 2.5 cups (250 grams). Once it is ground, the flour will still weigh 250 grams, but when you measure the oat flour in cups, it will be 2 cups, plus about 1 tablespoon.
Hoping that makes sense! That’s why, if you choose to buy pre-made oat flour, or you already have some homemade oat flour, you will measure out 2 cups plus 1 tablespoon of the flour. Cheers 🙂
can I replace the water with plain plant yoghurt or curdled plant milk?
I think that would be delicious, Marijan. You might want to switch to baking soda instead of baking powder. I have this note in the FAQS section about using baking soda. You could skip the lemon juice/vinegar if using yogurt, but use the lemon juice/vinegar to curdle your plant milk. I would love to know how it turns out!
Here is the note: “Replace the baking powder with 3/4 teaspoon baking soda (add with the dry ingredients) plus 1.5 teaspoons lemon juice or light-colored vinegar (add with the wet ingredients).”
What can I substitute the rolled oats with?
Would love to try this recipe. TIA
Hi Dee! I have only tested the bread with oat flour–I am not sure that this will work with other flours, with the given proportions. I do have a different recipe for applesauce millet bread, another favorite. It is a different formulation, but still easy, oil-free, and delicious. Here is the link: Applesauce Millet Bread
Can I use a glass loaf pan? If so, is oven temperature still 350 and bake time 45 to 50 minutes?
Hi Pat, yes, still 350F for glass pan. Same baking time— just check at earliest baking t8me 😊