There’s a hint of fall in the air, with chilly mornings and evenings, leaves just barely beginning to turn, and freshly picked apples popping up everywhere. We LOVE apples, and look forward to apple season every year. Apple pie is probably our most favorite apple thing to bake (this one AND this one), but we also love to toss them in muffins, honey cake, tarts, yogurt cake, and crisp.
But this morning, I had a hankering for apple coffee cake. Of course, the last time I tried to make apple coffee cake, it was a colossal failure—waaaay too sweet, which overpowered the apples so you couldn’t even taste them. So rather than try to come up with my own, I turned to one of my favorite recipe sites, AllRecipes, and found this gem.
But you know I didn’t follow it exactly. My adjustments were mostly small, but the biggest change I made was that I pre-cooked the apples. After years of using apples in baking, I’ve found that for cakes or breads, I really prefer the apples to be pre-cooked unless they’re shredded. Chopped or diced apples just don’t get cooked enough otherwise, and I don’t appreciate chunks of crunchy-ish apple in baked goods. I want them fully cooked to perfect softness.
I’ve also found that pre-cooking apples intensifies their apple-y flavor when you saute them with a little butter, sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice. And that makes ALL the difference.
(Can I tell you that my local Wegman’s grocery store had honey crisp apple bagels last week with little chunks of pre-cooked apples in them? SO incredibly delicious! But don’t tell Bec. She cries every time I mention Wegmans because she misses it so.)
It’s an easy step that does take more time, but it is so worth it in the end. You simply chop or dice your apples as usual, toss them in a skillet with melted butter, a little sugar, cinnamon, and a few splashes of lemon juice. Cover and let them simmer on low until they’ve softened. That’s it.
Any kind of apples should work, though I’d opt for something other than really super crisp apples like Honey Crisp because they take a loooooong time to soften. I used a mixture of Crispin and Gala since that’s what we had on hand, and they were perfect.
As to the order of things, I prepare the apples first, and let them cook while I’m mixing up the topping and batter. As soon as the batter is done, I mix the apples in, then pour it into the prepared cake pan and sprinkle it with topping. When your cake is done, you should have fully cooked apples bursting with flavor throughout.
And that was very true of this delicious apple coffee cake. Light, fluffy cake with apples in every bite (I may have gone a bit overboard with the apples, but it was an excellent decision), this one gets added to my arsenal of favorite coffee cakes alongside the Maple Coffee Cake and classic Cinnamon Coffee Cake.
Happy baking, friends!
Ingredients
Sauteed Apples
- 6 apples, diced
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- lemon juice to taste
Topping
- 4 Tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup walnuts, finely chopped or ground (optional)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Cake
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup greek yogurt (vanilla or plain)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F/ 177 C. Butter and flour a 13 x 9 baking pan.
- Pre-cook the apples: Peel, core, and dice apples. Melt 2 Tablespoons of butter in a skillet, add apples, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, cinnamon, and a few splashes of lemon juice. Cover and let simmer for about 10 minutes until apples are soft. Set aside.
- While apples are cooking, mix topping ingredients together until crumbly, and set aside.
- Prepare cake batter. Beat butter and sugar, then add eggs, yogurt, and vanilla. Mix well. Add dry ingredients, and mix until just moistened. Mix in cooked apples, then pour batter into prepared pan, and sprinkle with topping.
- Bake at 350 F/177 C for about 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool for about 15 minutes before serving.
Very good! I made half as muffins and half in an 8×8 pan – muffins were a nicely generous size. The apples are meltingly soft – this is a keeper!
Oh fantastic! And thank you for the great tip! So thrilled, thank you very much!
Delicious! Turned out GREAT!
Happy to hear it, Todd!