Cinnamon Apple Cake (One Bowl, Fresh Apples, Crackly Cinnamon Sugar Top)

This cinnamon apple cake is the cake I bake the first cool weekend of October and then about every ten days until the apples run out: a tender, buttery, one-bowl snack cake crowded with chunks of fresh apple and finished with a thick layer of cinnamon sugar that bakes into a crackly, sparkling crust. There is no mixer, no frosting, no fancy pan — just a whisk, a square pan and 55 minutes — and it is somehow good warm with ice cream for dessert, cold from the fridge at midnight, and with coffee the next morning. A little Greek yogurt in the batter keeps it moist for days, the same way it does in my Greek yogurt banana bread, and it is what I bake when I have made apple crisp twice already and want the apples in cake form instead. It also happens to be the perfect humble partner to a rich slice of Basque cheesecake on a holiday dessert table.

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Why this is the easiest and best apple cake I make.

• One bowl, a whisk and melted butter. There is no creaming butter and sugar, so there is no mixer and no waiting for butter to soften. Melted butter whisked with both sugars and eggs gives this cinnamon apple cake a dense, moist, almost blondie-like crumb that holds up the apple chunks instead of letting them sink. The whole batter takes under 10 minutes.
• Big chunks of fresh apple, not shreds. Diced into 1/2-inch pieces, the apples stay juicy and distinct, so you get soft, tart pockets of fruit in every bite. Shredded or finely chopped apple disappears into the crumb and makes a cake that is wet instead of moist.
• The crackly cinnamon sugar top. A heavy sprinkle of cinnamon sugar over the batter melts and sets into a thin, crisp, glittering crust that shatters a little when you cut it. It is the best part of the cake, it takes 20 seconds, and it means no frosting is required. If you loved the crumble on my apple pie bars, this is the quicker cousin, and it is the most-made dessert in my house in October.

Here's what you'll need.

Twelve pantry basics: crisp apples, all-purpose flour, granulated and brown sugar, eggs, butter, plain Greek yogurt, vanilla, a lot of cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Here's how it all comes together.

STEP 1 — Peel and chop the apples.

Heat the oven to 350°F and line an 8x8-inch pan with parchment, leaving an overhang on two sides. Peel and core the apples and cut them into 1/2-inch chunks — bigger than you think. Toss them with a teaspoon of the flour and a pinch of cinnamon so they stay suspended in the batter.

STEP 2 — Whisk the butter, sugars and eggs.

In a large bowl, whisk the melted (and slightly cooled) butter with the granulated sugar and brown sugar until it looks like wet sand, then whisk in the eggs, Greek yogurt and vanilla until smooth and glossy. Whisk for a full minute here; it dissolves the sugar and gives the top its shine.

STEP 3 — Fold in the dry ingredients.

Sprinkle the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt over the wet mixture and fold with a spatula just until no dry streaks remain. The batter is thick, like a soft cookie dough. Do not keep stirring once the flour is in or the cake turns tough.

STEP 4 — Fold in the apples.

Add the apple chunks and fold gently until they are evenly distributed. It will look like a lot of apple for the amount of batter — that is right. The cake should be more apple than crumb.

STEP 5 — Spread in the pan and top with cinnamon sugar.

Scrape the batter into the pan and spread it level with an offset spatula; it will not spread on its own. Stir the cinnamon and sugar for the topping together and sprinkle all of it evenly over the top. It looks like too much. It is not.

STEP 6 — Bake until golden and crackly.

Bake 40 to 45 minutes, until the top is golden and crackled and a toothpick in the center comes out with moist crumbs but no wet batter. Cool in the pan 20 minutes, then lift it out by the parchment and cut into 9 squares. It is wonderful slightly warm.

If simple, honest baking with real fruit is how you like to end a meal, there is a whole chapter of small, satisfying sweets like this in the Ultimate GLP-1 High Protein High Fiber Cookbook.

Things I learned while testing this recipe.

• Use firm, tart apples. Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Braeburn or Pink Lady hold their shape and balance the sugar. Soft apples like McIntosh or Red Delicious collapse into mush. A mix of one tart and one sweet apple is my favorite.
• Cool the melted butter for a few minutes. Hot butter can start to cook the eggs and will melt the sugar on top before it has a chance to form a crust. Melt it first, then measure the other ingredients while it cools.
• Do not skimp on the topping. Three tablespoons of sugar plus cinnamon looks like a lot on an 8-inch cake. Bake it and you will understand — the crackly top is what people remember.
• Line the pan with a parchment sling. The apple juices caramelize at the edges, which is delicious but sticky. A parchment overhang lets you lift the whole cake out cleanly and cut neat squares.

Why this apple cake earns a permanent spot in fall baking.

• A real fruit dessert in under an hour. Two whole apples go into nine squares, so every piece is mostly fruit, and the Greek yogurt and melted butter keep it moist for three days without any frosting. A square has 300 calories and 5g protein; serve it with a spoon of Greek yogurt and it is closer to 10g — run your own numbers with the protein calculator.
• No mixer, no skills required. If you can whisk and fold, you can make this. It is the cake I hand to my kids to bake on their own, and it is what I make when guests announce they are coming over in an hour.
• It does breakfast too. A square of this with coffee is not so different from a muffin, and a warm square next to a plate of cottage cheese scrambled eggs on a Sunday is one of my favorite fall breakfasts. For a weekday version with more protein, that is what the apple cinnamon baked oatmeal is for.

Here's what I'd serve with this.

• Burnt Basque cheesecake — rich and creamy next to this humble, fruity square on a holiday dessert table
• Apple crisp — the other way I use up a big bag of October apples
• Pecan pie bars — bake both on the same afternoon and the Thanksgiving dessert table is done
• Pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting — the pumpkin counterpart on a fall dessert tray
• Cottage cheese ice cream — a scoop of vanilla on a warm square is non-negotiable

Just in case you have leftovers.

Storing: Cool completely, then store covered at room temperature for up to 3 days; the cinnamon sugar top softens a little by day two but the cake only gets moister. In the fridge it keeps 5 days. To freeze, wrap individual squares tightly in plastic and foil and freeze up to 3 months; thaw at room temperature for an hour.

Reheating: Warm a square in the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds, or in a 300°F oven for 8 to 10 minutes, which also brings a little crispness back to the top. Serve with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or a spoon of Greek yogurt.

More easy dessert recipes...

Apple crisp Greek yogurt banana bread Pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting Blackberry cobbler

Also new this week: burnt Basque cheesecake — the crustless, no-water-bath cheesecake with a dark caramelized top that is the easiest showstopper I know.

Small sweets that fit the way you eat now

A square of real-fruit cake, enjoyed slowly, is the kind of dessert the Ultimate GLP-1 High Protein High Fiber Cookbook is full of — simple, portion-friendly baking that satisfies without a sugar crash.

Get the cookbook on Amazon

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