Our family’s apple almond coffee cake recipe is absolutely perfect when served warm with a mug of coffee or tea! It’s packed with toasted chopped almonds and fresh apples. It’s so delicious!
This almond coffee cake is incredible and super easy to make. It’s moist in the middle thanks to yogurt and tastes incredible thanks to butter, the perfect level of spice, lots of almonds, and chopped fresh apple. We call this a coffee cake, but just like our cinnamon coffee cake, you can enjoy it anytime, with or without coffee!
I love baking with apples. They add moisture to the middle of the cake, and since we dice them and fold them into the batter, they add some texture once the cake has baked. If you love baking with them, too, you may also like our apple bread, which has grated apples stirred into the batter.
Key Ingredients
- Almonds: I start with whole almonds and then toast them in the oven to really bring out their flavor. Then, I chop them small, so they add lots of texture to the coffee cake batter. Other nuts work, too!
- Apple: I love tart Granny Smith apples for this cake, but use what you love!
- Lemon: I use the zest in the batter and the juice for tossing with the apples to prevent them from browning. Finally, I use a bit more juice to spritz over the cake once it is out of the oven.
- Flour: All-purpose flour is perfect. I would imagine that a 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour blend would work nicely, too.
- Baking Powder: This gives our cake some lift so it rises in the oven.
- Sugar: Plain granulated sugar is fine, but brown sugar would be great and adds more moisture.
- Yogurt: Use plain, whole-fat yogurt for the best results.
- Allspice, Vanilla, and Almond Extract: These make the cake taste incredible. If you do not have allspice, substitute with cinnamon.
Apple Almond Coffee Cake
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
We love this almond coffee cake with fresh apples baked throughout. There is no need for any frosting, and I love this served a little warm. Enjoy this apple almond cake with coffee or tea! I used a 9-inch round cake pan, but an 8-inch square or 9-inch square pan works nicely, too.
You Will Need
1 cup (142g) whole almonds
1 lemon
1 baking apple like Granny Smith
6 tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter
1 ½ cups (195g) all-purpose flour, plus 2 (16g) tablespoons for apples
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon allspice
3 large eggs
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
3/4 cup (170g) plain yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Powdered sugar for serving
Directions
1Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Butter and flour a 9-inch cake pan.
2As the oven preheats, place the almonds onto a baking sheet and slide into the oven, stirring occasionally, until lightly toasted and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add the toasted almonds to a food processor and pulse until chopped very small.
3Zest the lemon and set aside. Peel, core, and dice the apple. Squeeze the juice from half of the zested lemon over the apples to prevent browning. Then, toss the apples with 2 tablespoons of flour. (Save the remaining lemon half for after the cake has baked).
4Melt the butter and set it aside to cool down a little.
5In a large bowl, whisk 1 ½ cups of flour with the baking powder, salt and allspice.
6In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs with the sugar until frothy and lightened in color, about 1 minute. Whisk in the yogurt, melted butter, lemon zest, almond extract, and vanilla until well blended.
7Switch to a large rubber spatula. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with eggs then add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, stirring gently until they disappear and the batter is smooth.
8Fold in the apples and about three-quarters of the almonds.
9Pour the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Scatter the top of the cake with the remaining almonds.
10Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the cake, still in the pan, to a cooling rack.
11Squeeze the juice from the leftover lemon half over the top of the cake.
12Cool then serve slices of cake dusted with powdered sugar.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Storing: Place the cooled cake in a plastic bag or airtight container with a sheet of paper towel, seal it, and store it at room temperature for up to 3 days. To freeze, wrap them tightly in aluminum foil or freezer bags. Freeze for up to 3 months.
- Nutritional information provided are estimates.
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Awesome coffee cake. So easy and love any recipe with apples and almond. Thanks for all the great recipes.
Thank YOU for the kind words! Makes my day to hear you enjoyed the recipe.
Very good cake. Can you use Almond flour in this recipe?
Hi Phyllis, We have only made this cake as written. Almond flour usually calls for a bit more moisture than all-purpose flour, so I do not think it would be an easy one-to-one substitute.
the recipe was amazing, I substitute the almonds with walnuts, brown sugar instead of white and used cream instead of yogurt. It turned out amazing. I will try next time with pears, or other nuts.
So easy to make, tastes wonderful. Perfect for a coffee break. Thank you so much for the recipe!!
We use plain, unsweetened yogurt, too. You could omit the lemon juice at the end or add a little more sugar to the batter — maybe 2 to 4 more tablespoons? Using a sweeter apple could work, as well. Maybe Fuji would be better for you.
I made this as an item this morning for brunch. Served it still warm and it was delicious. Sweet but not too sweet-moist and juicy with a lot of flavor. Tasted fantastic with a dollop of fresh whip cream. Kudos to the creator. I’m adding this one to my favorite recipes.
what kind of flour do you require plain or self raising?
All-purpose flour.
I gave this a big shout out today over at BAH. Hope I did you y’all justice in my interpretation of this lovely cake.
Hey guys, I made this last night in anticipation of this morning’s snow day. Paired with some bacon and eggs, and tons of coffee, this fueled us up for more shoveling.
Thanks for an inspired breakfast.
We are so happy you liked it, thanks Wendi!
this cake looks delicious..granny smiths are my fav! I can’t wait to try it out!!!
Gorgeous, gorgeous cake…and your kitty is just precious!
I just stumbled across your blog, and I love it. Your photos are amazing! This coffee cake sounds wonderful, too.
First – your kitty is beautiful!! We have a Marmalade too! Our Marmalade is quite a bit larger!
Great recipe and beautiful photos.
We will be sure to let Marmalade know of your compliment! Thanks for commenting!!
~Adam and Joanne
I love this recipe. I am a huge almond fan. I might try it with pears:)
Great looking cake. What do you think would be lost if I had to omit the chopped almonds? Would there be any gain by using almond flour in place of any of the ap flour?
Marmalade posed so beautifully for you. I can only capture my Shadow when he’s unaware of what I’m doing…he’s camera shy.
Almond flour is a great idea. The nuttiness of the almonds really do complement the apple and allspice in the cake. We personally enjoyed the bits of crunch given from the coarsely chopped almonds, but if you wished to omit them, we think the cake would still be delicious especially since you still have that splash of almond extract.