This Apple Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Streusel recipe makes a tender cake studded with diced fresh apples and has TWO LAYERS of cinnamon streusel!
Tender cake, bits of apple, crunchy streusel
First up, the most tender cake you've ever tasted! Sour cream adds tartness and keeps the cake moist (sorry not sorry). It also helps to provide lift when it reacts with the baking soda while baking. This cake rises beautifully and is delicate and delicious.
Next, make an apple filling to die for! You'll want to use tart, firm apples in this recipe. The tartness will offset the sweet streusel. Using firm apples will ensure that you don't end up with apple mush. You'll get bites of real apple chunks! I like to use Granny Smith of Honeycrisp apples in this recipe.
Lastly, make a sweet and buttery cinnamon streusel. A lot of butter and cinnamon with the richness of brown sugar and a bit of salt crisps up perfectly in the oven, offering a contrast to the soft and tender cake.
Why is this Coffee Cake SOOOOOO Good?
There are two bits of genius in this Apple Coffee Cake recipe.
We are going to use the reverse creaming method for this recipe. Let’s talk about this method for making cakes — it's a total game-changer!
Unlike the traditional method where you cream the fat (usually butter) and sugar first, with the reverse creaming method you start by mixing the dry ingredients with the fat before adding the liquids.
And we will be even more rebellious with this recipe - we'll add some of the sour cream to the fat and flour!
Sounds a little backwards, right? But trust me, it works like magic!
This technique coats the flour in fat, which limits gluten formation and gives you a super tender, velvety crumb. It’s perfect for cakes that are soft yet sturdy, like a classic wedding cake or a rich pound cake.
Plus, it’s almost foolproof—no worrying about over-mixing or getting that perfect fluffy butter-sugar blend. If you’ve never tried it, now’s the time to switch things up!
Cinnamon Streusel for the win
To contrast with the cake, we will have not just one but two layers of cinnamon streusel. Of course, the cake is generously topped with cinnamon streusel. But we will also add a layer of streusel in the middle of the cake with a layer of apples.
Trust me, this is a genius move!
The streusel on top of the coffee cake gets crunchy and provides the perfect contrast to the cake. But this filling mixes with the apples and creates a soft filling that you will find yourself digging for!
If you love the cozy combo of cinnamon, apples, and a buttery crumb topping, this Apple Coffee Cake is about to be your new best friend. It’s the kind of cake that makes your whole house smell like decadent.
Soft, moist, and loaded with warm spices, it pairs perfectly with a hot cup of coffee (or tea, if that’s your thing). The best part? That sweet, crunchy streusel on top—because let’s be real, every good coffee cake needs a little crumble action.
Whether you're baking for brunch, a holiday get-together, or just because you need a slice of something delicious, this cake has you covered!
If you love apples, check out some of my other inspired recipes!
Apple Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Streusel
Ingredients
For the Streusel
- 100 grams all-purpose flour
- 150 grams granulated sugar
- 100 grams light brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 60 grams unsalted butter melted
- Pinch of Salt
For the Cake
- 320 grams all-purpose flour
- 240 grams granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 170 grams unsalted butter cubed, cool room temperature
- 4 large eggs at room temperature
- 350 mL 1 ½ cups sour cream, at room temperature, divided
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 medium apples peeled, cored and diced
Instructions
- Make the streusel: In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Pour in the melted and cooled butter and combine to form a sandy mixture. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Spray a 9x13 pan with baking spray.
- Make the cake: First, peel, core and dice the apples. Then, in the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using the paddle attachment, mix for about 30 seconds.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, 1 cup of sour cream and the vanilla extract until combined.
- Add the butter and ½ cup sour cream to the flour mixture in the stand mixer. Mix until crumbly, about 45 seconds.
- Add one third of the egg mixture to the stand mixer and mix for 30 seconds. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add another third, mix for 30 seconds, scrape again and then add the last of the egg mixture. Mix for 30 seconds on low speed.
- Turn mixer up to medium and mix for about 45 seconds until the mixture is smooth.
- Pour about half of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the diced apples on top of the batter. Sprinkle about 1 cup of the topping mixture over the apples.
- Pour the remaining batter over the apple/streusel layer and spread carefully to keep the layers seperate.
- Sprinkle on the remaining streusel mixture to cover the top of the cake.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until the a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool at room temperature for at least an hour before serving so that the cake slices well.
Nutrition
Tina says
This coffee cake is spectacular! I will add it to my weekend recipes!
Erin says
Found and made this coffee cake recipe on the snow day that followed the snow day it was posted on. Kids were home from school this day, too. It did not disappoint ... delicious!! Might add pecans to the streusel next time.
Tanya Ott says
So glad that everyone liked it! I agree with the pecans in the streusel - my family is weird and doesn't like nuts in cookies and cakes. They only eat them raw by the handful!
Sue Cann says
Hi, I’ve just found your blog via a FB post ! Can I please ask, you say granulated sugar in the recipe......in the U.K. granulated is very coarse and I’ve never seen a recipe using it for the cake mixture. We use castor suga which is fine. Is this just a language thing or do you really mean granulated ?
Thanks
Tanya Ott says
I actually made this cake recently while I was in the UK and I used caster sugar. The texture was perfect! You should be able to substitute caster sugar in all of my recipes where I list granulated. Caster is just so expensive in the US!
Sue Cann says
Thanks very much for your quick response ! Wonder why castor sugar is so expensive there ? We have "Golden Castor Sugar"here in the uk which is the only one i use. It's just unrefined. Thanks again..... looking forward to following your recipes !
SallyBR says
I hear you. We did not have as much snow as you guys, but it was enough to make my mood turn quite rotten...
Looking out at the lab window, I felt like only going home to bake could make the day better... And your coffee cake would have been perfect!