This cozy applesauce cake is flavored with warm spices and applesauce and topped with cinnamon cream cheese frosting.
If you like cake that has a hint of apple flavor, plenty of cozy spices, and is equally appropriate for breakfast, snack, or dessert… this one is for YOU.
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Why you’ll love this applesauce cake
Flavor: The perfect balance of flavors from applesauce, brown sugar, vanilla, and warm spices.
Texture: This cake bakes up soft, fluffy, and moist. It’s even better on day two!
Quick & easy: This cake batter comes together in minutes with two bowls and a whisk.
Feed a crowd: This 9×13 sheet cake is great for feeding a group or a holiday celebration.
Cinnamon cream cheese frosting: Need I say more?! 😉
Key ingredients
The following ingredients are essential to making this cake the best!
- Applesauce: Adds subtle apple flavor and lots of moisture.
- Spices: Apple pie spice (which is a blend of spices) along with extra cinnamon.
- Brown sugar: Adding brown sugar to the cake batter adds a deeper, richer flavor than just granulated sugar.
- Vanilla extract: This rounds out the flavors in both the cake and the frosting.
- Cream cheese: The tanginess of cream cheese in the frosting balances wonderfully with the sweet cake.
Recipe overview
*Full recipe below in recipe card*
- Combine dry ingredients.
- Combine sugar and wet ingredients.
- Whisk together the wet and dry ingredients.
- Pour into greased pan and bake.
What kind of applesauce to use?
I recommend store bought applesauce for this recipe. This produces the most reliable outcome since most store bought varieties are similar in texture and moisture content.
I recommend unsweetened applesauce. Check the ingredients to make sure there is no added sugar or corn syrup. If you only have sweetened applesauce that is fine, just be aware that the cake will be a bit sweeter.
Serving and storage
Serve cake at room temperature for the best flavor and texture.
Store, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. I have not tried freezing it, but I would assume leftovers would freeze just fine.
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More apple recipes
Recipe
Applesauce Cake
Ingredients
Applesauce cake:
- 2½ cups all purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons apple pie spice or pumpkin pie spice
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ cup vegetable oil, canola oil, or melted coconut oil
- ⅓ cup water
- 1½ cups applesauce*
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Cinnamon cream cheese frosting:
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar, plus more if needed
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
Applesauce cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13 cake pan and set aside.
- Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk oil, water, applesauce, eggs, sugars, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk to combine being careful not to overmix.
- Pour batter into prepared pan. I like to tap the pan on the countertops a few times to remove air bubbles. Bake 20-30 minutes (begin checking it at 20), until the top springs back when you touch it and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Place the pan on a rack to cool.
Cinnamon cream cheese frosting:
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon and beat until combined.
- Increase speed to high and beat for 20-30 seconds. Spread on the cooled cake. If desired, you can sprinkle the top of the frosting with cinnamon sugar (1 tablespoon sugar mixed with a few dashes of cinnamon).
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below!
Jen_In_Colorado
Baking the cake now….If I wanted to eliminate white sugar all together, do I substitute entire measurement with honey (ie 1 cup honey)? Has anyone done this with success? Many thanks!
Celebrating Sweets
Hi, Jen. I would not recommend that swap. Adding too much liquid (honey) will likely change the consistency of the cake. If you want it refined sugar free, I would recommend trying to swap the granulated sugar for coconut sugar. Best of luck playing around with it. Enjoy!
Lisalia
Excited to find this new recipe to help use up my apple harvest! This was delicious, moist and just the perfect snack cake.
wilhelmina
This cake is exceptional! The flavor and texture are perfect. It is the perfect cake to snack on, I keep sneaking back for one more bite!
Allison
Hi! Can i make this recipe into cupcakes? Do i need to make any modifications? Thanks!
Allison
That should work. I’d begin checking them around 15 minutes, then every couple minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If you want a generous amount of frosting piped on the cupcakes you’ll probably want to double the frosting. Enjoy!
Lulu
Can I use homemade, sweetened applesauce instead of store bought?
How can I adjust the sugar called for in this recipe if I do?
Can I make the cake in a loaf pan?
Allison
Sure, you can try that. I don’t know how sweet your applesauce is, but I would guess that you could reduce the granulated sugar by 1/4 cup. This will likely be too much batter for one loaf pan. You could try splitting the batter between two loaf pans. Enjoy!
Ed
I don’t ice the cake. Usually serve with sliced bananas and whipped cream or plain with powdered sugar.
Allison
That sounds great!
Tara Babb
This brings back my childhood memories of weeks before Christmas! My Grandmother baking and I sitting up on the kitchen counter, wait I g for that mixture bowl to eat the Applesauce cake batter. Mmmmmm, the greatest days of my life. Thank you for sharing this recipe
Allison
You’re welcome! Enjoy!
Riki
Delicious! Followed the recipe as written, made cream cheese frosting. 28 minute bake time for me. A winner, so light and moist!
Allison
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. 🙂
Rosa
Fantastic. It’s super tasty and soft. I only had cinnamon, but I think that it would be super with the mix too. 5 stars!
Allison
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
Edith
I’m excited to try this recipe. Can I substitute almond flour for all-purpose flour? Thanks!
Allison
If you’re looking for a gluten free alternative you’ll need to use a gluten free 1:1 baking blend in place of the all purpose flour. Almond flour alone will not work. Enjoy!