Tart apples and warm cinnamon make my apple coffee cake recipe a classic treat!
I love starting my day with an ooey-gooey breakfast pastry and a cup of coffee or tea! Coffee cakes are the perfect treat to fill that craving, whether you make tangy sour cream coffee cake, easy Bisquick coffee cake, or even go hunting for seasonal fruit to make blueberry coffee cake.
But my apple coffee cake recipe is the surefire ticket to get you off on the right foot!
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What I Love About This Recipe
Some flavor combinations are classics for a reason — and this cake highlights my favorite one, apples, and cinnamon!
- Less than an hour start to finish
- Fluffy, velvety texture perfection
- Best breakfast EVER!
- Apples + Cinnamon = HEAVEN
How To Make Apple Coffee Cake Recipe
It couldn’t be easier to make my cake! Start by prepping your baking pan, then cream together the butter and sugar. Next, add in eggs and vanilla.
In a second bowl, you’ll mix together the dry ingredients. Then, you’ll take that dry mix and alternate adding it with the sour cream into the creamy butter mix. Pop it in the oven and bake until just done.
While the batter is baking, whisk together the crumble topping. Remove the cake from the oven, sprinkle on that crumble topping, and finish baking.
Easy and delicious apple coffee cake with sour cream coming up!
Recipe Notes
I’ve got a few helpful cake notes to help make this delightful breakfast even better for you and your family!
Ingredient Notes
Apples and cinnamon and other yumminess — let’s walk through the ingredients!
- Flour: With flour be sure to measure out ingredients precisely. Your cake can turn out dry because of too much flour. You can use the scoop-and-sweep method with a measuring cup and knife to get the exact measurement.
- Buttermilk: Many say apple coffee cake with buttermilk instead of sour cream adds even more moisture and a bit of zing. Experiment!
- Wheat: For a healthier variation, switch out the standard white flour for whole wheat flour. No guilt with your breakfast pastry here!
- Apples: Not fond of the tartness of Granny Smith apples? Swap them for Gala, Fuji, or Yellow Delicious instead — but be warned that different apples bake up differently!
Tools to Make
The tools to make this dish just as easy and classic as the recipe!
- A 9×13 baking dish
- Mixing bowls
- Electric mixer
That’s it!
How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge?
I think this coffee cake tastes amazing just out of the fridge, slightly chilled. Whether you heat it up before eating or not, you’ll definitely want to keep it stored in the fridge when not indulging. You’ll get up to one week out of it stored there!
Can You Freeze This?
Yes! Extend the life of your cake by storing it either in its sheet cake form or sliced individually for up to three months in the freezer.
To thaw, either heat your individual slices in the microwave or let the whole cake thaw in the fridge overnight.
Make Ahead Tips
You can definitely make an apple cake ahead of time! Go on and sleep in — no need to wake with dawn to have a delicious breakfast.
I generally whip it up later in the evening the night before. In the morning, I’ll pop it in the oven for ten minutes just to get it back up to crispy-crunchy heaven!
Serving Recommendations
What’s the best way to serve coffee cake? Well, as breakfast of course — but that’s not all!
You can also serve this delectable dish as a dinnertime dessert. Pair it alongside apple bars for a double-trouble apple dessert sensation. Wash it all down with another fruity favorite: Peach Moonshine!
Or make a meal out of it by serving with Bisquick breakfast casserole – chock full of protein and veggies – or tater tot breakfast casserole full of bacon, green onions, and two kinds of cheese. If you don’t have any sausage or bacon on hand, you could make a creamy hashbrown casserole instead.
Recipe Variations
Want to see what ingredients we can swap out for some variation fun? Here ya go!
- Nix the apples and sour cream for another seasonal sensation: eggnog cake!
- No butter? No problem! Replace your oil with applesauce to get applesauce cake.
- Forgot to make apple cake the night before, and need a fast recipe now? My apple dump cake recipe is here to save the day!
- Make this a full-blown dinnertime dessert by adding caramel and other sensational goodies with caramel apple sheet cake.
- Go for a different fruit indulgence by swapping out the apples for pineapples with my pineapple upside down cake.
More Fruit Cake Recipes
Looking for more fruit cake recipes? Try these!
- Blueberry Boy Bait
- Banana Pudding Cake
- Strawberry Poke Cake
- Peach Dump Cake Recipe
- Pumpkin Crunch Cake
Apple Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 3/4 cup butter
- 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sour cream
- 3 cups granny smith apples, peeled and chopped
Crumb Topping:
- 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, warm, melted
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Spray a 9X13 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray; Set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, using a hand-held electric mixer, cream together the butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time, mixing until yellow disappears. Mix in vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to cream mixture alternating with the sour cream until well combined.
- Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternating with the sour cream until well combined. Fold in the apples.
- Pour batter into the prepared baking dish, spread evenly with an offset spatula.
- Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the Topping. Whisk together both sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt until combined. Add warm melted butter and stir until combined.
- Add flour and mix with fork until clumps form (topping should look a bit wet). Set aside.
- Remove cake from oven and spread crumb topping clumps (don't press them down) evenly over partially baked coffee cake, covering completely. Topping will be thick.
- Return to oven and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs (not batter). About 20-25 minutes.
- Cool on wire rack at least 30 minutes.
Perfect for any day
Best way to start the day, can’t wait to try this recipe!
Thinking of baking, then freezing. Do I freeze in the pan? How do you suggest thawing and/or reaheating?
Hey Bridgot. I prefer freezing this in a resealable plastic freezer bag and removing as much air as possible. This is such a large coffee cake that you’ll likely need to cut it in half and freeze it in 2, 1-gallon bags. You can freeze it in the completely cooled baking pan, covering it tightly with a couple of layers of plastic wrap, then aluminum foil. Hope this helps <3
Hi. Can we make this eggless?
Hi Pooja, I’m sorry, I’ve never baked a coffee cake like this without eggs. Wish I could be more helpful!