Easy Apple-Walnut Coffee Cake

This is a simple neighborhood cake that comes together in no time, bakes in under a half-hour, and is perfect for late afternoon coffee, breakfast, or for taking to a friend. Inspired by an old school cinnamon coffee cake but with apples, spices, and walnuts added for fall flavor, you’ll quickly find this moist, spicy treat on your regular baking rotation. Read through the directions before beginning as you add half the batter to the pan, then a layer of apples, sugar, and cinnamon, and finally the remaining batter before topping with nuts and baking. Use a food processor, if available, to chop the apples and speed the process.

Makes one 9x13 pan.

Ingredients

4 small unpeeled Granny Smith or other tart apples, cored, and diced finely
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup EACH: canola oil and milk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar, divided (half in the cake batter and half in the filling)
1 ¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
¼ cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon, divided (half in the cake batter and half in the filling)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon EACH: ground cardamom and ground allspice
1 cup chopped walnuts for topping

Instructions

PREPARATION: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Set rack at center. Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan.
MIX DICED APPLES AND LEMON JUICE in a medium bowl and set aside.
WHISK TOGETHER THE WET INGREDIENTS: In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, milk, eggs, and vanilla. Set aside.
STIR TOGETHER THE DRY INGREDIENTS/ADD WET INGREDIENTS: In a large bowl, stir together the granulated sugar, ½ cup of the brown sugar, the flour, cornmeal, baking soda, baking powder, salt, 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and allspice. Pour the wet ingredients (milk mixture) into the bowl and mix until just combined.
POUR HALF OF THE BATTER INTO PAN/TOP WITH APPLES, BROWN SUGAR, AND CINNAMON/ADD OTHER HALF OF BATTER: Pour half of the batter (about 2 ¼ cups) into the greased pan and spread evenly. Sprinkle the reserved apples and lemon juice over the batter. Mix the reserved ½ cup of brown sugar and remaining teaspoon of cinnamon in a small cup and sprinkle over the apples. Pour or spoon the other half of the batter on top of the apple mixture and spread evenly with a small offset or skinny rubber spatula. Sprinkle walnuts over the top layer of batter.
BAKE 25-30 MINUTES or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted at the center comes out with a just a few moist crumbs. Begin checking for doneness at 20 minutes. Remove pan to rack and cool at least 20 minutes before cutting and serving from the pan. Cool completely, wrap well, and store a day or two at room temperature or up to a week in the refrigerator. Double wrap and store in freezer up to 3 months.

Notes

OPTIONS: No nuts? Just leave them off or replace with sweetened shredded coconut. Not enough apples? Use what you have and spread them evenly, perhaps adding some raisins or dried cranberries if you like or even diced ripe pears. The lemon juice isn’t absolutely necessary but keeps the apples from browning. Replace the cornmeal with unbleached all-purpose flour if need be. Some of the spices are swappable or omittable. Ground cloves can fill in for cardamom and allspice or you can leave them all out except for the cinnamon should your spice drawer be a small one. Do consider adding cardamom next time, however, as it’s full of health benefits. Want to use olive oil in place of canola? No problem, but be ready for its flavor to be more pronounced than that of canola.