Merah Hati Cintaku: No-Bowl Applesauce Cake

This applesauce cake is perfectly moist, scented with cinnamon and brown sugar. And you mix the entire dough in the cake pan! No mixing bowls required.

Meet our new favorite: this applesauce cake. First of all, it’s the most drop dead delicious applesauce cake you’ll eat. It’s moist and scented with cinnamon, perfectly fluffy and even a little gooey. It’s got a healthy spin with olive oil and Greek yogurt, and instead of calorie-rich icing there’s a sprinkle of powdered sugar. And the best part? It’s legitimately easy: you simply mix all the ingredients together in the baking pan. No mixing bowls required! The recipe comes to you straight from our pal Katie Sullivan Morford’s new cookbook Prep: The Essential College Cookbook. Keep reading for the applesauce cake recipe and more about the book!

About the book: Prep — The Essential College Cookbook

If you know anyone going off to college, this Prep cookbook is truly a perfect starter cookbook. It’s all about helping students cook real meals with real food. It’s centered around 10 basic lessons for getting comfortable in the kitchen, which results in healthy dinners, satisfying snacks, and simple desserts like this applesauce cake. While neither Alex nor I were interested in cooking in the least in college, this is the book I wish we had to help us navigate under-equipped dorm and rental kitchens! (Yes, we met in college. First day!)

This book is truly perfect for beginners and it would be a fantastic gift or graduation present. Congratulations, Katie!

Get the book: Prep: The Essential College Cookbook

How to make applesauce cake

OK, I’m going to be honest. First of all: I’m not a cake person. (Gasp, I know!) Second: Alex and I had never eaten an applesauce cake before this recipe (Double gasp!). Somehow we went our entire lives without tasting it. How did we not know this was a thing? We’d love to know about your traditions around an applesauce spice cake recipe (tell us in the comments below). After a sweet kitchen date making it with our 2 year old Larson, I know we’ll be making it for years to come. Plus, there’s something so homey about saying, “Today we’re baking an applesauce cake recipe!” It’s like making chocolate chip cookies, but better. Anyway, I digress!

Not only is this applesauce cake seriously easy to make, it has a healthy spin, using olive oil, Greek yogurt, and applesauce to keep the cake moist (more on that below). With such simple ingredients, you’d expect the flavor to be overly simple too. But it is so cozy and homey, the perfect amount of sweetness, aroma of the cinnamon, and just the right amount of tangy apple from the applesauce. Though it might seem like it has a fall vibe, you can make it anytime: I can imagine it on potluck tables all throughout the year.

Here’s how to make applesauce cake:

Mix together the dry ingredients in a buttered 8-inch baking dish. Use a fork to mix the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Make a well and mix in the wet ingredients. Use a fork to mix in the egg, olive oil, Greek yogurt, applesauce and vanilla. Smooth out the top.
Bake for about 30 minutes at 350F, until the center is fairly firm.
Allow the cake to cool for about 1 hour to room temperature.
Dust the cake with powdered sugar, cut into pieces, and serve.

Now of course, if you’d like you can slather this applesauce cake with icing. We wouldn’t be offended in the least! To further enhance the healthy-ish spin of this cake, we decided to opt for a light dusting of powdered sugar instead of icing. Which has a side bonus of making this recipe even easier!

This applesauce cake recipe would be perfect for taking to a potluck, pitch in or barbecue: we know we will be adding it to our pitch-in repertoire because it’s just.so.easy.

Does applesauce make a cake moist?

Does applesauce make a cake moist? Absolutely. Adding applesauce gives cake a rich, moist crumb. Applesauce is a well-known substitute for oil in baked goods, allowing you to lessen the overall calories. In this applesauce cake, the applesauce is used for moisture and overall flavor: even though it only uses 1/2 cup applesauce, you can taste it in every bite.

Looking for easy dessert recipes?

This applesauce cake recipe is a truly one of the easiest cakes we’ve made. Here are a few more of our favorite easy dessert recipes:

This applesauce cake recipe is…

Vegetarian. For dairy-free, use dairy-free yogurt. (And let us know how it goes!)

Easy Applesauce Cake

(3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

5 from 3 reviews

Author: Sonja Overhiser
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 12 pieces

Print Recipe

Description

This applesauce cake is perfectly moist, scented with cinnamon and brown sugar. And you mix the entire dough in the cake pan! No mixing bowls required.

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 firmly packed cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 egg
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Powdered sugar, for dusting

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.
Put the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the baking pan. Use a fork to thoroughly mix the ingredients together.
Use your hands to make a hole in the center of the dry ingredients. Into the hole, crack the egg and add the olive oil, yogurt, applesauce, and vanilla. Use a fork to mix the ingredients together until smooth and blended. Smooth the top of the batter with the side of a butter knife.
Bake until the cake is fairly firm when you press lightly at its center and a toothpick inserted int the middle has no wet batter sticking to it, 25 to 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven and leave on the counter to cool completely, 1 hour. Leave the cake in the pan. Dust with powdered sugar. Cut into pieces and use a small spatula to lift them from the pan.

Category: Dessert
Method: Baked
Cuisine: American