Topped with a walnut streusel topping and full of applesauce and sour cream, this Applesauce Coffee Cake is a perfect Fall dessert. Serve this coffee cake as an afternoon snack or a delicious breakfast treat!
If you love fruity coffee cakes, be sure to try my banana coffee cake too!
During apple season we are always looking for delicious apple recipes to make! This easy coffee cake is perfect with a hot cup of coffee on a cool Fall morning.
This applesauce coffee cake is so easy to make and so impressive! The sour cream and applesauce keeps the batter very moist and the walnuts add texture to the sweet cake. This will impress any guest that comes into your home! This apple pie coffee cake or this Bisquick coffee cake in a 9x13 inch pan are great recipes to make too!
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Is There Coffee In This Applesauce Coffee Cake?
No! There's no coffee in this coffee cake.
It is called "coffee cake" because it is usually enjoyed with your morning coffee or an afternoon pick me up coffee.
You don't have to worry about adding your favorite brew to this moist cake, the sour cream and applesauce make this cake moist enough.
Ingredients You'll Need
- Sugar. You'll need both brown sugar and white sugar for this
- All Purpose flour. You can user a mixture of whole wheat flour and all purpose flour if you prefer. You will want equal amounts of each.
- Leavening agents. You'll need both baking powder and baking soda.
- Whole eggs. To keep the batter together.
- Sour cream. This will keep the sweet cake super moist!
- Applesauce. Your favorite variety.
- Cinnamon. You can't make an apple dessert without cinnamon!
- Walnuts. To add some texture to the streusel topping.
What Type of Applesauce To Use
Homemade applesauce is my favorite type of applesauce, and therefore it's the one I used.
If you are using a store-bought version, unsweetened applesauce is best in this recipe. If you only have sweetened applesauce, reduce the amount of sugar in the batter to ½ cup so you do not have an overly sweet cake.
Let's Make Applesauce Coffee Cake!
In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon for the filling. Set that aside.
In a medium bowl, mix together the melted butter, brown sugar, flour, chopped walnuts, and cinnamon for the crumb topping. Mix well and set that aside.
In a large bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter and sugar. Mix well to combine. Add the applesauce and sour cream. Mix again. Crack the eggs into the bowl and mix well. In a small separate bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Mix to combine.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in the bowl of the stand mixer. Mix well until the flour mixture is completely mixed in, but do not overmix.
Lynn's Tip! It's ok if there are a few lumps left in the batter. The applesauce will make it so the batter is not 100% smooth.
Putting the Cake Together
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish well or spray with cooking spray. Pour half of the batter into the bottom of the prepare baking dish and spread it into an even layer. Sprinkle the filling mixture over the top of the batter.
Top with the rest of the batter then sprinkle the walnut topping over the top of the cake.
Bake for 50-60 minutes depending on your oven. A toothpick can be inserted into the middle of the cake and if the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is done. Let the cake cool to room temperature on a wire rack or a hot plate before you cut into it.
Storage Tips
Once the coffee cake has cooled, you can keep it in the baking dish and cover it with plastic wrap. Keep it right on the counter and serve it from the baking dish.
If you would like to take it out of the baking dish, you can cut it into pieces and place it in an airtight container. The cake will stay fresh up to 5 days.
How To Serve Applesauce Cakes
- With a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
- Sprinkled with more cinnamon sugar.
- Sprinkled with powdered sugar.
- On it's own!
- With a hot cup of coffee, a cup of tea, or some warm apple cider.
Frequently Asked Questions
When it's that time of year when apples are everywhere, we are always looking for recipes to add them to. You can use fresh apples instead of applesauce if you would like. Use a sweet apple like honeycrisp apples, gala apples, or Fuji apples. If you prefer a more tart apple like a Granny Smith, you will want to add some more sugar to the batter.
Yes! Make sure you butter the pan very well, add the walnut streusel mixture to the prepared pan first. Then spoon batter into the bottom of the bundt pan. Sprinkle the brown sugar mixture into the bundt pan and then top with the remaining batter. Bake for 1 hour and allow the bundt to cool. Then turn the bundt onto a serving plate once it is cooled.
Yes! You can either mix the coffee cake batter by hand or you can mix it with a hand mixer.
More Apple Recipes
- Apple Cinnamon Waffles
- Easy Apple Cobbler with Cake Mix
- All in One Apple Cake
- Sourdough Apple Cider Donuts
- Instant Pot Apple Butter
Did you make this recipe and love it?
If you did, don't forget to leave a 5-star review below! Show me your creation on Instagram or Facebook. Just mention @Lynn'sWayofLife or use this hashtag #lynnswayoflife.
📖 Recipe
Applesauce Coffee Cake with Streusel Topping
Ingredients
- ½ cup Butter Room temperature
- 1 cup Sugar
- ½ cup Sour Cream
- 1 cup Applesauce Unsweetened
- 2 Eggs
- 2 cups Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
For Cinnamon Sugar Filling
- ⅓ cup Brown Sugar
- ¼ cup Flour
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
For the Walnut Streusel Topping
- 4 tablespoon Butter Melted
- ½ cup Brown Sugar
- ¼ cup Flour
- 1 cup Walnuts Chopped
- 2 teaspoon Cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon for the filling. Set that aside.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the melted butter, brown sugar, flour, chopped walnuts, and cinnamon for the crumb topping. Mix well and set that aside.
- In a large bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter and sugar. Mix well to combine.
- Add the applesauce and sour cream. Mix again.
- Crack the eggs into the bowl and mix well.
- In a small separate bowl, add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in the bowl of the stand mixer. Mix well until the flour mixture is completely mixed in, but do not overmix.
- Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish well or spray with cooking spray. Pour half of the batter into the bottom of the prepare baking dish and spread it into an even layer. Sprinkle the filling mixture over the top of the batter. Top with the rest of the batter then sprinkle the walnut topping over the top of the cake.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted and comes out clean.
Notes
- If you do not like walnuts, you can leave the walnuts out and crumble the cinnamon sugar mixture on top of the cake.
- It's ok if the batter is not fully smooth. Depending on how chunky the applesauce is, there will be lumps left in the batter.
- Allow the cake to cool completely before serving.
Linda Nell Bagett says
I love this recipe and I have made this coffee cake several times now!
I recently decided to experiment with the recipe a bit. This recipe will also make 12 Large coffee cake muffins! I made those for packing in my son's lunch and they are both delicious and beautiful. This time I also added a bit of maple flavoring which worked great with the apple and walnut flavors. Thank you for the great recipe.
Lynn Polito says
Yay! I am so happy to hear that! I loved that you made it your own too!
Mary says
I made this recipe using your 'homemade chunky applesauce.' too, and it's so goooooood! The taste is greater than the store-bought one (I'm talking about the applesauce hehe). I enjoyed it with my afternoon coffee. 🙂 Thank you!
Lynn Polito says
I am so happy to hear that!
Beth says
Loved this applesauce coffee cake! The streusel topping had a delightful crunch that perfectly complemented the super moist cake. Paired it with a cup of coffee, and it was perfect! Definitely baking this again soon!
Lynn Polito says
Awesome! Thanks for making my recipe!
Jenny says
This was a great and easy apple recipe to make! I also loved the aromatic scent. Will be happy to bake this again! Thanks!
Kelly Smith says
The combination of applesauce and sour cream made this coffee cake incredibly moist. Adding walnuts to the streusel gave the streusel topping an additional crunch. Although I made this as a dessert, I'm eating it for breakfast every day this week until the last crumb is gone!
Lynn Polito says
I am so happy to hear that!
Stephanie says
I made this coffee cake was absolutely delicious! It's the perfect blend of sweet, cinnamon, and moistness. I'll be making it for breakfast again soon!
Lynn Polito says
I am so happy to hear that!
Emerson says
This apple sauce coffee cake is my socially acceptable way of having dessert for breakfast. It's so comforting and makes my coffee that much more enjoyable first thing in the morning. The streusel topping is my favorite!
Lynn Polito says
Yes! Mine too!
Lisa Browning says
Best ever! My husband’s favorite coffee cake - thank you
Lynn Polito says
Thank you! I am so happy you enjoyed it!
Julieanne says
This was easy and popular with our company. I used 1/2 whole wheat, which worked fine, but couldn't even see the cinnamon layer, so I might just mix those ingredients in next time and skip layering.
lynnswayoflife says
That sounds great! Thanks for making my recipe!
Bethanne Donovan says
Eating it as we speak! 😃👍🙆🏼♀️😋 I love trying new recipes even though I have similar ones. This is great 👍! I have to admit that I am known for "tweaking" recipes a little 😏! I may have added a little more cinnamon, heaping cup of applesauce and I must have miscalculated the amount of batter for bottom layer so I just swirled the top layer before adding streusal topping! Either way, it is a winner! Thanks for sharing!
lynnswayoflife says
I love hearing that! So glad you enjoyed this cake! Thanks for making my recipe!
Gloria says
I am going to make this wonderful coffee cake recipe thank you Gloria
lynnswayoflife says
I hope you enjoy!