What goes better with a freshly brewed cup of coffee than a warm, fresh-out-of-the-oven piece of coffee cake? Nothing! Coffee and coffee cake are the perfect pairing. A perfect balance of flavors and textures.
Personally, I love a good cinnamon coffee cake with my coffee. It’s a classic for a reason. But recently I’ve been wanting to experiment a bit with coffee cake recipes.
One of my favorite muffin recipes is for an Apple Crumb Muffin by Beth over at The First Year blog. I noticed that her recipe is very similar to my favorite Cinnamon Coffee Cake recipe. I decided to see if I could modify it and turn it into a tasty Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake. It worked!
I discovered our new favorite fall COFFEE CAKE RECIPE!
Why is this Coffee Cake so great?
All baked goods come down to two things…TASTE and TEXTURE. This cake nails it on both! The apple is subtle but provides a beautiful refreshing flavor that is balanced out by the spice of the cinnamon and nutmeg.
Apple and cinnamon are a classic combination for a reason after all! The cake itself is not overly sweet but you have little hits of sugary goodness with the streusel and icing drizzle.
For me though, the beauty of this delicious coffee cake recipe comes down to the texture!
This cake is the perfect combination of moist, airy, and crunchy. Most moist coffee cakes are extremely dense, which is delicious but filling.
The applesauce in this recipe provides moisture without weighing the batter down. Add on the tasty streusel and the extra crunch of the walnuts and you have the makings of a delicious treat!
MAKING A APPLE CINNAMON COFFEE CAKE
Curious to try it for yourself?
Don’t worry, it is incredibly fast and easy to make! Altogether, it takes about 30-45 minutes to make. This cake doesn’t require any special skills or baking knowledge.
The Tools You Need
You don’t need a lot to successfully make a delicious coffee cake. For this coffee cake recipe you only need:
2 Mixing bowls
They don’t need to be large. One is for your dry ingredients and the other is to mix everything together.
Rubber Spatula, whisk, and fork.
This is all you need to mix your ingredients. There is no need for electric mixers. I personally still used a hand mixer. However, it was more for convenience than necessity.
Baking Pan
This recipe is perfect for a 6×6 square baking pan. However, you can use whatever size you have. Just keep in mind that the bigger it is, the more spread out the batter will be.
You can choose to double (or triple) the recipe, or you can prepare yourself for a faster bake time. You can also use a smaller pan, like a loaf pan for a thicker cake. Just make sure the sides are tall enough and be prepared for it to take longer in the oven.
Measuring Cups
You need to be able to measure out ¼, ½, and 1 whole cup of various ingredients as well as measure ½ and whole teaspoons.
A Few Helpful Tips Before You Get Started
- After you melt your butter for the streusel topping, let it sit for a minute or two so it’s not steaming hot when you combine it with the dry ingredients. Steaming hot butter will melt your sugar too fast and make your topping wetter than you might want.
- Lining your pan with a baking sheet will make it easier to remove and serve. If you don’t have baking sheets or plan to serve it out of the pan, make sure you coat the pan in non-stick oil or spray.
- Your cake will rise as it bakes so make sure you DO NOT fill your pan more than halfway with batter. Otherwise, you will need to deal with the aftermath of an overflow.
- If you can, sift your dry ingredients before adding them to your batter. Doing this will help ensure that there are no unwanted clumps in your final batter.
- Use whatever applesauce you want! Sweetened, unsweetened, cinnamon, whatever you choose! However, I wouldn’t recommend using chunky applesauce because it might affect the final texture and cause inconsistencies.
- Adjust the seasonings to fit your preferences! The recipe is a good starting point. You shouldn’t be overwhelmed by any particular flavor. However, I like to add a little extra cinnamon to the streusel to increase the impact of the cinnamon.
Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 ½ cup Flour
- ½ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Nutmeg
- 2 tsp Cinnamon
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 cup Applesauce
- ½ cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 ½ tsp Vanilla
- ½ cup Brown Sugar
- 2 Large Eggs
Streusel
- 1 cup Flour
- ½ cup Packed Brown Sugar
- 2 tsp Cinnamon
- ½ cup Melted Butter
- ¼ cup Chopped Walnuts (optional)
Drizzle
- 1 T Room Temperature Butter
- 1 T Milk (or milk alternative)
- ¾ cup Powdered Sugar (Icing Sugar)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit.
- Prepare your pan by either lining it with baking paper or coating it in non-stick spray.
- Make the streusel
- Start by melting your butter.
- Combine brown sugar, cinnamon and flour in a bowl then stir in your melted butter with a fork. It will look like a wet crumble. (It is ok if it looks a little wet or dough-like. Just place it in the refrigerator so it is easier to crumble on top later)
- You can stir in chopped walnuts to add texture if you want.
- Make the cake
- Combine flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and baking powder in a bowl.
- In a separate bowl, combine applesauce, vegetable oil, vanilla, and brown sugar. Mix with a whisk only until combined. Add in your eggs and mix until combined.
- Using a spatula, stir your dry ingredients into your wet mixture. Make sure that it is all mixed together.
- Pour your mixture into your prepared pan and sprinkle the streusel on top making sure you spread it out evenly. Using the handle of a spoon or your finger, push the streusel halfway into the batter roughly 12-15 times. Make sure your pokes are evenly spaced and spread out.
- Bake your cake for 20-25 minutes. You want the top to be a nice golden brown. To make sure your cake is fully cooked, use a toothpick to check to see if the inside is down. If it comes out mostly dry then it is ready. Make sure you poke the cake and not the streusel!
- While your cake is baking, make your drizzle. Start whisking together room temperature butter, milk and powdered sugar until you get your desired consistency.
- Let your cake cool for 10-15 minutes then drizzle your icing onto the cake.
Cut and enjoy!!
This coffee cake recipe may have started as an experiment but it quickly became a favorite in our household. It is fast, easy, and delicious! Hopefully, it ends up being a new favorite for you and your family as well!
