My husband Tony is a huge fan of apple desserts and because he hates pumpkin ones (I know…wild) I try to make him a little something special with apple each year. His favorite dutch apple pie just so happens to be an AK reader favorite, too, so when I dreamed up this epic apple coffee cake a couple years back I knew it was going to be a winner.
Coffee cake is one of those desserts or brunch treats that can be really good or ends up being dry and bland. You know I would never give you a dry cake recipe! This apple coffee cake is perfectly moist thanks to applesauce (for intense apple flavor!) and the secret ingredient, brown butter.
Oh yeah baby, we’re mixing rich, nutty, amazing brown butter right into the coffee cake batter.
The result is a cake that truly melts in your mouth. The team and I kept sneaking bites of it all day while we were recipe testing last fall, and the crumb alone is delicious enough to write home about. Pair this coffee cake with pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving and you’ve got yourself the best dessert table ever! Or go traditional and enjoy it on Thanksgiving morning with a hot cup of coffee. Yes, we’re already talking about Thanksgiving, but this coffee cake is delicious all season long. Hope you love it!
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What is coffee cake?
I know the title makes it sound like we’re baking a cake that has coffee in the batter, but traditional coffee cake is a single layer cake that has a cinnamon-sugar streusel topping instead of a frosting. It’s often served with tea or coffee, hence the name!
Ingredients in this apple coffee cake
This homemade apple coffee cake uses plenty of pantry staples to make a cake that’s deliciously tender, filled with cozy flavors and has the perfect amount of moisture. No one likes a dry coffee cake! Here’s what you’ll need to make it:
- For the topping & streusel: you’ll need all purpose flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and butter to create a delicious middle layer and crumb topping.
- Wet ingredients: the coffee cake gets its moisture from butter, unsweetened applesauce & eggs. You’ll also need pure maple syrup and vanilla to sweeten! Some coffee cake recipes call for sour cream or greek yogurt to add additional moisture, but this one is perfectly moist without it.
- Flour: we’re using all purpose flour as the base of the cake as well.
- Spices: we’re filling this warming apple coffee cake with cinnamon, allspice, ginger & nutmeg. SO good.
- Baking staples: don’t forget baking powder, baking soda (yes, both) and salt.
- Mix-ins: gotta have those sweet, crunchy apple pieces in every bite! You’ll just chop a medium, peeled honeycrisp apple. Many people use granny smith apples, but I prefer the juicy sweetness of honeycrisp.
- For the glaze: this simple, delicious glaze is made with butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and milk.
A note on ingredient swaps
I recommend sticking to the recipe the best that you can to ensure success! A few notes on common substitutions:
- For the butter: feel free to use vegan butter to keep this cake dairy free. Do not brown the vegan butter, just use it as-is in the recipe.
- For the brown sugar: if you’re out of brown sugar you can actually make it yourself right at home! Check out our full tutorial and let me know if you try it.
- For the flour: I think that an all purpose gluten free flour will work in this recipe, but please note that I have not tested it out to be sure. Let me know if you do!
- For the eggs: similarly to the flour, note that I have not tested this recipe with flax eggs (but let me know if you do).
Jazz up your apple coffee cake
If you want to jazz this cake up and get a little ambitious: add in ½ cup of butterscotch chips or peanut butter chips to the batter. YUM. Mixing in chopped nuts like walnuts or pecans would also be delicious!
How to brown butter
The brown butter adds such an incredible flavor to this coffee cake and is easier to make than you think! Get all of my tips and tricks for browning butter in this post and get ready to add it to literally everything.
How to make the best apple coffee cake
- Make the streusel. You’ll start by mixing together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt, then stirring in the melted butter until the mixture resembles clumps of wet sand. Place it in the fridge until you’re ready to use it (even a day ahead of time!)
- Brown your butter. Next, brown your butter and set it aside to cool before using it in the recipe.
- Mix the wet ingredients. You’ll then mix together all of the wet ingredients until they’re nice and smooth.
- Whisk the dry. In a separate bowl, whisk together all of your dry ingredients.
- Make the batter. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined. No need to use a stand mixer or a hand mixer! Fold in those chopped apples.
- Layer the cake. Because we want that yummy streusel center, you’ll pour half of the batter into the square baking pan, sprinkle on half of the crumble topping, then repeat with the other halves before baking for about 45 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Glaze & serve. While the cake is cooling on a wire rack you can mix your glaze up. Drizzle it over the cooled cake, slice and enjoy! It’s even delicious with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.
Don’t forget these cake-baking tips
With a few of my essential cake-baking tips, you’ll make the perfect apple crumb cake time and time again.
- Follow the recipe. The best way to ensure that this coffee cake turns out well is to follow the ingredients and instructions exactly.
- Use room temp ingredients. Be sure to use room temp eggs and to cool down the brown butter before adding it to the recipe. This will prevent the two from coagulating.
- Do not overmix. When combining the wet and dry ingredients be sure to mix until the batter is just combined. Overmixing will create a dense, gummy texture.
- Cool, then glaze. Let the cake cool for at least 30 minutes before adding the glaze, otherwise, the glaze will soak right into the cake.
Make it ahead of time
Feel free to either bake the entire cake 1 day ahead of serving and store it covered at room temp, or you can prepare the whole streusel topping and store it in the refrigerator 1 day before baking the rest of the cake.
Storing & freezing tips
- To store: feel free to keep the apple coffee cake covered at room temperature for 1-2 days, then place it in the fridge covered for up to 1 week.
- To freeze: let the cake cool and then wrap it well in plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Place the full cake in an airtight container or zip-top freezer bag. To serve it, thaw the cake in the refrigerator overnight, then let the cake come to room temp before adding the cinnamon glaze and serving it.
More fall treats you’ll love
- World’s Best Banana Cream Pie (with peanut butter cookie crust!)
- Tony’s Very Favorite Dutch Apple Pie
- Brown Butter Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
- Best Healthy Apple Crisp Ever!
- Apple Pie Bars with Salted Peanut Butter Caramel
Get all of our dessert recipes here, and Thanksgiving recipes here!
I hope you love this amazing brown butter apple coffee cake! If you make it be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked it. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Brown Butter Apple Coffee Cake
Ingredients
- For the topping & streusel:
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup salted butter, melted
- Wet ingredients:
- ⅓ cup salted butter* (unsalted is fine too!)
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup pure maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Dry ingredients:
- 1 ¾ cup all purpose flour (or sub gf all purpose flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Mix-ins:
- 1 medium honeycrisp apple, peeled, cored and roughly chopped into ¼ inch pieces (about 1 cup chopped apple)
- For the glaze:
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of cinnamon
- 1-2 tablespoons milk of choice, to thin glaze to your liking
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8x8 inch pan with parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- First make your streusel: in a medium bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Add in the melted butter and stir together with a fork until it begins to form into crumbles and resembles clumps of wet sand. You may need to use your hands/fingers to form into nice thick ‘crumbs’. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge until ready to use.
- Make your brown butter: add ⅓ cup butter to a large saucepan or skillet and place over medium heat. The butter will begin to melt, crackle, and then eventually foam. Make sure you stir constantly during this process. After a couple of minutes, the butter will begin to brown and turn a nice golden amber color on the bottom of the saucepan, this usually happens right when it foams. Continue to whisk and remove from heat as soon as the butter begins to brown and give off a nutty aroma. Set aside to cool for 5-10 minutes.
- In a large bowl, mix together the wet ingredients until well combined: applesauce, eggs, maple syrup, vanilla extract and cooled brown butter.
- In a separate medium bowl: whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, nutmeg and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined; do not overmix. Fold in the chopped apples.
- Pour HALF of the batter into the prepared pan; sprinkle with HALF of the streusel mixture. Then top with half of the remaining batter and top with remaining streusel mixture.
- Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a tester comes out clean with just a few crumbs attached. Allow the cake to cool for 30 minutes before glazing.
- To make the glaze: In a small bowl, mix together the melted butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and milk. Start with a little bit of milk to thin the glaze, knowing you can always add more to thin if necessary. Drizzle the glaze back and forth over the cake. It does make a good amount of glaze, so you can always cut it in half or omit it from the recipe (but I highly recommend the drizzle!). Cut into 12 slices. Store covered at room temp for 1-2 days, then transfer to the fridge for up to 1 week.
Recipe Notes
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
This post was originally published on November 16th, 2021, republished on September 27th, 2022, and republished on October 1st, 2023.
65 comments
Do you have nutrition information for this recipe?
Sorry, we didn’t calculate it for this one! Feel free to paste the ingredients into an online nutrition calculator 🙂
Hi! Our family loves your recipes 🙂 Do you think you could make this recipe with subbing the applesauce, maybe with mashed banana? Or do you recommend keeping the applesauce as-is.
Hi, Ariel! I think it should work alright, you’ll just definitely get that banana flavor which would make it less apple-y. If you’re ok with that, go for it!
This was super delicious easy to make. My family thought I got this from a bakery! Your recipes never disappoint!!
This coffee cake is delicious! I made it gluten free using Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 flour (same amount called for in the recipe) and it worked great. It took the full baking time (50 minutes) but was fully baked. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Just made this and had a piece with my coffee and I’m seriously sitting here trying not to go back and devour the whole thing!! Delish!! Thanks Monique!
Oh my, the most glorious divine coffee cake I’ve ever tasted. Made a few substitutions – 1/2 AP and 1/2 Sprouted Spelt, didn’t have the full cup for applesauce so substituted with plain yogurt, and it was successful with cutting the brown sugar with some coconut sugar, too! GREAT RECIPE! The perfect amount of sweetness without it being over the top! I totally made this for my husband since coffee cake is his favorite thing on earth, I’m not even a coffee cake person, but this might have changed me!
YAY!! So happy to hear that all worked well and that you guys loved it so much! ❤️
This was amazing! Taking the time to brown the butter was totally worth it. I doubled the recipe for thanksgiving morning breakfast to have with coffee and it was a hit – not too sweet, plenty of apple flavor. I left off the icing because I didn’t have the ingredients. I’ll for sure be making this again!
So happy you loved it, Avery. Thanks for leaving a review!
This coffee cake is SO GOOD. Not too sweet, perfect texture. I made a double batch so I could take it to work – I did notice the “gummy” texture when mixing the dry ingredients with the wet, but I think it’s because I just had so much to mix that I had to do it for quite a while! Luckily, I don’t think it affected the overall outcome – I made sure to stop mixing as soon as I could. Will for sure be making this one again!
Happy to hear the final texture came out great and that you loved it, Martha! 🙂
I just made this and it tastes amazing! I used Bobs Red Mill gf flour, and as another comment said it did take the full 50 minutes to bake. I didn’t do the glaze and I think it tastes wonderful without it! It’s not too sweet and will taste amazing with my coffee tomorrow morning! Thanks for the great recipe! 🙂
Thanks for the note! Happy to hear you loved it, Lauren 🙂
This cake has an excellent flavor and texture! I will definitely make it again. I did have to bake it for about 60 minutes, not 40-50 as the recipe indicates.
So happy you loved it! And good to know–ovens can be so different in terms of cook time!
I made this using GF all purpose flour from Trader Joe’s and all I have to say is WOW! This is absolutely delicious and I love how moist the cake is too! sometimes gluten free cakes can be a bit dry and it’s not at all dry and the flavors, oh the flavors. Highly recommend this cake
I also had to bake it for longer closer to 60 minutes as well.
Nice!! So happy to hear it came out perfectly! Good to know about the baking time, too 🙂
I’ve made this cake 3 times now using vegan butter because I have a mom friend who is dairy free for her kiddo. The first time I made it in a 9in cake pan as a birthday cake it was perfect. The second and third times were in 8×8 and still perfect. I’ve never gotten such compliments on it cake. Its the perfect amount of sweetness, beautifully moist, and the struesel topping gives great texture. Will continue to make many more times
Oh I’m SO happy you’ve made this so many times and have loved it every time! Thanks for the kind review, Megan 🙂
One of my most successful bakes! I used KA gf flour and coconut sugar substitute. I also had to bake a bit longer at 55 minutes. But seriously, SO GOOD!! Thank you for another family favorite!
So happy you loved this one and glad to hear those subs worked out!
yummy recipe
I am normally horrible at desserts but this was SO easy and delicious. My mom immediately made the same recipe the next day because she loved it so much! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
I was making this cake to give to a neighbour and it smelled so good that my family insisted that we keep half! I was super yummy! I skipped the glaze because I thought there was enough sugar without it and it was still great
I followed the recipe exactly, turned out great! Loved that it’s not too sweet. It looks like there is too much streusel in the beginning, but once the cake is done, you realize it’s the perfect amount. I did cut the glaze recipe in half and that was sufficient.
I’m so glad you loved it! Glad the streusel amount was perfect, and good to know that halving the glaze worked well 🙂
Monique, could I simply double the ingredients to make this in a 13×9 pan? Thanks!
Yes, that should work just fine! Enjoy 🙂
Can I sub the maple syrup with something else?
I haven’t tested any other sweeteners so I’m not sure, sorry! Let me know if you try anything 🙂
This recipe is absolutely delicious! Seriously reconsidering sharing it and keeping it all to myself. I even layered it wrong because I can’t follow instructions, and it still turned out incredible. Another AK hit!
So glad it turned out amazing, Jen!! Thanks for commenting!
This is a good one! I used gf ap flour, flax eggs, and probs a little extra apple, and YUMMM. We’ve been heating it up and adding vanilla ice cream on top. Thx for a real one!
I’m so glad you love this one, Jenny! Happy to hear the GF flour worked well, too.
Super yummy coffee cake! I made it with vegan butter so I didn’t brown the butter, and it was still delicious! I’m sure browned butter would have made it even yummier, though. I didn’t make the icing and thought it didn’t really need it! I will definitely make again 🙂
Ah yay! So glad you are loving this recipe ❤️
This cake is absolutely delicious! The brown butter and apple flavors are to die for. The hardest part about it is sharing it with friends and family because it’s that good. Next time I’m going to double the recipe so it’s easier share.
This cake is absolutely delicious! The brown butter and apple flavors are to die for. The hardest part about it is sharing it with friends and family because it’s that good. Next time I’m going to double the recipe so it’s easier share.
Recipe came out great! I didn’t have a 8×8 pan so I used a 9” pie dish and it came out beautiful. Ended up baking for 50 minutes, I checked it at 40 and it wasn’t done yet but I think 45 min would’ve been perfect, just slightly brown on the bottom having baked for 50.
Yay! So glad this recipe turned out great and that you’re loving it!
aMAZing!! This was beyond delicious, not complicated, and delighted the entire family!
Ah YAY! I am so glad you are loving this cake, always a family favorite 🙂
Another amazing AK recipe! This was delicious! My family gobbled it up. Perfect recipe for fall!
Ahh this makes me to happy to hear, glad everyone is loving this cozy fall recipe 🍎🙂
Delish! I followed the recipe exactly and it turned out great.
Yum! So glad this recipe turned out great for you, Madee!
Great coffee cake recipe! The baking time was so spot on- toothpick came out perfectly clean. The taste was sweet but the apple was not too overpowering. The frosting was easy to make while the cake baked and turned out delicious. Very nice to have with a cup of coffee.
Yum! I am so glad you’re loving this cake and it turned out amazing for you!
Can you make this as muffins?
Hi Jordyn – I havent tested this recipe in muffins so I am not sure how it would turn out. You’d definitely have to adjust baking time a bit.
Deliciously moist and perfect for the season!
Yess! Love this so much 🍎
So yummy! Incredibly moist. Just the right amount of sweetness. I skipped the glaze like many other commenters and it’s still soooo good! Might try cutting some of the brown sugar with coconut sugar next time. Thanks for another great recipe!
Amazing! This is such a staple this time of year, glad you gave this one a try and are loving it! Thanks so much for your comment, Kate!
The food was great! My kids loved it! It took me not that long to make it too. Dependently recommend
Yay! SO glad you loved this recipe and it was a hit for the kids too!
SOOOOOOO DELICIOUS!!! I have made this recipe 3 times now to bring into work, and every time I make it, it gets devoured within an hour or two with people taking multiple pieces. A co-worker once told me that she would drive into clinic on a work from home day, even at peak traffic, just to eat this coffee cake. Do yourself a favor and make this!! You will NOT be disappointed!
Incredible! So happy to hear it’s a hit!
This was so delicious and everyone loved it!
So happy to hear that!
I plan on making this for Sunday School at my church. I know that there is a make ahead section, however, I want the coffee cake to be hot and fresh when they get it. I think I am going to attempt to make the batter ahead of time, then assemble in the morning and bake before going to church. I need to make two, so I will prepare one the day before and then see how the 2nd prepped coffee cake turns out!
The perfect treat! Let me know how it goes 🙂