Apple Butter Coffee Cake

This Apple Butter Coffee Cake has a swirl of apple butter in the center, soft and thick crumbs, and a fluffy cake — making it perfect for the cozy fall season.

As a New York girl, I know good coffee cake — I mean, it’s one of our major food groups. So I wasn’t about to produce some mediocre coffee cake with wack crumbs and a dry cake. No ma’am.

So instead, you’re getting a moist cake, soft and thick crumbs, and, for a seasonal twist, I’m including my own apple butter as a gorgeous swirl throughout the center — because honestly, apple butter deserves its rightful place in the seasonal spotlight.

Apple Butter Coffee Cake Ingredients

Flour: I’m using King Arthur AP Flour for this recipe.

Sugars: Both dark brown and white.

Milk: I use whole milk.

Sour cream: This adds the signature tang and density to this cake.

Apple butter: You can either use my homemade apple butter or store-bought.

Unsalted butter: Melted for the crumb — softened for the batter.

Vanilla extract: For flavor.

Cinnamon: Adds a touch of seasonal warmth to the batter.

Baking powder and baking soda: To help this cake rise.

Eggs: One whole egg plus one yolk.

Salt: To bring it all together.

How to Make Apple Butter Coffee Cake

Here’s how to make this delicious coffee cake:

Step 1: Prep your ingredients.

Turn the oven on to 325 degrees F. and line your 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper.

I always start off by measuring everything out so that I’m not going absolutely insane later.

I also make sure to take my butter, sour cream, and eggs out of the refrigerator now so that they can come to room temperature (separate your one egg now — they can get a little difficult to separate once warmed).

Also, combine the dry ingredients for the batter (the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt). Whisk together and set aside.

Step 2: Make the crumb topping.

Melt the butter in the microwave. Then combine ½ of the flour with the brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Mix together until combined. Then add the melted butter and mix until it looks like this:

Then add the rest of the flour and, using a fork, mix the flour in until all of the flour is absorbed and there are various sizes of crumbs, like this:

Set aside.

Step 3: Combine the butter and sugar.

Add the softened butter and white sugar to the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Start on low, then increase the speed to medium and mix until pale yellow and fluffy — about 3 minutes.

Step 4: Add the wet ingredients.

Now add the vanilla, milk, eggs, and sour cream and mix until incorporated on medium. If it looks a little curdled, no worries — this is normal.

Step 5: Add the dry ingredients.

Turn your mixer down to low and begin adding your flour. I like to do this in about 3-4 stages rather than dumping all of the flour at once. This helps reduce mess and ensures everything is well combined.

Just pour in a bit of flour, wait until it’s combined, and then repeat, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.

Once it’s almost done, turn off the mixer and finish mixing by hand for just a few seconds.

Step 6: Layer the batter.

Now add half of the batter to the baking dish. This WILL be thick and a little annoying to work with. Don’t worry. Just take your time to spread it out.

Once there, add the apple butter and swirl it around as best as you can, like this:

Then, add the rest of the batter on top and, working slowly, spread it around so that it covers the apple butter. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect, but it should look something like this:

Step 7: Add the crumb topping.

Now spread the crumb topping all over the cake, making sure to NOT press it into the batter (this ensures the crumb doesn’t sink into the cake).

Once all of your crumbs are on top, bake until the cake is set and a toothpick comes out clean — about 45–55 minutes, depending on your oven.

Once done, remove from the oven and let sit in the baking dish for 10 minutes, then gently lift the cake out of the baking dish with the parchment paper and let cool on a cooling rack for 20-30 minutes.

Step 8: Add the powdered sugar.

Now add a spoonful of powdering sugar to a small strainer and dust your cake generously before cutting. (Note: Cut it while it’s still slightly warm. For some reason, letting it sit overnight BEFORE cutting make it a bit dry. Every time I cut it while warm, it stays moist for a few days.)