Calling all apple fans! This all in one apple cake is a simple one bowl recipe! Chunks of sweet apple are surrounded by a moist, cinnamon cake. Simply top with powdered sugar for a crowd pleasing Fall dessert!
It's apple season in New England! My favorite time of year! Apples, pumpkins, sweaters, and cozy candles are all around! When we have so many apples and pumpkins around, I love playing with recipes and adding apples to everything! Like these Apple Cinnamon Breakfast Bars, caramel apple cobbler, and this apple cake!
This recipe came from my grandma. It's one of those recipes that has been in the family for years and years but no one knows where it originated from. It was my grandfather's favorite cake, because it's not too sweet, and not covered in chocolate. It has a delicious cinnamon flavor and large chunks of apples throughout the cake.
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Why This Apple Cake is Amazing!
- Everything is made in one bowl! No large equipment needed. Add everything to a bowl and mix it together!
- It's a great use for fresh apples! If you're like my family, you love going apple picking in the Fall. We always have tons of apples that need to be eaten or baked with before they go bad.
- It's an easy cake to make! The hardest part of this cake is chopping the apples. There are lots of gadgets out there that will help make peeling and cutting easier, like this one.
Ingredients You'll Need
- Apples- Honeycrisp or Gala are favorites.
- Coconut Oil- a neutral oil is best. Vegetable oil or canola oil can be substituted for the coconut oil.
- Sugar- use both granulated sugar and brown sugar.
- Baking powder- 5 teaspoons might seem like a lot of baking powder, but this is a heavy cake with all those apples, so you need a lot of baking powder to make the cake rise.
Equipment
No fancy equipment needed to make this cake. You'll mix everything by hand so you don't mush the apples together and they are apple to hold their shape in the cake.
Step By Step Photos
How To Make This Apple Cake
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- In a large bowl, mix together coconut oil, sugar, and brown sugar. Mix well until fully combined.
- Add the eggs and mix well.
- Peel and chop the apples into small chunks, about ½ inch thick.
- Add the apples, flour, salt, cinnamon, vanilla, and baking powder to the bowl.
- Mix well to combine all the ingredients. At this point, it may look like there is not enough batter based on how many apples there are. Don't stress! The batter will rise and create a beautiful crumb in the cake.
- Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan. Pour the cake into the pan and spread it out so the batter is evenly distributed throughout the pan.
- Place the pan in the oven for 45 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted and comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to slightly cool before cutting into it so the cake holds its shape.
The Best Apples To Use
You'll want to use sweet, firm apples. Fuji, Gala, or Honeycrisp are my favorite. We just went apple picking, so we have a bunch of Honeycrisp apples in my kitchen to use. You can even do a mixture of apples, two Gala and one Honeycrisp would be really great! If you have more tart apples like Granny Smith, I'd add more sugar to offset the tartness of the apples.
How To Serve This Apple Cake
- This cake is perfect with just a sprinkling of powdered sugar.
- Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a twist on an apple pie ala mode. You can't go wrong adding vanilla ice cream to anything!
- To add a glaze, mix together 1 cup of powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons of milk and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. That will give you a beautiful, light glaze for the cake.
- There's always homemade whipped cream! Add 1 cup of whipping cream to the bowl of a stand mixer and add 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar. Whip the heck out of it until it forms stiff peaks. The easiest whipped cream you could make!
- With a delicious cup of Masala Chai.
Tips and Tricks
- When you are mixing the cake, it may look like there is not enough batter or that the batter is too thick, but don't worry! The amount of baking powder in this recipe gives it a nice rise, so the batter will surround the cake and become beautifully moist.
- Make sure to grease and flour the pan well. There's a lot of sugar in the apples and the batter that could easily stick if the pan is not greased properly.
- This cake can be made in a Bundt pan or a spring form pan. This makes a lot of batter, so add a baking sheet to the bottom of the cake pan when baking to make sure there is no overflow of the batter while it bakes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! If you want to freeze it, bake it off as you would, let it cool, and then wrap the cake pan in plastic wrap. Place it in the freezer for up to 3 months. To defrost, place it on the counter until completely thawed.
If you don't eat it all in one sitting, this cake will last up to 3 days on the counter. Make sure it's in an airtight container, and place it on the counter and grab a slice whenever you are ready!
You can add cinnamon chips or caramel chips to this cake for an extra depth of flavor. Top the cake with a cinnamon streusel crumble just like this banana bread. Keep it simple by adding some walnuts and raisins into the cake too!
Other Recipes To Try
Did you love this One Bowl Apple Cake? I'd so appreciate it if you would give this recipe a 5 star review! That will help other hungry readers find my recipes!
And don't forget to tag me on Instagram or Facebook and share this recipe on Pinterest! Thanks for sharing this journey with me and enjoy these delicious recipes!
- More Dessert Recipes
- Oreo Cheesecake Bars
- Pumpkin Sourdough Muffins
- Spinach and Feta Egg Cups
- Nutella Zucchini Bread
- Broccoli Cheddar Quiche with Tortilla Crust
- Light and Crisp Sourdough Waffles
- Sourdough Pumpkin Waffles
- Death By Chocolate Zucchini Bread
📖 Recipe
All In One Apple Cake
Ingredients
- ¾ cup Coconut Oil a neutral oil
- 1 cup Sugar
- ½ cup Brown Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 4 cups Diced Apples 3 large, or 5 small
- 2 cups Flour
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 tablespoon Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- 5 teaspoon baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
- Add the oil, sugar, and brown sugar to a large bowl. Mix until the ingredients are well combined.
- Crack the eggs into the bowl and continue to mix.
- Peel and dice the apples. They should be cut into ½ inch pieces, or into chunks.
- Add the apples, flour, salt, cinnamon, vanilla, and baking powder to the bowl and mix everything until it is fully combined.
- Add the batter to the prepared 9x13 inch pan and spread out the batter so it is evenly distributed. Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted and comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- The batter might seem dry or that there is not enough, but that's ok! It will bake up perfectly with the ingredients.
- Grease and flour the pan well. There's a lot of sugar and apples in this cake that could easily stick to the pan.
- Gala, Honeycrisp, or Fuji are the best apples to use in this cake.
Glenda says
What a delicious cake! Thanks for sharing this yummy recipe! I will definitely be making this again.
Marija says
Thank you for a wonderful and simple recipe. I did modify it, because I was baking a bunch of other things and didn’t want to waste the melted butter and some sugar, and I only had the round mold left to use. It came out juicy and yummy!
lynnswayoflife says
oh I'm so happy to hear that! Thank you for trying this recipe!