Welcome the cozy flavors of autumn with this incredibly moist and sweet Apple Coffee Cake. It features a delightful brown sugar streusel topping and is finished with a vibrant apple cider glaze, making it the perfect choice for a comforting fall breakfast or a decadent dessert. This recipe brings together the classic flavors of fall in a simple yet spectacular way, promising a treat that will become a seasonal favorite.
Applesauce is a secret weapon in baking, adding unparalleled moisture and natural sweetness. If you love the tender crumb and subtle sweetness it imparts, you’ll also adore this healthy flourless applesauce spice cake or these fluffy applesauce muffins. They’re both fantastic ways to enjoy the goodness of apples in your baked goods!
Irresistible Apple Coffee Cake: Your Go-To Fall Baking Recipe
Are you looking for an excuse to enjoy cake for breakfast? Then this Apple Coffee Cake is about to become your new favorite fall tradition! With the crisp air and colorful leaves, there’s truly no better way to start your day or end a cozy evening than with a slice of this magnificent cake.
Every bite of this cake is a testament to perfect baking. It’s wonderfully dense yet incredibly moist, boasting a rich flavor profile that highlights the best of fall apples and warm spices. The delightful crunch of the brown sugar streusel topping provides a beautiful contrast to the soft cake, while a tangy-sweet apple cider glaze ties all the flavors together, creating a truly unforgettable experience. It’s not just a cake; it’s an invitation to savor the season.
This Apple Coffee Cake recipe is designed to be straightforward, allowing even novice bakers to achieve bakery-quality results. The combination of sweet apples, aromatic cinnamon, and a tender, buttery crumb makes it an absolute showstopper for any occasion, from casual family brunches to festive holiday gatherings. Get ready to fill your home with the intoxicating aroma of freshly baked apple goodness!
Key Ingredients for Your Perfect Apple Coffee Cake
Crafting the perfect Apple Coffee Cake begins with understanding the role each ingredient plays. We’ve carefully selected a balance of pantry staples and fall-inspired flavors to ensure a delicious and consistent result every time.
Essential Dry Ingredients for the Coffee Cake Batter:
- All-Purpose Flour: The foundation of our cake, providing the necessary structure to hold all the wonderful ingredients together while ensuring a tender crumb.
- Warm Spices (Ground Cinnamon, Apple Pie Spice, Nutmeg): This trio is crucial for that signature fall flavor. Cinnamon offers warmth, apple pie spice (often a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and sometimes cardamom) enhances the apple notes, and a touch of nutmeg adds a subtle, earthy depth.
- Leavening Agents (Baking Soda & Baking Powder): These work in harmony to give the cake its lift and airy texture. Baking soda reacts with acidic ingredients (like applesauce), while baking powder provides additional rising power, ensuring a beautifully risen and light cake.
- Salt: Don’t underestimate salt! It doesn’t just make things salty; it enhances and balances all the sweet flavors, making the apple and spice notes truly sing.
Moisturizing Wet Ingredients for the Coffee Cake Batter:
- Vegetable Oil (or Canola Oil): Unlike butter, oil creates an incredibly moist and tender cake, ensuring it stays fresh for longer. It contributes to the dense, rich texture characteristic of a great coffee cake.
- Brown Sugar (Dark, packed) & Pure Maple Syrup: These sweeteners do more than just add sweetness. Dark brown sugar provides a deep, molasses-rich flavor that pairs beautifully with apples and spices, while pure maple syrup adds a distinct, cozy, autumnal depth and additional moisture.
- Heavy Cream: This is where the cake gets its luxurious richness. Heavy cream contributes to a truly decadent texture and a velvety mouthfeel.
- Vanilla Extract: A baking essential, vanilla extract rounds out all the flavors, adding a fragrant aroma and a touch of sophistication to your apple coffee cake.
- Applesauce (Sweetened): The star of our wet ingredients! Applesauce is not just for flavor; it’s a fantastic natural moisturizer that keeps the cake incredibly tender and adds a delicate apple sweetness without overwhelming it. Using sweetened applesauce means you don’t need to add extra sugar.
The Irresistible Streusel Topping:
- All-Purpose Flour, Light Brown Sugar, & Spices: These dry components form the base of our crumbly streusel. Light brown sugar offers a milder caramel note than dark, complementing the cake’s sweetness. Cinnamon and apple pie spice echo the flavors in the cake, ensuring continuity.
- Unsalted Butter (melted & cooled): Butter is essential for binding the streusel ingredients and creating that perfect crumbly, golden-brown texture when baked. Cooling it is key to preventing a greasy topping (more on this in our tips!).
The Finishing Apple Cider Glaze:
- Powdered Sugar: The base for our smooth, pourable glaze.
- Apple Cider (or substitute): Adds a tangy, concentrated apple flavor that brightens the entire cake.
- Salt & Vanilla Extract: Just like in the cake, these enhance the overall flavor profile of the glaze.
- Apple Pie Spice: A hint of spice in the glaze brings everything together beautifully.
By understanding the purpose of each ingredient, you’re not just following a recipe; you’re mastering the art of baking this delightful Apple Coffee Cake!
Step-by-Step Guide: Crafting Your Perfect Apple Coffee Cake
Making this Apple Coffee Cake is a rewarding experience, and with these detailed steps, you’ll achieve a perfect bake every time. Follow along closely to bring this autumnal masterpiece to life in your kitchen.
- Prepare Your Oven & Pan: Begin by preheating your oven to 350°F (175°C). This ensures the oven is at a consistent temperature when the cake goes in, promoting even baking. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch metal baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. For even easier cleanup, you can line the pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil, then lightly grease the liner. This simple step prevents sticking and makes serving a breeze.
- Whisk Dry Ingredients: In a spacious large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients for the coffee cake batter: all-purpose flour, ground cinnamon, apple pie spice, ground nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk them thoroughly until they are well combined and lump-free. Setting this aside ensures you have an even distribution of leavening agents and spices throughout your cake.
- Combine Wet Ingredients: In a separate medium bowl, add the wet ingredients for the coffee cake: vegetable oil, dark brown sugar, pure maple syrup, and heavy cream. Whisk these together until they are smooth and the sugar has largely dissolved. Then, stir in the vanilla extract and applesauce, mixing until fully incorporated.
- Gently Combine Wet & Dry: Now, pour the wet ingredient mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, mix until the ingredients are just combined. Be careful not to overmix the batter; overmixing can develop the gluten in the flour too much, leading to a tough, dry cake. The batter will be quite thick, which is perfectly normal for a rich coffee cake. Spread and smooth this thick batter evenly into your prepared baking pan.
- Prepare the Streusel Topping: First, melt the butter for the streusel in the microwave. Crucially, let this melted butter cool down completely to room temperature before proceeding. Hot butter will melt the sugar in the streusel, creating a greasy texture rather than a crumbly one. In another medium bowl, whisk together the streusel’s dry ingredients: 1 cup of flour, light brown sugar, cinnamon, apple pie spice, and salt. Once combined, add the cooled, melted butter and mix until small, even clumps begin to form. Gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup of flour, mixing until larger, distinct clumps are visible.
- Apply Streusel & Bake: Generously sprinkle the entire streusel mixture evenly over the apple coffee cake batter in the pan. Resist the urge to press the streusel into the cake; let it sit lightly on top to achieve that perfect crispy texture. Ensure you use all of the streusel for maximum flavor and crunch. Bake the cake in your preheated oven for 35-40 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan and a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs attached. (Note: Oven temperatures can vary, so always trust your toothpick test!)
- Cool & Glaze: Once baked, remove the cake from the oven and let it cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. This is vital for the cake to set properly and for the glaze to adhere beautifully without melting away. While the cake cools, prepare the glaze. In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar, apple cider, salt, vanilla extract, and apple pie spice. Start with 1 tablespoon of apple cider, then gradually add more, just a teaspoon at a time, until a thick yet drizzly glaze forms. Whisk vigorously with a fork until perfectly smooth. Drizzle this luscious glaze generously over the cooled apple coffee cake just before serving.
Following these steps will ensure your Apple Coffee Cake is a triumph, moist and flavorful with a perfect streusel and a shining glaze.
Mastering Your Apple Coffee Cake: Expert Tips for a Flawless Bake
Achieving bakery-quality Apple Coffee Cake is easier than you think with a few simple tips and tricks. These pointers will help you avoid common pitfalls and ensure your cake is nothing short of perfect.
- The Importance of Cool Melted Butter for Streusel: This tip is crucial for a perfectly crumbly streusel. When butter is too warm and added to the sugar and flour, it melts the sugar crystals, resulting in a greasy, dense topping instead of light, distinct crumbs. Allow your melted butter to reach room temperature (it should no longer be warm to the touch) before incorporating it into the streusel mixture. This ensures those delightful crispy, sugary clusters form beautifully during baking. For more on butter’s role in baking, check out this insightful article on how butter works.
- Resist the Urge for Substitutions: This cake’s exceptional dense and moist texture is meticulously developed through its specific ingredient ratios.
- Cream vs. Milk: Do not replace heavy cream with milk or half-and-half. Heavy cream’s higher fat content is vital for the cake’s richness and tender crumb. Substituting it will result in a drier, less flavorful cake.
- Maple Syrup vs. Other Sweeteners: Maple syrup adds a unique depth of flavor and moisture that other sweeteners like granulated sugar or honey cannot replicate. Its particular chemical composition contributes significantly to the cake’s overall structure and moistness. Avoiding these substitutions is key to the cake’s success.
- Applesauce: While some recipes allow for pureed fruit, the specific moisture and sweetness profile of applesauce is integrated into this recipe for optimal results.
- Don’t Overmix the Batter: Once you combine the wet and dry ingredients, mix only until just combined. A few lumps are okay! Overmixing develops gluten, which can lead to a tough, rubbery cake. Gently fold until no dry streaks of flour remain.
- Measure Flour Correctly: For accurate results, spoon your flour into the measuring cup and then level it off with a straight edge. Scooping flour directly from the bag can compact it, leading you to use too much flour and result in a dry cake.
- Check for Doneness: Use the toothpick test. Insert a wooden toothpick into the center of the cake. It should come out with a few moist crumbs attached, but not wet batter. If it comes out clean, the cake is likely perfectly baked. Overbaking can lead to dryness.
Quick Tip: Glaze Alternatives for Apple Cider
If you don’t have apple cider on hand or prefer not to purchase a whole bottle for just a few tablespoons, don’t worry! You can easily substitute it with apple juice, heavy cream, or milk. Remember to add the liquid gradually, starting with just one tablespoon, as a small amount is often enough to achieve the desired consistency. If your glaze becomes too thin, simply whisk in more powdered sugar, a tablespoon at a time, until it reaches your preferred thick, drizzly texture. This flexibility ensures you can always enjoy a perfectly glazed coffee cake!
Storing Your Apple Coffee Cake to Maintain Freshness
- Storage Tips for Unglazed Cake: For optimal freshness, only glaze the pieces of cake you plan to serve immediately. Store the remaining unglazed cake tightly wrapped in plastic wrap or in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days. For longer storage, you can refrigerate it for up to 1 week. If you’ve stored the glaze separately, you can microwave it for about 10 seconds to loosen it up before drizzling.
- Freezing for Long-Term Enjoyment: Apple Coffee Cake freezes beautifully! To freeze, wrap individual slices or the entire unglazed cake tightly in plastic wrap, then place them in a freezer-safe bag or airtight container. It can be frozen for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to enjoy, thaw the cake at room temperature for several hours or overnight in the refrigerator. You can gently warm slices in the microwave or oven for a “freshly baked” experience before glazing.
Explore More Delicious Apple Treats!
If you’re a fan of the sweet and tart flavors of apple, you’ll love exploring these other incredible apple-inspired recipes. Perfect for any season, these treats celebrate the versatility of this beloved fruit.
- Apple Crumble Bars
- Classic Apple Crumble
- Caramel Apple Cheesecake
- Homemade Apple Fritter Bread
- Healthy Apple Muffins
Apple Coffee Cake
Chelsea Lords
35
35
1 10
18 servings
Equipment
- 9 x 13-inch baking pan with liner
Ingredients
- Cooking spray
- 3 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons apple pie spice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil or canola oil
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar packed
- 6 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 6 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1-1/2 cups applesauce sweetened
- 1-1/4 cups flour divided
- 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons light brown sugar packed
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon apple pie spice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons apple cider
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon apple pie spice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Lightly grease a 9×13-inch metal baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. For easier cleanup, you can also line the pan with parchment paper or foil and then grease it.
- In a large bowl, whisk together all the dry coffee cake ingredients: flour, cinnamon, apple pie spice, nutmeg, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. Set this bowl aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine the wet coffee cake ingredients: oil, dark brown sugar, maple syrup, and heavy cream. Whisk until smooth. Then, stir in the vanilla extract and applesauce until fully incorporated.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredient mixture. Mix gently until just combined, being careful not to overmix the batter. The batter will be very thick. Spread and smooth the batter evenly in your prepared baking pan.
- Melt the butter for the streusel in the microwave. Allow it to stand at room temperature until completely cooled. (Do not add hot butter to the streusel mixture, as it can make it greasy.)
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the dry streusel ingredients: 1 cup of flour, light brown sugar, cinnamon, apple pie spice, and salt. Add the cooled, melted butter and mix until the streusel is evenly combined and forms small clumps. Gradually add in the remaining 1/4 cup of flour, mixing until larger clumps begin to form. Sprinkle the streusel mixture evenly over the apple batter in the pan. Do not press the streusel into the cake; use all of it for a generous topping.
- Bake for approximately 35–40 minutes, or until the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. (My oven typically bakes it perfectly in 35 minutes.) Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan before applying the glaze.
- To make the glaze, combine all glaze ingredients in a small bowl. Start with 1 tablespoon of apple cider and add more (about 1 teaspoon at a time) as needed until a thick, smooth glaze forms. Whisk vigorously with a fork until perfectly smooth. Drizzle the glaze generously over the cooled apple coffee cake, especially over individual pieces before serving.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1 bar
|
Calories: 352 kcal
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Carbohydrates: 52.3g
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Protein: 3.3g
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Fat: 15.1g
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Cholesterol: 15.4mg
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Sodium: 5.4mg
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Fiber: 1g
|
Sugar: 28.2g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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