Apple Coffee Cake

In June, I wrote about a delicious Raspberry Almond Cream Cheese Coffee Cake that my friend Haley introduced to me one Sunday morning at church.  When I tasted it at the snack table at church, I hunted down the creator of this great goody.  A similar incident happened recently with this Apple Coffee Cake. (What is it about coffee cake??) 

It looked so delicious and moist, so I cut off part of a slice to taste.  And then quickly went back for another little piece, and another. I found out that my friend Hannah had made it.  I asked her for the recipe and she promptly shared it with me.  She said the recipe was originally from Cooking Light magazine and that she had made a few changes to it.    

I was looking for a good occasion to make it, because I knew that if I made it just for my household, I would eat far too much of it.  So, I waited, and then made it for Christmas morning to share with more people. It was enjoyed by all…I think especially by the guys. 

It is a comforting cake.  

It has a block of cream cheese in it, so it has a nice creamy texture.  It is chock-full of cinnamon, sugar and apples.

Apple Coffee Cake

1 3/4 cups sugar, (divided- reserving 1/4 cup)

1 stick butter, softened    
1 tsp. vanilla extract    
1 (8 oz.) block reduced fat cream cheese, softened     
2 large eggs    
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour    
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder    
1/4 tsp. salt    
2 tsp. ground cinnamon    
3 cups chopped peeled apples
powdered sugar for dusting
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.

Beat 1 1/2 cups sugar, butter, vanilla, and cream cheese at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended (about 4 minutes). 

Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. 

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. 

Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, beating at low speed until blended.

Combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. 

Combine 2 tablespoons of the cinnamon/sugar mixture and apple in a bowl.  


Stir apple mixture into batter. (I reserved about 1/4 cup of cinnamon sugar coated apples to put on top- for an added texture and to show a peek at what's inside.) 

Pour batter into an 8-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray, and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon mixture (and top with a little pile of apples, if you choose to reserve them).

Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick comes out clean.


Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Cool the cake completely on a wire rack, and cut using a serrated knife.

When I made the cake second time, I was taking it to dinner with friends for our dessert.  My friend Catherine was at my house when it was baking. It smelled so good that it was hard to resist slicing a piece to share with her.  I decided that the dinner friends wouldn’t mind if I brought a cake with a couple of pieces cut out of it, so Catherine and I had some (and then Dave entered the kitchen and snuck a piece as well).

[If you are in a similar predicament and you feel it would be too tacky to take a cake with slices already eaten, you can always cut the cake and nicely arrange slices on a plate, and no one will ever know that you snuck a piece or two!]