Apple Coffee Cake
This apple crumb cake is the fall snacking cake of your dreams! It’s infused with apples, cinnamon, butter, and brown sugar for all the fall flavor. The apples add a nice touch of moisture, but I also fold in some sour cream for even more. The result is a soft and tender crumb that contrasts beautifully with the crumbly streusel topping. Can you think of a more perfect way to use up all those apples from apple picking?
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Versatile: can be served as a cozy fall dessert, snacking cake, or breakfast cake. Also, if sweet breakfast treats are your thing, try my pumpkin pancakes next! Warm, comforting flavor and moist, tender texture. Several readers have described it as “absolutely delicious!” and I couldn’t agree more. Takes just a few minutes to prepare with pantry staples. It’s a great last-minute treat! This recipe is easy! Uses melted butter for both the cake and the streusel, so there is no mixer or pastry cutter needed.
Ingredients
I carefully selected today’s ingredients to yield a perfectly dense and tender crumb. Luckily, you don’t need anything fancy–just a few simple staples will do! 🧂🧈🥚 SAM’S TIP: I bake this cake in a springform pan so it stays nice and thick (springforms are deeper than traditional cake pans) and serves easily. You could try using a different pan, but you need to be mindful to not overfill it and adjust your bake time accordingly (typically less time for a larger pan and more for a smaller pan). Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Apple Crumb Cake
First, make the batter. We start with melted butter so the entire recipe can easily be made by hand (no electric or stand mixer required). Combine the wet ingredients, then whisk together the dry ingredients, then gently fold them together. Then add the apples. Apples should be chopped nice and small (unless you want larger, more discernible pieces) and should be gently folded in with care being taken to distribute the apples evenly but to not over-mix the batter. SAM’S TIP: Just like when making pancakes or pumpkin bread, over-mixing can cause dense, rubbery results, so mix only as much as you must and use a spatula (not an electric mixer). Make and add the streusel topping. I use my easy streusel technique in which I start with melted (but not too hot!) butter and gently claw this into the rest of the streusel ingredients with a fork. Then sprinkle this easily over the apple crumb cake batter, transfer to the oven, and bake. This streusel topping is the crown jewel, it’s crumbly, perfectly spiced and so flavorful. You might recognize it from my pumpkin coffee cake, as well as from my favorite coffee cake recipe. Perfection, I tell you. Make the vanilla glaze, then drizzle. The glaze comes together quickly and is essentially foolproof. If you accidentally make it to thin, add another spoonful of powdered sugar. Too thick? Add another splash of milk. For best results, let the cake cool some before drizzling the glaze overtop or it will melt all over the cake. I have several other coffee cake flavors you might enjoy, like my sour cream coffee cake and banana coffee cake. Enjoy! Let’s bake together! Subscribe to my newsletter to be notified of all the newest recipes, and find my free recipe tutorials on YouTube 💜 This recipe was originally published in October of 2017. I’ve updated the post with new photos and made some minor tweaks to the recipe (adjusting the bake time and adding a pinch of salt).
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