What's the difference between a coffee cake and a buckle?

A coffee cake refers to any cake, with or without fruit, that is eaten while drinking a hot beverage - like coffee or tea! It doesn't refer to a cake with coffee IN the recipe. A buckle is a cake that has fruit in the batter and a streusel topping. This easy apple coffee cake recipe is both a coffee cake AND a buckle!

Can I mix this the night before and bake in the morning?

We don't recommend this. There are leavening agents in the batter that become active once the liquid is added. Instead, prepare each item the night before, mix wet and dry ingredients and assemble in the morning. See the post above for more on this. You can also bake this the day before and reheat in a low oven until warmed through.

Can I freeze this coffee cake?

We don't recommend freezing this apple crumble cake after it has been baked. The cake can become mushy from the apples when it is thawed.

Apple Coffee Cake - For a Crowd

Description

This apple coffee cake is basically dessert disguised as breakfast. Soft, buttery cake with tender, cinnamon apples , topped with a sweet streusel topping - it's like a piece of apple pie but in a cake. Perfect for lazy mornings, holidays, or feeding a crowd, this easy recipe is always a hit. Bonus: it's vegetarian.

Ingredients

Scale

Streusel topping

160 grams brown sugar (⅔ packed cup)
120 grams flour (1 cup)
14 grams ground cinnamon (2 Tablespoons)
140 grams unsalted butter, softened to room temperature (about 10 Tablespoons)

Apple layer

28 grams butter (2 Tablespoons)
400 grams fresh apples peeled, seeded, and small diced (1-2 apples)
30 grams brown sugar (2 Tablespoons)
6 grams cinnamon (1 Tablespoon)

Coffee cake batter

400 grams all purpose flour (3 1/3 cups)
201 grams sugar (1 cup)
18 Tablespoons cold butter (1 ½ cups=2 ¼ sticks)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
28 grams Greek yogurt (2 Tablespoons)
1 egg, beaten
30 grams apple cider vinegar (2 Tablespoons)
240 grams milk (1 cup)

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Instructions

Prepare Streusel topping

Add flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and softened butter to a mixing bowl. Mix with a fork until all ingredients are thoroughly combined - no dry bits remaining.
Set aside while you prepare the rest of the coffee cake.

Prepare apples

Melt butter in a saucepan.
Add peeled, diced, fresh apples, brown sugar, and cinnamon and stir to combine. Cover and steam over medium-low heat for 5 minutes or until apples just begin to soften.
Set aside.

Prepare batter

Heat oven to 350° F.
Butter and flour a 13 x 9 inch baking dish.
In the bowl of a food processor with the steel blade combine flour, sugar, and cold, diced butter. Use short pulses to cut the butter into the flour-sugar mixture. The mixture should resemble very small peas. This can also be done using a pastry cutter or your hands.
Transfer this crumbly mixture to a large mixing bowl. If there are any large butter pieces left, cut them in with your fingers. Stir in the baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Place the entire bowl in the refrigerator while you mix the wet ingredients to keep the butter cold. If the butter is soft, leave it in there for 10-15 minutes to firm up.
In a large measuring cup or small mixing bowl, combine the Greek yogurt, egg, apple cider vinegar, and milk. Whisk until completely combined.
Remove the flour-butter mixture from the fridge and add the liquids, stir with a spoon just until combined. NOTE: you want this to be a 'rough' batter, not smooth, so be careful not to over mix - mix just until all of the dry ingredients are combined with the liquid.

Assemble the coffee cake and bake

Spread the batter evenly into the prepared 13 x 9 baking dish, making sure it reaches all the way to the edges and corners. We find an offset spatula helps with this step.
Top the batter layer with the apple mixture and spread out evenly to the sides of the pan.
Top the apples with the prepared streusel. Break the crumble topping up as you go if needed, so the pieces are more uniform in size and cover the entire top of the coffee cake.
Bake at 350° F for 40-50 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting.
OPTIONAL: Dust the top with powdered sugar, a drizzle of cream cheese glaze, or a powdered sugar glaze.
Serve.

Notes

Use a scale. Measuring flour by volume is notoriously unreliable, use a kitchen scale if you have it. No scale? Use the scoop and level method for best results.

Substitutions and additions. Add some toasted, chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts) to the crumble topping. Use pears or peaches in place of apples.

Butter. Keep the butter in the streusel topping soft, but not melted. Keep the butter in the batter cold, return to the fridge - before adding liquid - if it starts getting soft.

Baking pan. This recipe is sized for a crowd and we use a 13" x 9" glass baking dish. Cut the coffee cake into any size you want. We've cut this into 15-30 pieces - 15 large pieces, 24 medium pieces, and 30 small pieces).

Reminder: If reheating, do not place a cold glass or ceramic dish into a hot oven. The temperature difference can cause the dish to break.

To prepare ahead of time and bake in the morning:
• Prepare streusel and apples up to 3 days in advance - store in airtight containers in the fridge.
• Cut butter into dry ingredients, add leavening agents and salt, and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
• When ready to bake, continue with the instructions above (starting at mixing the wet ingredients together).

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Category: Breakfast
Method: Baking
Cuisine: American

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1 piece
Calories: 382
Sugar: 24.5 g
Sodium: 101.6 mg
Fat: 19.8 g
Carbohydrates: 48.3 g
Protein: 4.2 g
Cholesterol: 61.4 mg