Description
Apple Streusel Coffee Cake is a moist, tender cake layered with spiced apples and finished with a buttery cinnamon streusel topping. This recipe delivers a balanced sweetness, soft crumb, and crisp topping that works perfectly for breakfast, brunch, or an afternoon treat. The combination of fresh apples, warm spices, and rich cake batter creates a comforting bake that feels homemade and bakery worthy at the same time.
Ingredients
Streusel topping made with all purpose flour, brown sugar alternative, ground cinnamon, and cold butter cut into small chunks
Cake batter prepared with all purpose flour, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, butter, granulated sugar alternative, brown sugar alternative, a large egg, Simply Organic Vanilla Flavor or Watkins Clear Vanilla Flavor, and buttermilk
Apple filling made from peeled and finely diced apples, brown sugar alternative, all purpose flour, and ground cinnamon
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven and prepare a square baking pan with a light coating to prevent sticking
2. Peel, core, and finely dice the apples, then set them aside for the filling
3. Mix flour, brown sugar alternative, and cinnamon for the streusel, then cut in cold butter until crumbly and chill briefly
4. Whisk together the dry ingredients for the cake batter until evenly combined
5. Cream the butter with both sugar alternatives until smooth and fluffy
6. Add the egg and vanilla flavor, mixing until fully incorporated
7. Blend in the dry ingredients gradually, then mix in the buttermilk until a thick smooth batter forms
8. Combine the diced apples with brown sugar alternative, flour, and cinnamon until evenly coated
9. Spread half of the batter into the prepared pan and layer the apple filling evenly on top
10. Cover with the remaining batter and smooth gently
11. Sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the surface
12. Bake until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out mostly clean
13. Allow the cake to cool before slicing to let the layers set properly
Notes
Use apples that hold their shape during baking for the best texture
Keep the butter cold when making the streusel to achieve a crisp topping
Avoid overmixing the batter to maintain a tender crumb
Let the cake cool before cutting for clean slices and defined layers
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American