I remember my Grandma making this delicious cinnamon apple cake recipe when I was a little girl. The combination of cinnamon, apple, and walnuts is perfection. This is an old fashioned cake recipe that is loved by everyone and very easy to make.
Recipe For Apple Cake
This cake is so moist and forms a crumb topping with it’s wonderful cinnamon flavor. We chop up our apples pretty well so there are not huge apple chunks, but you can adjust to your liking. The classic combo of sweetness, spice and everything nice!
Watch The Recipe Video!
Ingredients You Will Need:
- Butter – make sure the unsalted butter is softened.
- Sugars – you will need granulated sugar and dark brown sugar
- Eggs – 2 room temperature eggs.
- Vanilla extract – this adds a nice flavor to the apple cake.
- Flour – all-purpose flour
- Baking soda – this is added for the cake to rise.
- Cinnamon – ground cinnamon is a key ingredient in this apple cake recipe.
- Apples – you will need 2 medium apples. Whatever apples you prefer will work for this recipe
- Nuts – we prefer to use walnuts, but feel free to use any nuts that you like.
What You’ll Love This Cinnamon Apple Cake Recipe:
This apple cinnamon cake is great for dessert or even breakfast. We make this a lot for the company and it always gets raves reviews with everyone wanting the recipe. This is also the perfect “snack cake” for my boys when they come home from school wanting a sweet treat. I love how easy this is to whip up with only a 20 minute prep time.
Cake is a classic easy dessert, whether it’s a chocolate or vanilla cake or even something with a bit of spice and fruit like this Cinnamon Apple Cake recipe.
Cakes that include the addition of fruit or veggies (like Carrot Cheesecake Cake or Cranberry Christmas Cake) tend to be super moist and delicious, and this apple cake is the perfect example of that!
How To Make Apple Cake
- Heat oven to 350°F and prepare cake pan.
- Beat the butter and sugars, then add in the eggs. Add in vanilla, and dry ingredients. Fold in the chopped apples and walnuts. Spoon the batter into cake pan.
- Bake 40 to 45 minutes and cool. Cut the warm cake into slices and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream (if desired).
Tips
- The best baking apples are slightly tart, hold their shape during the cooking process and aren’t too juicy. Our favorites are Granny Smith, Jonathan or Janagold , Cortland, Braeburn and Honeycrisp apples.
- You can also shred the apples if you do not prefer that larger apple bite. Sometimes kids that get weird about food texture like it better like this and also eliminating the nuts.
- Another idea is a dusting of confectioners’ sugar on the cooled cake or drizzle with a glaze or caramel sauce.
- Serving this warm with ice cream is our favorite. You could also tip with whipped cream.
Other Apple Cake Recipes:
- Apple Upside-Down Cake
- Apple Butter Cake
- Caramel Apple Dump Cake
- Apple Cider Donut Cake
- Apple Pie Layered Cake
Cinnamon Apple Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups chopped and peeled apples (about 2 medium apples)
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray.
- In large bowl, beat softened butter and sugars with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla, flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir in the chopped apples and walnuts. Spoon into your greased pan.
- Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool about 10-15 minutes. Cut the warm cake into slices and serve with ice cream.
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215 comments on “Cinnamon Apple Cake Recipe”
OMGoodness!!!!
I have been making apple cake for many years. This recipe is 1000 times better. LOVE IT!!!
This cake is delicious and so easy to make! Will definitely make again!
It says round pan is this referring to a tube pan?
Karen, no just a round cake pan.
What are the best apples to use in this recipe?
Sherrie, we usually use Granny Smith or Honeycrisp.
i only have light brown sugar can i sue that
Judith, yes you can use that.
Just made this for the first time, and it’s still in the oven, so I will have to update after we have tasted it. My question is: can this be frozen?
Joanne, yes you can freeze. Wrap in plastic wrap and then in foil.
Ove this cake, moist & not overly sweet. I served this cake with Carmel sauce on the side, I like it without the sauce but others might want the sauce.
I just made this in my bread machine. Other than adding the apples and walnuts at the ADD signal, it was totally hands-off and it is DEE-LISH-US! I’m calling it bread and having some with breakfast!!
Linda, that’s a brilliant idea! I’m gonna steal it!
Have not tried yet, but can this be frozen?
Stephanie, yes it can be frozen. Wrap in plastic wrap and then in foil.
Can this be baked in a Bundt pan?
I have not tried it in a Bundt pan but it should work as well. Let me know how it turns out!
Can you substitute light brown sugar for dark?
I have made this cake twice it melts in your mouth. My family loves it.
Just made this for the first time WOW this is so delicious I used an 8″ round pan since that’s all I had, and it took and extra 10 min to cook but it’s so moist
I baked this today. I have baked it before but this time I used two small spring form pans and increased the recipe by 1.5 times and used more apples and nuts. It took a little longer to bake but came out delicious just like the first time.
Thanks for the recipe!!!
Delicious! Just the right amount of sweet and very moist
What kind of apples?
This is the best apple cinnamon cake ever. I serve it anytime of the day. Everyone loves it. Thank you for such a great recipe.
I sprinkle some cinnamon sugar mix in the bottom of the greased pan, put in a layer of thinly sliced apples and them pour your cake batter on top. Bake as directed. I also add at least 3 apples to the cake batter. This is always a winner. Especially when the grands are here. It is gone within hours. Thanks for such a great recipe.
Delicious cake! Thanks.
Haven’t made it yet. It looks yummy
Best breakfast cake! I have made this cake a million times! Well, almost.
Does it have to be dark brown sugar to make this cake cuz I only like light brown sugar I just didn’t know if it would taste the same could u let me know if it’s ok to use light brown sugar instead?
Great recipe. Love this cake