Apple Coffee Cake

A soft, tender apple coffee cake with layers of vanilla coffee cake, cinnamon sugar apples, and a crunchy cinnamon crumb topping. 

A moist, delicate cake with cooked apples in every bite! It is topped with a crunchy and  sweet brown sugar topping. This coffee cake is light and full of all the fall flavors we love! It is the perfect cozy fall treat for brunch, an afternoon snack, or dessert! 

I genuinely love it when apples come into season! I get to make all my favorites like these apple pie bars, my apple turnovers from puff pastry, or this super easy apple dump cake. And for more brunch inspiration, try these apple cinnamon rolls or this German apple pancake. 

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Granulated Sugar: Granulated sugar is here for flavor reasons, but also aids in leavening, moisture, texture, and stability. 
• Light Brown Sugar: Using light brown sugar adds sweetness along with a bit of moisture. This will keep the cake softer while adding a nice, light molasses flavor. You can substitute this for coconut sugar or dark brown sugar if you like.
• Sour Cream: Sour cream is essential for the moist texture of coffee cake. It has just enough moisture to hydrate the flour and fat to inhibit the gluten formation. It also adds a beautiful flavor. Full-fat Greek yogurt can be substituted. 
• Whole Milk: I use whole milk in my coffee cakes for the added flavor. It has a lower water content, and the extra fat helps keep the cake tender and moist. You can substitute 2% or less fatty milk, or you can also use your favorite milk substitutes. 
• All-Purpose Flour: All-purpose flour has just the right amount of gluten to hold all the sugar, eggs, butter, milk, and sour cream, without making a chewy, tough cake texture.
• Ground Cinnamon: You can substitute my apple pie spice for more warm spices.
• Apples: Like with my Jewish apple cake, use a mix of crisp baking apples so they hold their shape when baked. For example: try Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Braeburn, Gala, Fuji, Jonagold, Cortland, or Pink Lady.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Professional Tips 

• Use a variety of apples. Like when making apple pie filling, you want to use a variety of apples to create the most well-rounded flavor. Each variety has its own unique flavor profile. 
• Don’t open the oven for the first 30 minutes. The cake portion of this coffee cake is pretty fragile until the crumb sets. So, you want to leave the oven door closed for the first 30 minutes to allow the cake to build structure, preventing it from falling and sinking in the middle. 
• Use room temperature ingredients. To create the best crumb and light texture for the cake, you want your butter, eggs, sour cream, and milk to be at room temperature. This allows them to mix in more easily and prevent overmixing and gluten development. 

Variations

• Add in some nuts. Fold in some walnuts, pecans, or macadamia nuts into the batter before baking. You can also chop the nuts and layer them with the apples or the crumble topping. 
• Use different fruits. You can make this coffee cake with pears and add some cardamom to the mix. Try adding some cranberries with ginger and nutmeg for a winter coffee cake! And you may want another fall coffee cake. Be sure to make this pumpkin coffee cake!
• Make loaves or muffins. Take inspiration from these coffee cake muffins and make jumbo or regular-sized muffins. Use a cookie scoop or piping bag to layer the batter and apples. This can also be made into two standard loaves. 

How to Make Apple Coffee Cake

Follow these instructions to make this soft and tender autumn coffee cake! Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

Step 1: Prep pan. Preheat the oven to 325°F convection (with fan) or 350°F conventional (no fan). Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish and line the bottom with parchment paper. 

The baking dish you choose will significantly impact the bake time. I used a ceramic dish for testing, and it took 15 minutes longer than it ever took in a metal pan. It will also bake faster in an oven with the fan on (convection setting), even if it is 15°F cooler. I baked the most recent one in a ceramic dish at 350°F conventional (no fan), and it took 63 minutes. 

Make the Crumb Topping: 

Step 2: In the microwave, melt the butter. 

Step 3: Combine all the ingredients (photo 1) for the crumb topping in a bowl and mix to combine. Set aside. 

Unless your butter was just barely melted, I like to let this crumble mixture sit for a little while rather than use it warm. The resulting crumb topping will be greasy and spread excessively. You can speed this up by putting it in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes. 

Make the Apple Filling: 

Step 4: Peel, core, and dice your apples.

I like to cut them into medium dice and make sure they are roughly the same size. If they are too large, they will sink; if they are too small, they will cook too fast. 

Step 5: Combine the light brown sugar, cinnamon, and diced apples in a bowl and set aside. I do not mix this more than 10 minutes ahead of time because sugar draws the water out of the apples, and you will have too much excess liquid. If that happens, don’t discard it, just try to distribute it across the whole dish (photo 2). 

Mix the Batter: 

Step 6: Whisk together the kosher salt, baking powder, and all-purpose flour in a bowl and set aside (photo 3).

Step 7: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a bowl with a hand mixer, cream the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together.

Step 8: Beat in the eggs one at a time until emulsified followed by the vanilla extract. If your eggs are cold, this mixture might break, but don’t worry about it (photo 4).

Step 9: In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, sour cream, and vanilla. (photo 5) Then, with the mixer on low, alternately add the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients, starting and ending with flour (photos 6 & 7).

I like to finish mixing the batter by hand to ensure minimal gluten development and even incorporation.  

Layer and bake: 

Step 10: Pour about half the batter into the prepared pan and smooth out with an offset spatula (photo 6). Cover with the apple mixture (photo 7). 

Step 11: Spread the remaining batter over the top and crumble the topping over the entire top (photos 8 & 9). 

Step 12: Bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes or until a cake tester or skewer comes out with just clinging crumbs. It will puff in the center and be a nice golden brown (photo 10).

Step 13: Remove it from the oven and allow to cool 30-45 minutes on a wire cooling rack before slicing. You can also cool it completely and serve it at room temperature.

Recipe FAQs 

Before You Go

I hope you enjoyed this cozy fall recipe. Check out our other delicious, quick bread recipes like this triple berry cream cheese coffee cake or the best pumpkin muffin!