Apples and coffee? Nope, just a delicious crumb cake with apples and cinnamon you would have with coffee. Or tea, or just on its own. Today I’m going to show you an amazing and super-easy apple coffee cake recipe you can make in literally no-time!
Apple coffee cake
This delicious apple coffee cake is great as a sweet, filling breakfast cake or a comforting afternoon snack. The cinnamon flavor goes great with the cooked apples and with the crunchy streusel topping. A warm piece of apple crumble coffee cake can brighten up the darkest morning and give you a great start for the day.
A coffee cake is generally a simple one-layer cake with a streusel topping served with the morning coffee (just like this delicious crumb coffee cake I made just a while ago). I know, it sounded like it was made with coffee, but no. For this version of apple coffee cake I simply added a delicious layer of apple pie filling!
More apple desserts you will love
- Apple Danish in puff pastry
- Tiramisu cake with apple filling
- Apple pull apart bread
- Apple roses pastry
- Cinnamon apple brownies
- Apple cinnamon bundt cake
What is streusel topping?
The streusel topping is the sweet crumbly topping used to top many simple baked dishes, like cakes, muffins, pies or sweet breads. Basic streusel is made of very few ingredients, like brown sugar, flour and butter. Still, many like to add other ingredients like spices, dried fruits, coconut, cinnamon or chocolate flakes or nuts.
The secret to a perfect streusel is mixing the ingredients until just combined. Over mixing may result in a dough rather than a crumbly mixture.
Make sure you make the streusel topping before the batter. Leaving the batter for too long can prevent it from growing and the topping will sink into it if the apple pieces won’t make a middle layer.
How do you make homemade apple pie filling?
You can always buy apple filling from the store but it will never taste as great as homemade.
Making your own is just as simple as mixing apples with brown sugar and cinnamon powder and cook until the apples are soft enough to be mashed into a puree. Depending on the juiciness of your apples, you might need to add a bit of water when cooking or some lemon juice if you need to add both juiciness and tartness to your apple pie filling.
What kind of apples to use for this apple coffee cake recipe?
Tart apples like Granny Smith are great for this apple coffee cake. If you like, you can also use sweeter types like I did for this recipe where I used Gala apples. They can be chopped into smaller pieces and spread on top of the cake as décor.
You can replace the apples with other fruits like pears, peaches, apricots, cherries, basically any fruit that keeps well while baking.
Can you make apple crumb cake in advance?
This cake will keep well in the fridge and the freezer so you can make it in advance. This way you can take this cake to any event or gathering. It’s very stable and holds its shape well, so don’t worry about any potential damage.
If you want to speed up the process but still want to serve a freshly baked cake, prepare the apple filling, the crumb topping and the glaze the day or night before. Then all you have to do is whip up the cake batter and bake.
How to store apple crumb coffee cake
- Store this cake in the fridge in an air tight container for up to 4 days.
- Store in the freezer, in zip bags for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge before serving. Reheat in the oven or microwave if you like to serve it warm.
This apple coffee cake is amazing and tastes great with or without coffee. Tell me about your favorite twist of this cake in the comments below.
Apple crumb cake
What do you need to make this cinnamon apple crumb cake?
- Apples – sweet or tart work just as great, use your favorite.
- Flour – cake flour works best for this recipe.
- Granulated sugar
- Butter – unsalted
- Eggs – room temperature are recommended.
- Buttermilk – cold from the fridge
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Vanilla extract
- Cinnamon powder
- Brown sugar
- Icing sugar and milk for the glaze – this is optional, you can skip the glaze if you find the cake sweet enough for your taste.
Do I have to peel the apples?
If you’d rather use no peel apples, go ahead but it’s not necessary. The peel will soften when you cook the apples on the stove to make the apple filling and add extra flavor to the cake.
How do you make apple coffee cake from scratch?
- Make the apple filling by cooking the apples with sugar, cinnamon and a pinch of lemon juice (add a bit of water if your apples are not juicy). When soft, mash with a potato masher.
- Mix the dry ingredients for the cake then add butter and mix with a hand mixer until you get very fine crumbs.
- Add the eggs and buttermilk and continue mixing until the batter is smooth and fluffy.
- Layer half the batter in a baking dish, sprinkle cinnamon and brown sugar then add the apple filling.
- Top with the rest of the batter and a layer of crumb topping.
- Bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with no wet batter (some crumb topping might attach to the toothpick which is fine).
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Apple coffee cake
Ingredients
For the cake
- 2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 3 eggs room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk
For the apple pie filling
- 3 apples diced
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- lemon juice or water - optional if the apples are not juicy
For the crumb topping
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
For the glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 - 3 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F
Make the apple pie filling
- Put the apples in a saucepan, top with brown sugar and cinnamon and cook on low until the apples are soft. Add a bit of water or lemon juice if the apples are not juicy. When soft, mash the apples into a puree. Continue cooking until the juice has evaporated
Make the crumbs
- In a small bowl, using a fork mix together the melted butter, flour, sugar, and cinnamon until soft crumbs form.
Make the cake
- Grease a 9x13" pan with butter and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt until combined.
- Using a hand mixer, beat in softened butter into the flour mixture until all combined and crumbly.
- Add in eggs, vanilla and buttermilk and beat until fully combined, the mixture should be smooth and fluffy.
- Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenly.
- Sprinkle cinnamon and brown sugar.
- Add the apple pie filling and spread evenly.
- Top with the rest of the batter.
- Cover in a layer of crumbs
- Bake for about 25-30 minutes, until fully cooked. A toothpick inserted in the center of the cake should come out clean or with just a few crumbs. Cool completely before adding the glaze.
Make the glaze
- Add the powdered sugar to a medium bowl, add two tablespoons of milk and the vanilla extract.
- Mix until fully combined with no lumps. If the mixture is too thick add one more tablespoon of milk. The glaze should be thick but pourable.
- Use a fork or spoon to drizzle the icing over the cake once cooled.
Eleanor Daly says
Can I add raisins?
petro says
Sure, Eleanor! Make sure you adjust the sugar in the recipe or skip the glaze altogether. Otherwise your cake might be too sweet with the raisin addition