Apple Crumb Cake Recipe

Ultra soft apple crumb cake is loaded with warm cinnamon apples and extra crumb topping. A homemade version of classic New York-style crumb cake, this breakfast cake is moist, deliciously spiced, and drizzled with sweet maple icing.

If crumb topping is your love language, you’ve come to the right place. And if warm cinnamon apples make your mouth water, today’s your day. Finally, if soft buttery cake is your ideal breakfast indulgence, I’m your baker.

Because today we’re indulging in APPLE CRUMB CAKE! It’s your morning fall indulgence and the smart answer for breakfast, but also very acceptable for lunch, dinner, or dessert. Today’s homemade apple crumb cake is like my apple cinnamon muffins, regular apple cake, and apple cinnamon bread but in breakfast cake form. Those are favorite seasonal recipes to make (along with pumpkin crumb cake muffins), so a cake version is a no-brainer.

Speaking of cake for breakfast, have you tried my cranberry Christmas cake yet? The Also perfectly acceptable all day long… and all year long, too!

Apple Crumb Cake Ingredients

I tested this apple crumb cake a few times, changing things ever so slightly to land on this final recipe. Like my traditional coffee cake recipe, this is a butter and sour cream based cake AKA the best kind of cake and here’s what you need to make it:

• Flour: All-purpose flour is the structure of this cake. It’s sturdy enough to support the thick batter and multiple layers of this crumb cake.
• Baking Soda + Baking Powder: Baking soda and baking powder help the cake rise.
• Granulated Sugar: Granulated sugar sweetens the cake.
• Butter: Butter adds flavor and provides structure in the creaming process.
• Sour Cream: Sour cream gives us an extremely moist crumb cake that’s a little denser than, say, a fluffy vanilla cake. Tight crumbs, like pound cake, but with a much softer texture. Don’t remove the fat from this cake by using a lower fat alternative. Fat = flavor! We don’t want to skimp there.
• Eggs: Three eggs add moisture and bind the cake together.
• Salt + Vanilla Extract: Use both for flavor.
• Cinnamon: We can’t have crumb cake without cinnamon!
• Apples: The star of apple crumb cake, of course.

Best Apples for Apple Crumb Cake

Use any variety of apples you enjoy! You need about 2 medium apples for this recipe. Personally, I love tart Granny Smith apples paired with the sweet crumb cake. If you enjoy a certain type of apple in your apple pie or apple cinnamon scones, you’ll love it here, too.

• Tart apples I love: Granny Smith, Braeburn, Jonathan, and Pacific Rose
• Sweet apples I love: Jazz, Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, Gala, and Fuji

Overview: How to Make Apple Crumb Cake

When I first tested this recipe, I mixed the apples into the cake batter (just like we do in my apple cinnamon muffins recipe). This was tasty, of course, but the pieces of apples each held a soggy outline inside the baked cake. It just… didn’t look appetizing. I found that layering the apples on top of the cake batter was best. This gives us a soft and buttery cake, topped with soft and sweet cinnamon apples, and a TRUCK LOAD of crumb topping.

This crumb cake comes together easily:

Crumb Cake with Extra Crumbs

You’ll notice A LOT of ingredients in the crumb topping. Not in the number of ingredients, but in terms of the volume of ingredients like more butter, sugar, and just as much flour as in the cake itself. Why? The crumb topping is the best part of a CRUMB CAKE.

You’re using the same ingredients in the crumb topping as you are in the cake, so it’s an extremely convenient recipe. The gang’s all here: granulated sugar, cinnamon, salt, melted butter, and flour, plus brown sugar because it’s not crumb topping without brown sugar. 🙂 Make sure some crumbs stay in larger chunks because those are the best bites.

The crumb layer is literally over half the cake and I see zero problem with this!

Icing Options

This apple crumb cake truly doesn’t need an accessory on top, but if the opportunity for sweet maple icing presents itself, we’d be fools to say no! Here are some icing options:

• Maple icing from my maple cinnamon rolls (what I used!)
• Vanilla icing (my go-to topping for classic coffee cake and crumb cake muffins)
• Caramel icing from my apple cinnamon rolls

And if you are looking for more fall dessert inspiration, here is a list of 30+ fall cake recipes.