Moist Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake

By Rachel // February 2, 2011 // 12 comments //

I had contemplated making muffins this week but then that wouldn’t have given me anything new to share. You see… I have two very favorite muffin recipes. One is a very quick and basic recipe. The other is a bit more special. Both fulfill my muffin cravings when those come along. I was ready to make either one but figured I’d go a different route.

I started out making what seemed like a basic coffee cake recipe. Before I added everything to the pan I decided I had to add apples. Apples in baked goods is always a good thing, right? The thing that caught me by surprise was not only the bake time but also how liquidy the batter was. When I make muffins or even cupcakes, the batter is usually thicker. I was skeptical. As a precaution I even put a cookie sheet on the rack below in the oven!

I followed the recipe, mostly. You know, except for the addition of apples and well… I reduced the time just slightly. And I do mean slightly. I cooked mine 5 minutes less than the directions stated because at that point my cake tester came out clean… and that was also key to the recipe. I’m not sure if an extra 5 minutes would have made a difference or not. I’m guessing not. My coffee cake turned out very moist. Not a sloppy moist, just extra moist unlike coffee cakes I’ve had in the past. I’m figuring it had something to do with the addition of the apples and perhaps the liquid items called for the cake itself. I’m not complaining, it just wasn’t what I was expecting. It’s still very tasty. The apples definitely do give it that something extra, without it I’m afraid this might be rather blah. So if you make this, do add the apples and do expect it to be moist.

Next time I might exclude the milk and double the sour cream or do a 50/50 mix of sour cream and yogurt. If you play around with the batter ingredients at all let me know what your result is.

Print Recipe

Moist Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Prep Time15

Cook Time1 15

Total Time1 30

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Apple

Servings: 9

Ingredients

Topping ingredients:

1/2 C unsalted butter melted
1/4 C granulated sugar
6 Tbsp light brown sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 1/2 C all purpose flour

Filling ingredients:

2 tsp light brown sugar
2 tsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Cake ingredients:

1 3/4 C all purpose flour
1 C granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 C milk
6 Tbsp sour cream
2 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 1/2 - 2 C apples peeled and chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly grease an 8x8-inch baking pan.
In a medium bowl mix all topping ingredients together, except flour, until smooth. Add flour and mix with a fork until crumbly. Set aside.
In a small bowl, combine filling ingredients. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together all dry cake ingredients. Slowly add milk, sour cream, eggs and vanilla. Mix until smooth and no streaks remain. Fold apples into the batter.
Pour half of your batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with dry filling mixture. Pour remaining batter over the cinnamon mixture. Using a fork, break up topping into small pieces. Cover batter with chunky cinnamon crumb topping.
Bake for 70-75 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let cool completely in pan before slicing and serving.

12 Responses to “Moist Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake”

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Lauren at KeepItSweet — February 2, 2011 at 3:46 pm

I actually prefer cake to be extra moist rather than dry at all so I’d probably like this:-) I love apples in cakes.
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natalie (the sweets life) — February 2, 2011 at 4:33 pm

Yum! I love a good moist cake; I can’t wait to try this! I’ve made this cinnamon apple coffee cake before: http://www.thesweetslife.com/2011/01/cinnamon-apple-cake.html

It has cream cheese in the batter and was also incredibly moist! (but a cooking light recipe!!)
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  Rachel — February 2, 2011 at 4:41 pm
  
  Thanks for the link – that looks really good :)
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Laura — February 2, 2011 at 4:56 pm

Since many coffee cakes are too dry for me, this looks PERFECT.
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fooddreamer — February 2, 2011 at 5:38 pm

It looks fantastic, and I always think moist is a good thing. Especially for coffee cake, many of them are too dry.
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Jonna — February 2, 2011 at 8:59 pm

This looks soooo good! I’m gonna put this on the list to try :- )
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Elizabeth — February 3, 2011 at 11:28 am

I am obsessed with coffee cake right now. I just made a peach streusel coffee cake a few weeks ago with frozen peaches from last summer. http://freefoodboston.wordpress.com/2011/01/14/peach-streusel-coffee-cake/

That apple and crumb topping look heavenly. A sour cream coffee cake is definitely next on my list.
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Sandie {A Bloggable Life | Inn Cuisine} — February 5, 2011 at 5:06 pm

I’m a total sucker for coffee cakes—LOVE them! Can’t wait to try this version too, apple cinnamon is one of my favorite combos!
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Susan — February 20, 2020 at 12:26 pm

I just found this recipe and made it with no modifications this morning for my son’s breakfast. It turned out great! I love the amount of cinnamon in the recipe and the crumb topping was excellent and generous. We will definitely use this recipe again.
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  Rachel — February 24, 2020 at 8:45 am
  
  So glad you both enjoyed it!