My favorite thing about Apple Pull-Apart Bread, is the delicious treat you get inside of each bite. Each piece is stuffed with a homemade cinnamon-apple filling before being stacked with buttery goodness into a tube pan and then drizzled with vanilla icing. Bursting with apples and beautiful warm fall spices, this is a perfect fall breakfast idea for a cozy morning. Of course, we enjoyed it with dinner, too.
The version I am sharing with you here, is my adaptation from a recipe I got out of the Taste of Home magazine.
Ingredients for Apple Pull-Apart Bread
- Yeast: Be sure to buy active-dry yeast, not instant yeast. And double-check that the expiration has not expired.
- Milk: Mike will be wanrmed to 105° to 110° F for proofing the yeast.
- Butter: You will need one stick (1/2) cup of butter. You can splurge on a European butter like Kerrygold that will give it a richer flavor
- Egg: This recipe calls for 1 egg that will need to sit at room tempature for 30 minutes
- Sugar: The apple pull-apart bread has two parts in the sugar; one of the dough and the other for the delicious apple filling
- Flour: All-purpose floor works great for this recipe.
- Counter Space: You will need work space for kneading.
- Apples: Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Pink Lady apples are good choices. They will need to be peeled before choping
- Pecans: Though optional, I like toasting the nuts beforehand to bring out their sweetness
- Cinnamon: You can use the typical cinnamon, but to turn up the flavor, try something like Saigon, Ceylon or Korintje cinnamon
- Icing: The icing is easily made with hot water, vanilla extract and confectioner’s sugar.
Directions
Step One: Make the dough
In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm milk until the mixture is frothy and proofed.
Add 2 tablespoons of butter, the egg, 2 tablespoons of sugar, salt and 3 cups of flour to the yeast mixture. Beat them with a mixer until they are smooth. Add enough of the remaining flour to form a stiff dough.
NOTE: If your yeast mixture does not froth, stop. The yeast was not proofed correctly, or your yeast has expired, which means your dough will not rise and you won’t be making bread. (Bricks maybe, but not bread.) Consider using a stand mixer that is fitted with a hook attachment for the easiest mixing of your dough.
Step Two: Knead and Let Rise
Turn the dough onto a surface that has been floured and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. This should take six to eight minutes.
Place the dough in a greased bowl. Be sure to turn in once to grease the top of the dough. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel. Let the dough rise in a warm place until it has double in size, or about an hour.
[Not sure how to knead bread? You can watch how with Taste of Home, Here
Step Three: Mix the Apple Filling
While the dough is rising, in a large bowl, stir together two peeled, finely chopped apples, pecans, cinnamon and 2/3 cups of sugar. Combine thoroughly. Set the apple filling aside.
Step 4: Divide the dough
First, punch down the proofed bread dough and turn it out onto your floured work surface. Using a butter knife, chef’s knife or bench knife, divide the dough into 32 pieces.
NOTE: So that your dough won’t dry out, cover the pieces with a big sheet of storage wrap or kitchen towel while you shape and fill them in the next step. Personally, I have not had my dough dry out while I am filling, but, this was a note given to me, I thought I would pass along.
Step 5: Shape and Fill
On the same floured surface, roll out, or pat each piece into a 2-1/2 inch circle. Place approximately 1 teaspoon of the apple mixture in to the center of each circle. Pinch the edges together and seal the dough, forming a ball.
PERSONAL NOTE: When filling the balls of bread dough, I literally never took the time to roll out each piece and measure it to 2-1/2 inches. Each piece of dough was stretched out, filled with filling, and pinched shut. No-one ever complained that the dough balls weren’t measured out perfectly.
Step 6: Assembly the Apple Pull-Apart Bread
Melt the remaining 6 tablespoons of butter in a bowl.
Dip each bread ball into the butter, one at a time. In a greased 10-inch bundt or tube pan, place 16 of the dough balls, seam-side down, evenly along the bottom of the pan.
Sprinkle the tops with the remaining apple filling mixture.
Layer the remaining balls on top and cover the pan with a clean kitchen towel to let the dough rise. Let it rise until it has almost doubled in size. This should take about 45 minutes.
Step 7: Bake and Invert
Bake the Apple Pull-Apart Bread at 350º for 35 to 45 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool the bread in its pan at room temperature for 10 minutes before inverting the pan onto a serving dish.
Step 8: Finish with Icing
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together hot water, confectioner’s sugar and vanilla extract.
Drizzle the icing all over the warm bread. Serve and enjoy.
Recipe Variations
- Use pears for apples: Pears have a similar texture than apples, but have a different taste. The best pears for baking are Asian, Anjou, and Concorde.
- Baking spices: Use additional fall spices that would go well with cinnamon and apples (or cinnamon and pears). Cloves, ginger, pumpkin spice, cardamon, to name a few, would make this Apple Pull-Apart Bread even warmer and cozier.
- Consider a different topping: If you want to make this more of a dessert, consider topping with vanilla icecream. If you like things a bit sweeter, try salted caramel sauce.
How to Store Apple Pull-Apart Bread
Apple Pull-Apart Bread is best eaten warm. But, if you do have leftovers to save, allow the bread to completely cool to room temperatuure. Cover with a tight storage wrap and keep in the fridge. It can keep in the fridge for up to four days.
Freezing Apple Pull-Apart Bread
When the holidays are buzzing with energy, if I can grab a time to make this delicious bread, I will freeze the dough before its second rise, in the pan. I can take the bread out the night before, place it in the fridge and in the morning, it should be ready to bake.
Using Frozen Ready Made Bread Dough
You can make Apple Pull-Apart Bread with frozen ready-made dough. In my opinion, the bread will not have as soft of a texture as your homemade version. Purchase two 1 pound of frozen bread dough and let them thaw. Proceed with the recipe, starting at the point where you make the apple filling and cut the bread into 32 pieces.
Ingredient List
- 1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
- 1 cup warm 2{2158d927977fd2e3121a073433017dc9c360ec4b1c43e14169a0477d01dfb232} milk
- 1/2 cup butter, melted, divided
- 2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 to 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup finely chopped pecans
- 1-1/2 cups finely chopped peeled apple
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ICING:
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 3 to 4-1/2 teaspoons hot water
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
- In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in milk. Add 2 tablespoons butter, egg, 2 tablespoons sugar, salt and 3 cups flour; beat until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to form a stiff dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
- Combine the apple, pecans, cinnamon and remaining 1 cup sugar; set aside. Punch dough down; divide into 32 pieces. On a lightly floured surface, pat or roll out each piece into a 2-1/2-in. circle. Place 1 teaspoon apple mixture in center of circle; pinch edges together and seal, forming a ball. Dip in remaining 6 tablespoons melted butter.
- In a greased 10-in. tube pan, place 16 balls, seam side down; sprinkle with remaining apple filling mixture. Layer remaining balls. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 45 minutes.
- Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes; remove from pan to serving dish. Combine icing ingredients; drizzle over warm bread.