This easy Apple Crumb Cake recipe is a sweet, crumbly, and delicious fruit dessert that you can make on a cool Fall day to use up the rest of those apples lying around! With a cinnamon-sugar topping and moist, fluffy texture, this apple cake is comfort food at its best.

Looking for more apple recipes? Try my Dutch Apple Pie recipe, or these Apple Cinnamon Muffins!

My Favorite Apple Crumb Cake Recipe

Fall just beckons all of the apple and pumpkin recipes, don't you agree? And if you have an apple tree, you know you need a whole bunch of great recipes to use up the bounty that comes with apple harvest. Or maybe you're just an apple lover, like I am! This recipe gives you every excuse to get a big bag of them at the store, whip out your apron, and get your bake on.

Something about a crumb cake just makes me so very happy. I think it's that moist, spongey cake bottom layer combined with the sweet and lightly cinnamon-y crumbly, crunchy topping. I mean, that is pure heaven if you as me. Plus, it's a way to sneak fresh produce into a baked goodie! Score (especially if you have kids you're trying to coax into having more fruits and veggies). I know you will love baking this delicious, apple-filled treat, and hope you and your family enjoy bites of it as you soak up each other's company this fall.

What is crumb cake made of?

Crumb cakes consist of two parts: the cake on the bottom, and the crumb topping. This recipe's cake portion is made of butter, unsweetened applesauce, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and of course, peeled and chopped apples. The topping consists of sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, butter, and flour.

How do you store crumb cake?

Cover your crumb cake with foil or plastic wrap after it's cooled completely. The cover will keep it moist, and it'll stay fresh for 1 to 2 days at room temperature or up to 4 days in the refrigerator.

Why did my crumb cake sink?

Cakes often sink in the middle when the batter is over-beaten, which incorporates too much air that later collapses while baking. Opening the oven door too early while it's baking can also cause cake to fall because the batter still isn't set, as can closing the oven door too hard.

Apple Crumb Cake

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Author: Melissa Griffiths - Bless this Mess
Total Time: 42 minutes
Yield: Serves 20 1x

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Description

Ingredients

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For the cake:

½ cup butter, melted
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups whole wheat or all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
4 cups apple, chopped and peeled, fresh or canned

For the crumb topping:

⅓ cup sugar
⅓ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter, melted and cooled
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

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Instructions

For the cake: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F., and butter the bottom and sides of a jelly roll pan (mine is 10x15 inches).
Add the butter, applesauce, and sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer. Mix with the paddle attachment on medium speed, until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Add the eggs, and beat until well mixed.
Add the flour to the bowl, and then sprinkle the baking powder and cinnamon over the top. Mix together on low speed until combined.
Fold in the apples. Spread the batter into the prepared pan.
For the crumb topping: Combine the sugars, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk together to combine.
Add the melted butter and stir.
Add the flour, and stir to make a dough that resembles the consistency of cookie dough.
Take the "dough" in your hands, break off pea-sized crumbs, and drop them on top of the cake batter. Evenly distribute all of the crumb topping over the cake batter in this manner. Don't press or pat the crumb pieces into the cake, just let them rest where they fall.
Place the cake in the oven and bake for 23 to 26 minutes, until the cake springs back when slightly touched.
Allow the cake to cool for several hours before serving. Store by lightly covering with a towel, too tight of a covering makes the crumb topping go soft.

Notes

You can make this in a 9x13-inch pan for a thicker cake, but it'll take at least twice as long to bake. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, and the cake springs back when pressed lightly.

Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 22 min
Category: Cake
Method: Oven
Cuisine: American

Keywords: apple cake, apple cake recipe, fall comfort food recipe, crumb cake recipe, coffee crumb cake

More apple recipes to try:

This post was originally publishes in 2012, and has been updated and re-photographed in October 2019.

Apple crumb cake is a lovely and delicious pastry that comes together easily and makes the perfect post-dinner sweet treat, and even a good breakfast too!

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