Apple Coffee Cake

This cinnamon-y treat is simple, easy, and delicious! Perfect for a Sunday brunch or with your morning coffee.

Apple Coffee Cake
Elise Bauer

Almost every Sunday morning growing up, my father would make a huge apple coffee cake for us after church. We would hungrily watch him pour the batter into the Pyrex baking dish, insert apple slices, and sprinkle with streusel topping.

Oh the magic of baking to young eyes! A half hour later the coffee cake would emerge from the oven, perfectly risen and crusted with brown sugar.

Apple Coffee Cake
Elise Bauer

My Update to a Favorite Recipe

Several years ago I found a recipe for a similar coffee cake in the Boston Globe (can no longer find it), one that they had listed as an apple cake for the Jewish high holidays and posted it here.

However, the Globe recipe made a much thinner cake than the one I loved from my childhood, and several people over the years have had more success with this one by doubling the batter.

I agree, so I've adjusted the batter amounts. I've also reduced the sugar substantially from the original, and topped the cake with a streusel topping of brown sugar, flour, and butter.

Why Is It Called a Coffee Cake, Anyway?

By the way, since several of you have asked, traditional "coffee cake" is the name that's given to this type of cake, a simple one-layer cake often with a streusel topping, that one would eat with their morning coffee. There's no coffee in it. Don't ask me why, that's just the way it is! Sort of like tea sandwiches that you would serve with afternoon tea, but you wouldn't expect to find tea in the sandwich.

Apple Coffee Cake

Prep Time 25 mins
Cook Time 30 mins
Total Time 55 mins
Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 cups (280g) all-purpose flour

  • 2 teaspoons baking powder

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 1/4 cup (50g) white granulated sugar plus 2 tablespoons sugar

  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • 10 tablespoons (140g) unsalted butter, room temperature

  • 2 eggs, beaten

  • 1 cup (235ml) whole milk

  • 1 medium tart green apple, cored, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch-thick slices

Streusel topping:

  • 4 tablespoons brown sugar

  • 4 tablespoons flour

  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

  • 1 tablespoon butter, cut into small cubes

Method

  1. Preheat oven, prepare pie dish:

    Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Grease a 9-inch pie pan (can use a springform pan or square baking pan)

  2. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt:

    In a medium bowl, whisk vigorously together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

  3. Make cinnamon sugar:

    In a separate small bowl, mix 2 Tbsp of the sugar with the cinnamon, set aside.

  4. Beat butter and sugar, add eggs, add flour mixture and milk:

    Using an electric mixer, beat the butter with the remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Beat in the eggs until blended. Add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk, beating after each addition until just combined.

  5. Pour batter into baking dish, top with apple slices, cinnamon sugar:

    Pour half of the batter in the bottom of the baking dish. Lay the apple slices on the batter so they just cover the batter (you may have to overlap some slices). Sprinkle the apples with the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Spread the rest of the batter over the apples.

    apple-coffe-cake-method-600-1
    Elise Bauer
    apple-coffe-cake-method-600-2
    Elise Bauer
  6. Top with streusel topping:

    In a small bowl mix together the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon for the streusel topping. Sprinkle over the cake and dot with butter.

    apple-coffe-cake-method-600-3
    Elise Bauer
    apple-coffe-cake-method-600-4
    Elise Bauer
  7. Bake:

    Bake the cake at 375°F (190°C) for 30-35 minutes or until it is golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

    Did you love the recipe? Give us some stars and leave a comment below!

    apple-coffe-cake-method-600-5
    Elise Bauer
Apple Coffee Cake
Elise Bauer
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
516 Calories
24g Fat
66g Carbs
9g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 6
Amount per serving
Calories 516
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 24g 31%
Saturated Fat 14g 72%
Cholesterol 121mg 40%
Sodium 577mg 25%
Total Carbohydrate 66g 24%
Dietary Fiber 2g 9%
Total Sugars 25g
Protein 9g
Vitamin C 1mg 7%
Calcium 173mg 13%
Iron 3mg 17%
Potassium 183mg 4%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.