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Homemade and better than the bakery, this Easy Cinnamon Sugar Apple Cake will become a new fall favorite! Made with boiled-down spiced apple cider, maple syrup, apple butter, and a mix of warming, cozy autumn spices. This cake is topped with sweet cinnamon sugar just before baking. Enjoy the warm smells of fall while this cake bakes away. It’s one of the best baked goods!
There are 3 secrets here. The first is to boil down the apple cider to concentrate its flavor. The second is to use spiced apple butter, it provides even more delicious apple flavor. And finally, serve the cake with warm salted honey butter – so delish!
When the apples are pretty, sweet, and delicious, it’s time to bake with them. September is my favorite month for using apples. I know everyone’s started in on the pumpkin craze, but in September, I bake with apples.
In my opinion, we can save the pumpkin for October and November. It makes it even more special!
So far this month, we’ve made shortcut easy apple fritters (my favorite), apple cider doughnut cookies (with melty chocolate), and now this most perfect apple cake.
Shockingly I’ve never made a simple apple cake before. I have apple doughnuts, maple glazed apple pull-apart bread, and even apple mini cakes, but a sweet apple-filled cake is something the site has been missing. So here we go!
Details
Step 1: boil the cider
Start by boiling down the cider. I’ve been doing this for pretty much every sweet apple recipe I’ve shared. Boiling the cider gives you an even more concentrated flavor that really comes through in the end.
Once the cider has boiled and reduced, continue on with the recipe.
Step 2: mix the batter
It’s a simple batter made with basic ingredients: vanilla, eggs, apple butter, and, of course, apple cider. I also use the perfect combination of warm autumn spices and very thinly sliced Honeycrisp apples.
For my apples, I love to leave the skin on. The skin provides more flavor and more fiber! If you prefer, you can also remove the skin, but around here, there’s no time for that!
Step 3: the cinnamon sugar
I mix granulated sugar with ground cinnamon and cold shredded salted butter.
Just take a very cold stick of butter and use a box grater to shred it. Just like cheese!
Now bake the batter into a sweet sheet cake. The smells from the oven will be better than your fall candles. It’s just wonderful and so cozy.
Step 4: salted honey butter
I’d say this is optional, but really, it’s not. You just have to smear this all over your warm cake. Mix soft salted butter with sweet honey, it’s the most indulgent addition. It’s absolutely what your cake needs.
Serve with coffee, hot cocoa, or even a steaming mug of cider for a quintessential fall treat!
Looking for apple recipes? Here are a few ideas:
Brown Butter Apple Blondies with Cinnamon Maple Glaze
Haunted Pumpkin Patch Margarita
Cinnamon Crunch Apple Butter Soft Pretzel Knots
Salted Maple Apple Tarte Tatin with Cinnamon Pumpkin Seeds
Cinnamon Spiced Apple Fritters with Vanilla Coffee Glaze
Baked Cinnamon Sugar Apple Cider Doughnut Holes
Lastly, if you make this Easy Cinnamon Sugar Apple Cake be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Easy Cinnamon Sugar Apple Cake
Servings: 15
Calories Per Serving: 374 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups apple cider
- 1/3 cup melted coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup honey or maple syrup
- 1/3 cup apple butter
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2-3 teaspoons apple or pumpkin pie spice
- 2-3 Honeycrisp apples, very thinly sliced
- 6 tablespoons cold salted butter, grated
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- 1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a 9×13 inch baking dish with parchment paper.2. Bring the apple cider to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until reduced to 1/2 cup. Remove from the heat. Let cool.3. In a large bowl, stir together the boiled cider, coconut oil, vanilla, egg, maple syrup, and apple butter, until combined. Add the flour, baking soda, apple/pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Mix until just combined. Fold in the apples. The batter will be thick. 4. Spread the batter evenly among the prepared dish. 5. In a bowl, mix the sugar, cinnamon, and grated butter until a clumpy sugar forms. Sprinkle the sugar over the surface of the cake. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until just set. 6. Serve the cake warm with honey butter (see notes). Enjoy!
Notes
Salted Honey Butter: In a bowl, combine 6 tablespoons butter, 6 tablespoons honey, and a pinch of sea salt.
Pumpkin Spice: mix 1/4 cup cinnamon, 1 tablespoon ginger, 2 teaspoons nutmeg, 1 teaspoon cloves, and 1 teaspoon allspice.
This post was originally published on September 19, 2023
VERY flavorful! Used apple pie spice, didn’t use the chocolate, and I didn’t serve with butter. I also swapped in 1:1 gluten free flour so my grandma could have some tomorrow and it came out great!
After the cider boils it comes together really easily my almost three year old helped with ease. He also gobbled up a small piece and was begging for more haha!
It also makes the house smell heavenly. Cozy and full of fall flavors exactly what I was going for!
Thank you so so much for trying out the recipe! I really hope you loved it! 🙂
Geez! Looks beautiful in the picture and it was beautiful coming out of the oven. My husband has a sweet tooth and even he could not/would not finish a small piece of this as it was over the top/way too sweet! Adjustments are needed. So sorry that I had to toss the batch out. It had potential but just didn’t work.
Oh no I’m so sorry about that Karen! Thanks for letting me know! xT
I really wanted this recipe to work (love the idea of apple butter, honey and minimal cane sugar in the cake part) so I decided to try it again – this time with just a light sprinkling of the sugared topping. The cake was delicious! I am changing my rating to 5 star with the caveat to trust your intuition about how much sugared topping to add. And, the cake freezes beautifully too! We had unexpected company so put some frozen pieces on a serving platter to gently thaw for our dessert. It was just perfect!
Hi Karen,
Happy Friday!🍂 I love to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks a lot for trying it and your comment! xx
I made this recipe for Sunday dessert and it was good. I didn’t have the pumpkin spice so used only a combination of the cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg. It was moist and tasted of apples and cinnamon sugar. Will make it again. Thank you T.
Thank you for the feedback Rose! xT
Is it truly 1 tablespoon if vanilla extract? I’ve never seen a recipe use that much.
This was so tasty. It tastes like fall. I used the white chocolate, but if I were to make it again, I would omit it. The chocolate didn’t add anything to the cake.
Thank you Brynne! xT
Delicious, even without the salted honey butter! Served it warm with French vanilla bean ice cream. Oh my goodness!! Thank you!
Thank you so so much for trying out the recipe! Have an amazing week! 🙂 xT
I made this cake this morning after my husband picked some apples from our backyard trees, and it didn’t even last long enough for photos! Family members burst in asking, “What smells so amazing and where is it?” Only substitution was grapeseed oil for coconut oil. This is a true winner.
My middle name is Laine! I’ve never seen anyone with the same spelling. Love it, wish it was my first name!
Haha loveee to hear that!! xT
Hi T. Can I add chopped walnuts instead of chocolate? Is the pumpkin spice essential- all I could find was cinnamon, nutmeg and allpsice? Thank you
Hi T. Can I add chopped walnuts instead of chocolate? Is the pumpkin spice essential- all I could find was cinnamon, nutmeg and allpsice? Thank you
Yes, that would be so yummy! And you can omit the allspice and maybe just add some extra cinnamon! xT
Any chance I could use olive oil instead of coconut oil? If I can taste any hint of coconut oil in something, I just can’t eat it unfortunately.
Hi there! I would use canola oil or melted butter! xT
I just made this delicious cake. It is so moist, and can be served as a breakfast coffee cake or dessert. I used maple syrup and store bought pumpkin pie spice. I sliced 3 apples. Tieghan, I would appreciate if you would give a measurement of how many apples you use? Ex: 3 cups of sliced apples…
Besides that, easy recipe to follow!
Thanks so much!!!
Thank you so so much for trying out the recipe! Have an amazing week! 🙂 xT
Can you substitute canola for the melted coconut oil? Thank you.
Yes! xT
Can you make this a day ahead?
Yes, definitely! xT
Hi! Any suggestions on making this GF? This looks delicious and would love to make it with my fam but there are some gluten intolerances. Can I sub 1:1 Gf baking flour you think?
I just made this tonight with a 1:1 GF baking flour and it was fantastic!
Hi there! I haven’t ever tried this gluten free before but I think you could use a 1:1 ratio and use GF flour! xT
Can this be made gluten free with almond flour?
I haven’t ever tried that before so I’m not sure! So sorry! xT
I substituted 3/4 cup of all-purpose flour with 1 1/2 cup of almond flour and it was delicious1