This apple coffee cake is rich and buttery, with a layer of tender apples and a double layer of cinnamon crumb topping!

A slice of apple coffee cake on a plate, with a glass of milk, and apple and cinnamon sticks behind it.

This post was sponsored by Real California Milk. I was compensated for this post and developing this recipe. However, all opinions below are my own. To find more recipe inspiration visit the Real California Milk website.

I’m not going tell you the ideal wintery flavor because I refuse to pick between pumpkin, gingerbread, peppermint, seasonal fruit like pomegranates, apples, and pears. But I do have a fondness for apples that knows no bounds. This is clearly evident with my various apple recipes, including apple cider donuts, apple fritters, apple bread, apple Brown Betty, apple fig cobbler with eggnog biscuits, apple and berry cobbler with strawberry cinnnamon swirl biscuits, spice apple berry cobbler, and the numerous apple pie recipes like fried apple hand pies, apples slab pie with prunes, tarte tatin, apple and cranberry pie with almond butter, and my open-faced brown butter spiced apple pie. When it comes to apples, I’m a fan!

But despite having a number of coffee cakes on here (cinnamon streusel coffee cake, blueberry cream cheese coffee cake, pumpkin coffee cake, Mexican Chocolate Corn Coffee Cake, Swedish blueberry cake, Earl Grey blueberry coffee cake) I’ve never shared my apple coffee cake. It has a plush and buttery coffee cake layer, a soft (not crunchy) apple filling, and a double layer of crumb topping that makes ideal for a fall and winter snack. Though honest, I make it anytime, because apples are easily available all year round. One bite and you’ll understand why!

Three slices of apple coffee cake on three different plates, with a glass of milk, cinnamon sticks and an apple next to the plates.

How Do you Make this Coffee Cake

This coffee cake is basically three recipes combined into one. And though it looks complicated, with a lot of steps and ingredients, it comes together fairly fast.

The first think you need to do is peel and then slice apples. Place them in a microwave safe bowl, toss them with a little bit of sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, then cover with a plate. Cook for a few minutes in the microwave until they start to look a little transparent and have softened a bit, and liquid has started to be release. The apples don’t have to be fully cooked, but this ensures they aren’t crunchy and hard in the cake. Set aside to cool.

Left image is sliced apples in a bowl with cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar on top. Right image is the ingredients tossed together and then cooked in a microwave of three minutes.

Then make the crumb topping by tossing together brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and flour in a bowl. Drizzle melted butter over it, tossing until crumbs and chunks form. Place in the fridge while you make the cake batter.

Left image is flour, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a bowl. Right image is melted butter drizzled over the ingredients and tossed together so crumbs and chunks have formed.

Make the cake batter by creaming butter, white sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in the bowl of stand mixer. Add in three eggs, one at a time. Scrape down the sides between additions. Pour in the liquid at the bottom of the apples (reserving the apples for later, then add the sour cream, half the flour, then milk, then the rest of the flour, again scraping down between additions.

Pour most of the cake batter and spread it out in a buttered 9 x 13 x 2-inch pan, reserving about 1 cup of the batter. Layer the apples over the batter, then spread the remaining batter over the apples.

Left image is apples layered over coffee cake batter. Right image is more coffee cake batter layered over the apples and being spread over the apples with a small offset spatula.

Sprinkle the top with the crumb topping, breaking up and super large chunks (but leaving some of it chunky because that’s what makes it good!). There’ll be a LOT of crumb topping, but it’s totally what makes this cake!

Left image is crumb topping sprinkled over the coffee cake. Right image is the coffee cake baked with the crumb topping golden brown.

Bake and then let cool in the pan for 30 minutes before serving.

Sour Cream and Butter is the Answer to a Tender Crumb

This recipe uses Real California Milk sour cream and butter, along with milk in the batter. All of them play a role in making this the best coffee cake you’ve had.

Sour cream is a thickened dairy product that is made by fermenting regular cream with a lactic acid bacteria culture. Sour cream acts as a tenderize because of the high fat content. And because sour cream is slightly acidic, it reacts with the baking soda in the recipe, creating lift and a better texture. If you don’t have sour cream, you can substitute whole milk Greek-style yogurt in its place but the cake won’t be quite as rich in flavor.

The butter in the cake not only give richness and flavor the cake but it also helps keep the cake tender by inhibiting gluten forming. Creaming the butter with the sugar aerates the batter, as well as evenly distributed the baking powder, baking soda and vanilla. Finally, vanilla has a lot of fat-soluble flavor molecules. Adding it into the step in the beginning with the butter means you get a boost of vanilla flavor.

I always look for the Real California Milk seal when I buy my dairy products. It ensures that I’m getting quality ingredients, made with milk from family-run dairy farms in California. And it’s not just milk, butter and sour cream that carries the seal. You can find it on everything dairy, from yogurt, ice cream, cheese, and more.

A slice of apple coffee cake on a plate, with a glass of milk, an apple and the remaining cake next to it.

A Note About the Apples

You’ll notice in this recipe that I pre-cook the apples in the microwave slightly. This is to give them a jump start in cooking, so they aren’t crunchy in the final coffee cake. But I also drain them a bit, as the apples have a lot of juice, and cooking them with the batter raw might lead to a slightly soggy cake underneath the apples.

If you don’t have a microwave or are feeling lazy and want to skip this step, it’s fine to just layer the apples raw on top of the cake batter. Just keep in mind that the cake will be slightly more moist underneath the apples.

As for the type of apple to use, I always recommend picking a variety of apples as I like the complexity that tart apples like Granny Smith and sweet apples like HoneyCrisp add to any baked good. But my biggest advice is to just eat one of the thin slices of apple before using it in any baked good. If the apple tastes mealy or doesn’t have any flavor, it’s not going to improve in cooking. Use a different apple to use in your cake or pie!

A slice of apple coffee cake on a plate, with a glass of milk and the remaining cake behind the plate.

Storing This Cake

This cake stores at room temperature anywhere from 5 to 7 days. Store it at room temperatures, making sure the cake is covered by plastic wrap or aluminum foil. I don’t recommend storing it in the refrigerator though, as that will dry it out.

You can, however, freeze the cake for longer storage. Slice the cake into individual pieces, then place it on a baking sheet in the freezer. Once the cake slices are frozen solid (about 2 hours), move them to a resealable Ziploc freezer bag or a plastic storage container, placing pieces of parchment or wax paper between each piece to prevent them from freezing together. To thaw, just leave it out on the counter for a day or two. Frozen coffee cake can last up to 3 months in the freezer.

A slice of apple coffee cake with a glass of milk, cinnamon sticks and an apple next to it.

More Fall and Winter Cake Recipes

If you like this apple coffee cake, check out these other fall and winter cake recipes.

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