This Applesauce Coffee Cake is a soft sour cream cake made with sweetened applesauce and cinnamon, baked in a 9×13-inch dish under a thick brown sugar, cinnamon, and clove crumb topping. The cloves in the topping give it a warm fall flavor, and the pan cuts into 12 slices, enough for a fall weekend breakfast, a Thanksgiving brunch, or an afternoon slice with coffee.
Applesauce cakes have stayed popular because they’re easy and practical, and you usually have everything you need already. I use sweetened applesauce here. It adds a little sweetness without making the cake too sugary, and it doesn’t give the cake a strong apple taste. Mostly it helps the texture, keeping the cake moist and fresh longer.
The crumb topping matters on this cake. If you’ve had a crumb topping melt or turn soggy before, the fix is chilling it. I put the streusel in the fridge while I make the batter, and keeping the crumbs cold right until they go on the cake helps them stay crunchy and hold their shape.
This cake takes about 1 hour to make: 20 minutes of prep and 35 to 40 minutes in the oven. The batter is forgiving, so you don’t need to be exact, even if baking isn’t your strong suit. It keeps for up to 2 days on the counter or up to 5 days in the fridge, so one pan gives you homemade cake for most of the week. If you’re baking for fall, my Easy Apple Crisp and Pumpkin Cranberry Bread are two more to try.
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💛 Why you’ll love this recipe
- Prepped and ready for the oven in 20 minutes.
- Made with everyday ingredients: flour, sugar, butter, eggs, sour cream, and applesauce.
- Easy enough for beginner bakers, and the crumb topping needs only a pastry cutter or two forks.
- Freezes well, easy to prep now and enjoy later.
- Feeds a crowd, makes a generous 9×13-inch cake.
➡️ Ingredients you’ll need
⏲ How to make this applesauce coffee cake recipe
👉 Easy ingredient swaps
- Cinnamon and Cloves: Omit both and use pumpkin pie spice in the same amounts: 1 Tablespoon plus ¾ teaspoon in the streusel, and 2 teaspoons in the batter.
- Sour Cream: Plain Greek yogurt works equally well.
- Sweetened Applesauce: Unsweetened applesauce works fine; the cake will just be slightly less sweet.
✨ Variations
- Add-ins: Mix raisins, chopped walnuts, or pecans into the batter for extra flavor and texture.
- Apple chunks: Fold in 1 cup of peeled, diced apples to the cake batter for added texture and apple flavor.
- Chocolate chips: Stir in about ½ to ¾ cup of mini chocolate chips.
- Cranberry: Add about ½ cup dried cranberries to the batter for a tart contrast.
〰️ How to serve
- Breakfast or brunch: Serve warm slices with fresh fruit, scrambled eggs, bacon, or yogurt.
- Drinks: Pair with an iced latte, morning coffee, chai tea, or even a glass of cold milk.
💬 FAQs
Can I prep this coffee cake ahead?
Yes. Assemble the batter and streusel, layer in the pan, cover, and refrigerate overnight. Add a few extra minutes of baking time if baking directly from the fridge.
How long will leftovers keep?
Store leftover cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or refrigerate for up to 5 days. Because this cake is moist, it’s best eaten within the first couple of days so it doesn’t get too soft. Warm slices briefly in the microwave or oven before serving.
Does this coffee cake freeze well?
Yes. Wrap cooled slices tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator or gently warm in the microwave or oven to serve.
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Applesauce Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Streusel (Crumble Top)
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup white sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon ground cloves
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
Coffee Cake
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ cups sour cream
- 1 cup sweetened applesauce
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Prep Pan and Oven: Coat 9×13-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C).
- Prepare Streusel: To a medium bowl, add flour, white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and cloves, then whisk to combine.
- Cut in Butter: Add cold cubed butter and cut in with pastry cutter or two forks until mixture forms coarse crumbs. If butter warms and mixture becomes greasy, chill streusel in refrigerator until crumbs firm up.
- Chill Streusel: Transfer streusel to fridge while making batter so crumbs stay crumbly and easy to sprinkle. (Don't skip this step. Cold streusel will ensure the top of the cake is crumbly.)
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In large bowl, cream softened butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until mixture looks lighter and smooth. If butter is too cold and lumps remain, let soften a few minutes and try again.
- Add Eggs: Add eggs one at a time, mixing each in before adding next and scraping bowl sides with a rubber spatula as needed. If batter looks curdled after eggs, keep mixing briefly; curdling often resolves when wet ingredients are added.
- Add Wet Ingredients: Add sour cream, applesauce, and vanilla extract and mix on low until combined. If sour cream is very cold and causes small lumps, mix a little longer on low to smooth batter.
- Whisk Dry Ingredients: In a separate medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt until evenly distributed.
- Combine Wet and Dry Ingredients: Add some flour mixture to butter mixture and stir with wooden spoon until flour is nearly incorporated. Add remaining flour mixture and stir until flour just disappears. If batter seems very stiff after adding flour, fold gently rather than stirring hard; if it still seems dry, fold in a splash of milk or sour cream.
- Layer Batter and Streusel: Spread enough batter to cover bottom of prepared pan, smooth top, sprinkle a portion of chilled streusel evenly, spoon the remaining batter over the streusel and smooth it gently, then top with remaining streusel. Press streusel lightly so it holds but do not compact it.
- Bake: Place pan in preheated oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. If top browns too quickly or oven has hot spots, rotate pan halfway through baking and tent loosely with foil if needed. Check cake starting near end of baking time since oven heat varies.
- Cool Before Serving: Remove cake from oven and cool in pan until just warm before cutting. Cutting too soon while very hot can cause cake to fall apart; if cake seems sticky when slicing, let cool longer.
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