I made y’all some bread.
Some big, fat, in your face, whole wheat apple bread. It’s the kind of bread that will kick your morning coffee in the face… with love and respect.
I like to do things with love and respect… even if it’s yelling at the Los Angeles traffic gods… or channeling my snarky side while on the phone with the IRS. If I say it’s done with love and respect… totally ok, right?
I love when sweet treats are also filled with things like whole wheat, and walnuts and flax seeds. It’s full of health, despite the butter and sugar. This bread is tastes like home… if your home were in, say… rural Oregon.
I like the combination of grated and coarsely chopped apples in this recipe. You get all the flavor and moisture of the apples combined with big ol’ chunks too. Delightful. Walnuts are great in this recipe and flax seeds add all kinds of health. If you don’t happen to have flax seeds on hand. No worries. You can leave them out.
Make this bread. It has cinnamon and apples in it. Really… that’s all you need to know, right?
Quick note: I only needed two apples for this loaf. The third apple I ate with my face.
Ingredients. Essential.
Apples. Walnuts. Flax Seeds.
Sugar topping gets crusty and extra yummy when baked. For serious.
This is the part that includes your face. Insert bread into face.
Oh! One more thing… if you like crazy healthy breakfast treats, you might also enjoy these Gnarley Muffins. I posted this waaaay back in the day when I had only been at this whole blogging thing for a month. The pictures? Pretty bad.
Apple Walnut Flax Seed Bread
makes one 9×5-inch loaf
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
generous pinch freshly ground nutmeg
2/3 cup buttermilk (if you don’t have buttermilk, try these substitutions)
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup grated apples
1/2 cup coarsely chopped apples
1 tablespoon flax seeds
3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, divided
cinnamon and sugar for sprinkling
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease and flour a 9×5x3-inch loaf pan and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg.
In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, melted butter and vanilla extract.
Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Add the grated apples, chopped apples flax seeds and half of the chopped walnuts. Fold to incorporate thoroughly.
Spoon batter into prepared pan and top with granulated sugar, cinnamon and the rest of the walnuts.
Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes then invert onto a cooling rack to cool before wrapping.
Serve slightly toasted with butter. Yumtastic.

















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Only you would inspire me to come home and bake on a Friday..when all I usually want to do is veg out. :) But I only have one apple and the store is SO far away (ok, like 3 blocks)..so I’m gonna add cranberries too…we’ll see how it turns out.
My face is excited already.
Wow! Can’t wait to make this!
AWWW Thanks for the bread!! I licked the screen and it tasted delicious haha!
Seriously yum!
I made this bread last night, WOW!!!!! A home run. I did not have flax seeds, but used flax meal instead.
Waited so patiently for it to cool a bit so I have a piece before I went to bed.
This is in my oven as we speak. I am so excited. The batter was EXTREMELY delicious (somehow I was able to tear myself away and bake it instead of eating it all), so surely the finished product will be amazing. Thank you!!
I made this bread today…it is soooooo good! You’ve succesfully made flax seeds taste like something that should be eaten.
Also I want to thank you for making my math class so much more interesting. My professor has an uncanny resemblance to you and thats the only thing that makes sitting in class a little more interesting.
I making this tomorrow!!! Can’t wait.
I will have to try this! And being from Oregon, well I am sure it will fit right in with our morning routine :)
I made this bread yesterday and served it to some friends today. It went down really, really well and no one would have guessed that it had whole wheat flour in it. I used green apples cos that’s what I had and also white whole wheat flour.Thanks for posting this great recipe!
Your blog and this recipe cheered me up so much while lying low with flu that, in spite of the aching body, I just had to make this bread. The smell of cinnamon, nutmeg, apples & pecan nuts (all I had in the house) cheered me up no end. And it’s so easy to make. Thank you for sharing it!
This is so good!
Thank you so much! I am in love with it and consider not to share with anybody else!
This looks great. I’m going to make a few loaves and freeze them. I always eat my breakfast in the car :( and this is a perfect and healthy on the go breakfast. Thanks!
I made this tonight, and it’s a new favorite from your site!
This was so good!!! A nice change of pace from the usual banana bread in our household.
Question: because of the apples, is it still OK to keep the bread just wrapped up tightly on the counter, or do I need to refrigerate it?
Looks yummy and sounds healthy…I’ll try it!
1. This looks like a snack I could feel good about.
2. You are one darn good bread slicer! All the same size and everything.
3. You’re just the best, Joy. Thanks for being that!
Hi Joy,
I made this bread over the weekend. Yum! Next time I tink I will add shredded carrots as well.
Thanks for the great recipes and fun blog.
Nancy
I’ve been dying to make this recipe since you posted it, so I went and picked up everything today to do just that! Sadly for me, I didn’t have quite enough cinnamon and was completely out of nutmeg (guess I should work on that shopping list skill). So I substituted a dash of allspice for the nutmeg. It tastes amazing all the same! My roommate is seriously looking forward to having it toasted for breakfast.
Hi Joy,
Thanks for the recipe!
One question, though. Isn’t it supposed to be well nigh useless to use whole flax seed?
Thanks!
Neha
SO Yummy!
Ever since I found your website I have been cooking up a storm!!
Thanks so much!
Hi joy!
I was a little confused because under your picture of the apples you said you used two for the bread, but in the ingredients you put “1/2 cup apples” so I wasn’t sure how much to add! Also, my loaf came out a bit crumbly, do you have any advice on how to make it less crumbly? :)
Thanks for sharing~!
I made this bread for dessert on Easter and it did not disappoint! It was delcious and a nice change from too sweet too sugary desserts. It was perfect with a cup of coffee. Better too the next day! I didn’t have flax seeds but had flax seed meal and switched it out with perfect results. Loved the walnut topping with sugar and cinnamon … it was just enough. Thanks for sharing!
sounds superb!
Wow, that apple pie looks amazing
I have made this recipe 3 times since it was posted and LOVE it! I have made it with flax seed and flax meal and both ways are great. I even made it for an Easter brunch and it was a great addition. I like that my whole family enjoys this and it is a satisfying breakfast on a busy school morning. Thanks so much for the recipe.
Oh yum, I made this today! http://tinyurl.com/y6nuzls
It’s so moist and yummy…I might have to make another loaf soon. Except I’m out of walnuts, darn. And pecans.
You know what I changed? I ground up the apple peel and tossed it into the batter! I hate wasting it, and think of all those nutrients in the skin!
this looks great i am making it this weekend :O)
OMG! THIS BREAD WAS TO DIE FOR!!
MY WHOLE FAMILY DEVOURED IT, 5 MINUTES AFTER IT WAS OUT OF THE OVEN.
i dont think you get to call this cake healthy though,
because stuffing your face with the entire thing may be not dietetic!
I made this bread tonight and it so yummy! Thanks for the great recipe and pictures too!
SO so good!! After a short mishap with the downtime on the site I made this beautiful loaf and impressed everyone I know by making them like flax seeds! Thanks for the consistently outstanding recipes!
Made this today and it was awesome! Made a couple changes to make it as healthy as possible….used 1 c. whole wheat flour and 3/4 c. all purpose flour (instead of the other way around), used sugar free “brown sugar” (Ideal Brown), used Egg Beaters (1/2 c.) in place of eggs, used unsweetened Almond Breeze w/lemon juice in place of buttermilk, and a heaping tbsp of ground flax ….made a gorgeous loaf, didn’t sink in the middle, made the house smell amazing, and tasted great! Can’t wait for breakfast!! Thanks for this recipe!
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