I call this quick bread harvest spice bread because it combines some of the best flavors of the fall season including apple, pumpkin, and cinnamon spice. This loaf is infinitely adaptable, freezes well, and can be made into muffins, too!
I call this harvest spice bread because “apple pumpkin carrot cinnamon brown sugar spice bread” was a tad too long. 😉
What’s harvest spice bread, you ask? Imagine everything you love about fall. Warm spices, pumpkin, fresh apples, cozy sweaters… well, what if we took all of those incredible components of this beautiful autumn season and packed them into a simple bread?
Um, except for the sweater. But go ahead and wear your warmest cable knit while eating a slice!
Why You’ll Love Harvest Spice Bread
- No mixer required
- Infinitely adaptable—more on that next!
- Incredibly moist
- Super flavorful and soft
- Brown sugared
- Quick & easy—pour into a loaf pan and bake
- You can use homemade pumpkin pie spice here. (See recipe Note.)
Part apple cinnamon bread, pumpkin bread, spice cake, and carrot cake, this harvest spice bread is loaded with flavor. When you decide to bake a loaf, do yourself a favor and double the recipe. You’ll want two loaves of this orange beauty and even then, it’s hard to share.
Let’s Talk Add-Ins
I use shredded apple, shredded carrot, pumpkin puree, and walnuts in this quick bread. These add-ins are completely customizable and you can make substitutions based on what you have or what you’re craving.
- Apples: Not sure why that apple in the corner above looks weirdly shiny and plastic—that was a pink lady apple, one of my favorite varieties! You can use your favorite such as Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, or Fuji. If you enjoy a certain variety in your apple pie, you’ll love it in this bread, too. Instead of apple, you can swap in zucchini or more shredded carrot.
- Pumpkin: Just like when we make pumpkin muffins, I prefer canned pumpkin puree in this bread (I like Libby’s brand), but you can use homemade pumpkin puree if you have it. Instead of pumpkin puree, try unsweetened applesauce or even mashed banana.
- Carrot: Slightly sweet and mega moist shredded carrot pairs wonderfully with these flavors. In fact, this tastes like a quick bread version of carrot cake. Instead of carrots, however, you can use more shredded apple or even shredded zucchini (it’s great in this apple zucchini bread, too!)
- Walnuts: Feel free to substitute pecans, raisins, or dried cranberries.
Baking Tip: It’s important that the apple and carrot are shredded, not chopped. Shredding each with a box grater creates a lot of juicy moisture which is carried over into the quick bread. Just like in these healthy apple muffins, when shredded, they act like a wet ingredient in the batter. This makes a difference in the final taste and texture of the loaf!
Behind the Harvest Spice Bread Recipe
When testing this recipe, I started with my pumpkin bread as the base. Use the same ingredients here including all-purpose flour as the base, baking soda as the leavener, seasonal spices, a mix of granulated and brown sugars, and oil to keep the bread extra moist. I decreased the amount of sugar since apple and carrot sweeten the bread and I swapped milk for the orange juice. (Orange juice brightens the flavor of my pumpkin bread, it’s so good!) I also decreased the amount of liquid since the batter was already pretty wet.
Whisk the dry ingredients in 1 bowl and the wet ingredients in another bowl. Combine the two, then pour into a greased 9×5-inch loaf pan. You can use this batter for harvest spice muffins, too! See recipe note.
How to Freeze Quick Bread
If you know how to freeze cakes, you can also freeze quick bread! Same method goes. Here are all of my quick bread recipes if you’re looking for more inspiration. Favorites include Banana Bread, Pumpkin Bread, Orange Cranberry Bread, & Zucchini Bread.
- Step 1: Bake and completely cool quick bread.
- Step 2: Once the bread cools completely, wrap it in Press & Seal or plastic wrap. From one baker to another– Press & Seal is the best product for wrapping baked goods. I find regular plastic wrap too thin, clingy, and frustrating. It definitely works, but Press & Seal is easier to use and I’ve honestly found that it keeps my food fresher. (Not working with this brand, just really love it.)
- Step 3: Write the type of bread and use-by date on a large piece of aluminum foil. For best taste and texture, don’t freeze quick bread for longer than 3 months. You could stretch it to 4 or 5 months, but the sooner you serve it, the fresher it tastes.
- Step 4: Wrap the bread in the aluminum foil and place in the freezer. You could place the wrapped bread in a freezer container or freezer-friendly zipped top bag, but I often just freeze it after wrapping in aluminum foil.
- Step 5: Freeze for up to 3 months. To thaw, transfer the frozen bread to the refrigerator one day before serving. Sometimes I forget and just let the bread thaw at room temperature for several hours, but it’s better to thaw at a slower rate in the refrigerator. Make sure you thaw bread while it’s still in the wrapping. Don’t unwrap before thawing.
Baker’s Tip: Two layers of wrap is key! The first layer keeps the bread fresh and the aluminum foil ensures no condensation will seep in. Double layer = maximum freshness and no freezer burn. Moisture is the enemy, so don’t be afraid to add another layer of Press & Seal or aluminum foil.
Harvest Spice Bread
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 1 loaf
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Part apple bread, spice cake, pumpkin bread, and carrot cake, this harvest spice bread is loaded with flavor. This loaf is infinitely adaptable, freezes well, and can be made into muffins, too!
Ingredients
- 1 and 3/4 cups (219g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg*
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves*
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger*
- 1/2 cup (120ml) vegetable oil, canola oil, or melted coconut oil
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (115g) pumpkin puree (canned or fresh)*
- 1 heaping cup (140g) peeled and shredded apple*
- 3/4 cup (100g) peeled and shredded carrot*
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) milk
- 1 cup (130g) chopped walnuts*
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan. See notes for muffins.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger together in a large bowl until combined. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the oil, eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin, shredded apple, shredded carrot, and milk together until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Gently whisk until *just* combined. Fold in the walnuts. Batter will be semi-thick.
- Spread the batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 55 – 65 minutes. (I like to loosely cover the bread with aluminum foil halfway through to prevent heavy browning on top.) Baking times vary so keep an eye on yours. The bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out *mostly* clean with zero raw batter. Remove the bread from the oven.
- Cool completely in the pan set on a wire rack before removing and slicing. Cover and store leftover bread at room temperature for up to 3-4 days or in the refrigerator for up to about 10 days.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: See blog post above for detailed freezing & thawing instructions.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Vegetable Peeler | Box Grater | 9×5-inch Loaf Pan | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Cooling Rack
- Muffins: Grease a 12-count muffin pan or line with liners. Prepare batter in step 2. Spoon the batter evenly into each liner, filling each all the way to the top. Bake the muffins for 5 minutes at 425°F (218°C) then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C). Bake for an additional 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 20-22 minutes, give or take. Cool muffins for 5 minutes in the muffin pan, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling. Makes 16-18 muffins.
- Spices: Instead of nutmeg, cloves, and ginger, you can use 3/4 – 1 teaspoon of store-bought or homemade pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice. This is in addition to the 2 teaspoons of cinnamon—you will still add that.
- Pumpkin: I prefer canned pumpkin puree in this bread (I like Libby’s brand), but you can use homemade pumpkin puree. Instead of pumpkin puree, try unsweetened applesauce or mashed banana.
- Apples: Use your favorite apples such as Pink Lady, Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, or Fuji. Instead of apple, you can swap in shredded zucchini or more shredded carrot.
- Carrot: Don’t use pre-shredded carrots found in the produce aisle. They’re on the dry side. Rather, freshly grate 2 small/medium carrots to yield approximately 3/4 cup of moist carrot shreds. Instead of carrots, you can use more shredded apple or even shredded zucchini.
- Walnuts: Feel free to substitute chopped pecans, raisins, or dried cranberries.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Sally, if I wanted to make this dairy free, could I sub with OJ like in your pumpkin bread recipe?
Hi Bonnie, sure can!
I work at a high school and a group of my colleagues has a tradition of having Fun Food Friday each week. I made this bread and took it in last week. It was an absolute hit! It was gone before the first bell even rang. There were even a couple of people who initially passed up yhe bread because they don’t typically like pumpkin spice. After they tried a small slice, they came back for more….and yhen some more. 🙂 They liked it because it was flavorful without being too sweet.
Good job, Sally!
FANTASTIC RECIPE!! Thanks!
This sounds delicious. I plan on making it this weekend. Has anyone drizzled a glaze on top? If so, was type of glaze – a spiced glaze, salted caramel glaze, etc.?
Hi Suzanne, any of the glazes that we recommend in this post would be fantastic! We hope you enjoy the bread.
I’m making this this weekend, will it double ok? Someti.es recipes do not work when doubled
Hi Sheila, for best results and to prevent over or under mixing, we recommend making 2 separate batches rather than doubling. Enjoy!
How do you switch apple sauce for apples?
Hi Diana, you can use applesauce in place of the oil. Instead of apple, you can swap in shredded zucchini or more shredded carrot. Hope that helps!
Can’t wait to try, sounds like the perfect fall bread. Thanks for sharing your wonderful recipes
This recipe is absolutely marvelous!! It is Autumn in a delicious loaf.
Can I leave out apple if I don’t have it or will it alter the moisture of the bread.
Hi Marianne, Instead of apple, you can swap in zucchini or more shredded carrot.
Could sweet potato be used in place of pumpkin?
Hi Sandra, Yes, pureed sweet potato is an excellent substitution for the pumpkin.
Two times… first time measured by visual/ measuring cups, etc. Second time measured by weight for those ingredients with weight vs volume.. 12 muffins created first time, 10 muffins on the second (by weight) try… Will continue this “experiment”… Now looking for a quality 6 cup standard muffin pan… Would appreciate suggestions…
Hi Maggie, here are all of our recommend baking tools. Glad you enjoyed this recipe!
I can’t imagine why this didn’t work for me at all. I baked it at least another 15 minutes but it stayed wet and under cooked. The flavor was pretty good, I might beef up the spices a little if I were to make it again. Strange because I followed the recipe to a “T”, all ingredients were fresh and weighed. Maybe I can toast slices just to salvage something.
Same here! But my toothpick came out clean so I thought it was done. I will make this again today as the flavor was incredible! I may press out to dry a little the shredded carrot and apple.
I have made this bread several times and it is absolutely our favorite
I made this recipe to test as a gift bread. OMG! It’s so delicious. I put the batter into 2 gift loaf pans. I watched it carefully since I knew it would take less cooking time. I plan to give these as gifts to fellow volunteers at a local food bank where we volunteer. Well worth the effort of grating carrots and apples. I used honeycrisp apples. Plz note: This recipe works well with allulose (a rare sugar that the body can’t metabolize-0 calories) substitution for the sugar. I also use Flourish flour which contains nearly 1/3 less carbs than AP flour. It is made with a lower carb wheat. I used a T less in recipes as it absorbs more moisture.
I added chopped dates (not the prechopped ones, but ones I chopped myself). They were a perfect addition.
Loved this recipe. Made muffins with the extra batter. Added cranberry sauce to the middle of the muffins based on someone’s comment. Wow, was it good.
I made this about a week ago, and we finished it yesterday. I’m ready to bake it again! It is SO delicious.
Can this be made in mini loaf pans?
Hi Mia, yes, but the baking time will be shorter. Keep an eye on them and use a toothpick to check for doneness.
I’ve made this a couple of times – once as the recipe, but also with my own variation based on what I had on hand (subbed fresh pineapple for the apple so it had a bit of carrot cake-ness to it; used 1/4 cup of pepitas in place of some of the walnuts). It’s a great blueprint recipe – very adaptable.
It’s in the oven, and it smells wonderful! Question: is there nutritional info anywhere in the site for it? My little grandson has Type 1 Diabetes diabetes, so it helps us to know the carb count, sugar, count, etc., before allowing him to taste it so we can regulate how much insulin he needs.
Hi MJH! We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Hi MJH,
I’m also diabetic. I use allulose as a substitute sugar: zero carbs, Flourish, a wheat flour with about a third less carbs than AP flour. However, this recipe has apple and carrot which contain considerable carbs. My best suggestion is to weigh the apples, carrots, flour and walnuts by grams, then look them up, based on how many slices you cut the loaf into. So, if you cut the loaf into 12 pieces, you divide the total carbs by 12.
Hi MJ. I’m diabetic. I substitute allulose for the sugar and Flourish flour which is made with a lower carb wheat – saves about a third of the carbs. Both can be found on Amazon, and my grocery store carries allulose now. Allulose works well in baking cakes and pastries. Not so good in cookies (changes the texture). Also good at carmelizing for dishes lik flan. Custards take a bit longer to cook, but taste good. Hope this help. Good luck.
Hi Sally, I’m really excited about this recipe. I’ve been looking for something akin to a “fall fruitcake” and I’m wondering if this work. I plan to follow the recipe exactly, but go heavy on the add-ins using raisin, golden raisins, pecans or walnuts, and chopped dates (not the hard sugared dried chunks). Should that work?
I love traditional fruitcake and wish you’d develop a “fruitcake quick bread” for Christmas using fresh fruits and nuts (none of that fake colored red and green cherries and citron. Fruitcake gets a bad rap and if anyone could come up with something delicious, it’s YOU!
Hi Tracy! That combination of add-ins sounds delicious. We would recommend keeping the total amount of add-ins to about 1 cup. A little more than a cup should be fine, but going especially heavy on the add-ins may make the bread harder to slice and keep in tact. Let us know what you decide to try!
Hi, while making your Harvest Spiced Bread, the recipe calls for 100g of shredded carrot or 1 cup.When I shredded the carrot and weight it I only had a little over 51g but well over a cup. So do I still keep shredding until I get 100g even though its quite a bit over a cup?
Hi Diane! Are you packing the shredded carrots? We pack them down a bit. The weight measurement is always the most accurate!
I made this bread filing the directions as they were. It is so very good. This is now my new favorite fall treat, I would highly recommend that you make this bread are you sure you you will not be sorry.
Hi, I have made your pumpkin schnickerdoodles cookies (yum) Using pureed pumpkin. This also calls for that. Do I squeeze excess moisture out like in the cookie recipe? If i did that would it make a significant difference? I’m making tomorrow so I hope I get an answer. If not ill do one batch each way and I will let you know. Thank you!
Hi Wendy, it’s not necessary to blot the moisture here. Enjoy!
I’m not a pumpkin fan but I always follow recipes exactly as written the first time. I’m glad I did because both my husband and our best neighbor declared it THE BEST spice bread they’ve ever had.
This is SO delicious. Thank you for the recipe. Anyone have ideas about how to cut sugar, or add whole wheat or oat flour?
“Most” recipes that call for 1c sugar say that you “could” reduce the total amt of sugar by 25%. In this case you ” could” do 1/4 C white sugar & 1/2 C brown sugar ( or vice versa…but I would keep the 1/2 brown sugar amount) Sally DID say at the intro to this recipe that the amt of sugar is ALREADY REDUCED
from her PUMPKIN BREAD recipe b/c of the sweetness in the apple & carrots. I hope she comments. But she often advises that a reduction in sugar MAY produce unwanted results like texture change and maybe drier?. You could use coconut sugar instead of white sugar. It is still sugar…but it is an UNrefined sugar. Hopefully Sally will respond, b/c she & her team test these recipes & variations.They know best.
For Flour , I like White Whole Wheat Flour by King Arthur. [ 113 g PER CUP So I use 198g for 1 3/4 C IF using W hite Whole Wheat flour by King Arthu] . W W W flour is NOT bleached and no whole grain taken out. It just grows lighter in color, and has a milder taste. Any whole wheat flour usually does need a smidge more moisture I often add in 2T to 3T milk if swapping whole wheat for the all purpose listed. Hope these ideas help. If Sally or her team responds, use their advice
Hi Dana, I don’t recommend reducing the sugar and expecting the same results, because not only will this affect the sweetness, it can also dry out the cake. You can try replacing some of the refined sugar with unrefined sugar such as maple syrup or coconut sugar, if you’d like. Whole wheat flour will produce a pretty heavy texture. Instead, you may enjoy these morning glory muffins.
I am so glsd you responded b/c I was debating about A.P flour or White Whole Wheat. So i will just stick w/ the A.P flour.. Thanks.!
Hi Dana, I just wanted to share my experience baking this bread because it might help you out. I followed the recipe as written except I increased the spices a bit, used 1 cup whole wheat flour and 3/4 cup white flour, 1 cup pumpkin puree, a little extra grated carrots because I had them, and only 1/2 cup brown sugar.
It came out very moist, but yes less sweet (so more like a healthier breakfast bread I guess). I liked it! But yeah different from the original recipe
Hi! I’m not much of a baker, and this question may sound silly….but here it is! Do you grease your loaf pans with shortening or sugar? Also, do you flour them? Thank you!
Hi Debbie, we typically spray the pans with nonstick spray. Hope this helps!
Thanks for a great recipe x 2! I used this recipe, swapped out pumpkin for mashed banana and made mini-muffins (lightly greased cups worked better than liners). Topped with a cinnamon-vanilla icing drizzle from https://route-span.live/vanilla-icing/ –these little gems were moist and had just the right spices to become a Fall favorite and lunchbag preference for the whole family. Plus they pair equally well with a coffee or a juice box. Keep up the great work!!!
This sounds awesome! Can I double the recipe to make two loaves?or is that not recommended?
Hi Audra, for best results and to prevent over or under mixing, we recommend making 2 separate batches rather than doubling. Enjoy!
I misread 350 degrees as 300 (yes, I’m getting cataract surgery next month LOL). At 55 minutes I had a little raw batter on the toothpick and realized my mistake. I upped the oven temp to 350 and, luckily, 7 minutes later I had a perfectly baked loaf that tastes even better than it smelled while baking. I otherwise followed the recipe as written, subbing 1/2 cup of dried cranberries for the walnuts (I like nuts but not in baked goods). Thanks for a great recipe that screams “Fall is here!”