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    Home » Recipes » Breakfast

    Applesauce Spice Coffee Cake

    Published by Melissa on April 3, 2015 | Updated June 10, 2022 | 19 Comments

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    Featured Image for post Applesauce Spice Coffee Cake

    A moist, tender old-fashioned Applesauce Spice Coffee Cake with a crumbly pecan topping and a sweet drizzle on top. 

    On my flight home from Alabama several months ago, I sat next to a really nice man. We had a lot in common and talked the entire flight home. It turns out he loves cooking, and has his own cookbook with lots of family recipes he’s collected over the years, Rocky Mountain Bob’s Cookbook. 

    Applesauce Spice Coffee Cake with a crumbly pecan topping and a sweet drizzle on top.

    He was kind enough to email a copy of it to me when we got home. It’s filled with good old-fashioned recipes that will appeal to most. This Applesauce Spice Coffee Cake is adapted from his Grandma Rothlisberger’s Applesauce Cake.

    It sounded like the kind of moist, tender spicy cake my family likes. Since my family is also crazy about coffee cake, I decided to add a crumb topping and a glaze to Grandma Rothlisberger’s cake so I could serve it for breakfast.

    Applesauce Spice Coffee Cake with a crumbly pecan topping and a sweet drizzle on top.

    Another change I made, was to reduce the amount of clove in the recipe from 2 teaspoons to ¼ teaspoon. Feel free to add more if you love a strong clove flavor.

    The four of us devoured this coffee cake in less than 36 hours. It was great for breakfast and again for dessert. Thanks Bob for sharing it with me.

    Featured Image for post Applesauce Spice Coffee Cake
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    4.34 from 21 votes

    Applesauce Spice Coffee Cake

    Prep Time10 mins
    Cook Time1 hr
    Total Time1 hr 10 mins
    Course: Breakfast
    Servings: 16 servings
    Author: Barbara Schieving
    Prevent your screen from going to sleep

    Ingredients

    • 3 cups flour
    • 2 teaspoons baking soda
    • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
    • 2 teaspoons allspice
    • ¼ teaspoon cloves
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • 2 cups granulated sugar
    • ½ cup 1 stick butter
    • 2 large eggs
    • 2 cups applesauce
    • 1 cup raisins

    Crumb Topping

    • ½ cup sugar
    • ¼ cup all-purpose flour
    • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
    • 3 tablespoons butter melted
    • ½ cup pecans chopped

    Icing

    • 1 cup powdered sugar
    • 2 tablespoons milk

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 325°. Spray a 9×13-inch pan with non-stick cooking spray with flour.
    • Prepare crumb topping and set aside.
    • In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, baking soda and salt; set aside.
    • In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until blended. Add eggs and applesauce and mix until blended. Add flour mixture and mix just until combined. Stir in raisins.
    • Spread batter evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with crumb topping.
    • Bake for 50 – 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
    • Cool 10 minutes, then drizzle icing on cake. Cool completely before serving.
    • Crumb Topping
    • In a small bowl, combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, and butter. Mix until mixture is crumbly. Stir in chopped pecans.
    • Icing
    • Whisk powdered sugar and milk until smooth to create a thin glaze. Add more milk or powdered sugar if necessary.

    More coffee cake recipes you might like:

    Lemon Blueberry Coffee Cake - Tender, moist lemon coffee cake loaded with blueberries crowned with a crunchy, sweet crumb topping and drizzled with a tart lemon glaze.

    Lemon Blueberry Coffee Cake

    Carrot-Raisin-Coffee-Cake-Barbara-Bakes

    Carrot Raisin Coffee Cake

    Royal-Berry-Coffee-Cake-Iced-2

    Marionberry Cherry Crumb Cake

    Crumb Coffee Cake, Center Cut Cook
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    About Melissa & Barbara

    As of June 2022 Melissa Griffiths now is the one adding recipes. So think of it as Barbara Bakes, and Melissa too! Melissa and Barbara have been blogging friends for over 10 years and when Barbara was ready to retire and spend more time with her family, Melissa took over the site. Read more...

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      Recipe Rating




    1. Lori

      June 30, 2022 at 6:50 am

      5 stars
      Turned out excellent! Great flavor!

      Reply
      • Melissa Griffiths

        July 05, 2022 at 11:17 am

        So glad that you liked it Lori!

        Reply
    2. Elaine

      July 12, 2021 at 10:24 am

      Sounds wonderful. I have a recipe similar but just a cake not a coffee cake. I’m a bit confused as it doesn’t say when to add the pecans. Since I’m off to make this now and in the ingredient listing pecans as close to crumb topping recipe, I’ll just add them to that. I will nix the raisins as to many in my family do not care for them. I can’t wait–YUMMY!!!!

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        July 12, 2021 at 1:33 pm

        Thanks Elaine! You do add the pecans to the crumb topping. I’ve updated the recipe. Sorry for the oversight. Enjoy!

        Reply
    3. Carolyn

      January 28, 2020 at 10:20 am

      I enjoyed this cake, but I did make a few adjustments. I always find stuff too sweet, so I cut the sugar to 1-1/2 cups. Likewise I kept the streusel (crumb topping) but ditched the icing. It does not need it. The result was plenty sweet enough.

      Also I understand that cloves are strong and that 2 tsp is a lot, but don’t be that afraid. I compromised with 1 tsp. and it worked out beautifully.

      Then because there are only two of us, I cut the whole recipe in half. I am a fan of small batch baking and an 8X8 pan is still lots. I loved the result, but next time I will ditch the raisins. I don’t think they added much to the cake.

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        January 28, 2020 at 11:22 am

        Thanks for sharing your changes Carolyn – glad you enjoyed the cake.

        Reply
    4. Chris

      July 27, 2015 at 9:15 pm

      Hi B,

      Do you think that this applesauce cake would make a good two layer cake in the 9 by 13 size? I would make it twice and then stack the layers a la construction cake. Or, do you think it would be too dense?

      THANKS.

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        July 27, 2015 at 9:40 pm

        Hi Chris – honestly, I’m not sure. Just looking at the top it doesn’t look quite level, but if you’re going to cover it with frosting, it would probably be fine.

        Reply
    5. Medeja

      April 07, 2015 at 3:50 am

      This cake must taste bit like gingerbread.. yummy!

      Reply
    6. Jess @ Sweet Menu

      April 05, 2015 at 9:18 pm

      What a lovely looking cake Barbara! I just love the pecan crumb topping, delish!

      Reply
    7. Melissa B

      April 04, 2015 at 8:26 am

      Sounds delicious!

      Your pictures are so pretty!

      Reply
    8. Maureen | Orgasmic Chef

      April 04, 2015 at 7:57 am

      What a terrific way to get a new recipe. I think Bob would be proud to have his coffee cake on a blog as good as yours. 🙂 I can’t wait to try it.

      Reply
    9. Teresa

      April 03, 2015 at 8:04 pm

      Looks marvelous, Barbara. Your pictures never disappoint. Your cakes and other baked goods always look so beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

      Reply
    10. Betty

      April 03, 2015 at 7:27 pm

      That’s a lovely cake there, especially with that crumb topping you’ve added! I love applesauce spice cakes and this one sounds really good. You can meet some of the nicest people on airplanes, can’t you? 🙂

      Reply
    11. Maureen

      April 03, 2015 at 12:02 pm

      Barbara, double checking on the cloves measurement, you have 1/2 teaspoon in recipe but noted in place of 2 teaspoons, you used 1/4 teaspoon. What about the allspice, it that 2 teaspoons? Guess I’m a little confused. Thanks! Sounds absolutely delicious!!

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        April 03, 2015 at 12:58 pm

        Thanks Maureen – I corrected the ingredients to say 1/4 teaspoon and 2 teaspoons is correct for the allspice. Thanks for the heads up.

        Reply
    12. Carol

      April 03, 2015 at 12:01 pm

      Oh how I love spice cakes…and applesauce…and coffee cake. That looks SO good. I’m with you and Annamaria-I love crumb toppings on cakes too. What a perfect breakfast treat…or a piece of this would be mighty good mid afternoon with a cup of coffee. Talked myself right into that one! 🙂

      Thank you Barbara, Bob and Grandma Rothlisberger too!

      Happy Easter,

      Carol

      Reply
    13. Linda

      April 03, 2015 at 11:35 am

      An all time favorite in our house, especially in the fall when the mornings are cool.

      Reply
    14. Annamaria @ Bakewell Junction

      April 03, 2015 at 11:17 am

      Barbara,
      I’m a big fan of crumb topping. The more the better. It’s amazing the connections you can make with food.
      Happy Easter.
      Annamaria

      Reply

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