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    Home » Food

    Apple Sour Cream Coffee Cake Recipe

    Sarita Harbour.
    Modified: Sep 16, 2025 by Sarita Harbour · This post may contain affiliate links·
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    I LOVE baking coffee cake for four reasons, especially with this easy apple sour cream coffee cake recipe. One, it's easy to make.

    Two, it's a great way to use up leftover fruit. And since we're living off the grid without garbage pickup, we do our best to minimize our household waste.

    Three, it's a cheap dessert to feed a crowd. When we were doing our pantry and freezer challenge a few years ago, I used this apple sour cream coffee cake recipe more than once.

    And four, it's delicious! 

    Close-up of a partially eaten slice of apple sour cream coffee cake with visible apple pieces, resting on a white plate with a fork holding a bite-sized piece.Pin
    Apple sour cream coffee cake. Photo Credit: An Off Grid Life.

    There are many easy apple cake recipes out there.  This is one of my favorites as we often have just one or two apples left by the end of the week. Another one we like to make in the winter is this moist Irish Apple Cake, a comforting spicy cake perfect when topped with fresh whipped cream.

    If we've had rice and beans or chicken salsa casserole for dinner earlier in the week, we will usually have a little sour cream left over, too.

    This apple sour cream coffee cake recipe makes good use of those leftovers. And it's easy to whip up and pop in the oven.

    Go ahead and make this with any leftover sour cream in your fridge. Or if you're feeling adventurous, try a homemade sour cream recipe. 

    I made this apple cake without cinnamon last week,  and it was very good. But feel free to add a teaspoon of cinnamon to the crumb mixture.

    Serve This Coffee Cake for Breakfast

    A slice of crumbly apple sour cream coffee cake with visible apple pieces on a white plate, with a fork holding a bite-sized piece.Pin
    Photo Credit: An Off Grid Life.

    This is a good breakfast coffee cake as it isn't too sweet. Yet it could easily serve as an apple snack cake (cut it into small squares.)

    To serve it for dessert, warm it up a little and add a dollop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. And if you're a real apple lover, serve it alongside a tall apple crisp macchiato.

    How to Make Apple Coffee Cake with Sour Cream

    Here's what you'll need to make this easy apple coffee cake. This is an old-fashioned styled apple cake, and there's lots of room for substitutions.

    Top-down view of baking ingredients for apple sour cream coffee cake including brown sugar, oats, butter, green apples, flour, cinnamon, baking powder, vanilla extract, an egg, and yogurt on a marble surface.Pin
    Sour Cream Apple Coffee Cake Ingredients. Photo Credit: An Off Grid Life.

    You'll need the following ingredients.

    • all-purpose flour
    • large flake (old-fashioned) rolled oats
    • brown sugar
    • butter at room temperature
    • baking powder
    • salt
    • egg
    • sour cream
    • pure vanilla extract
    • cinnamon
    • Granny Smith apples

    Directions

    A glass bowl contains brown sugar, oats, flour, cinnamon, and two butter sticks on a marble surface next to two green apples and a blue cloth.Pin
    A glass bowl with flour and brown sugar mixture, topped with baking powder, sits on a marble surface next to a blue striped kitchen towel.Pin
    A glass baking dish with an even layer of oat and flour mixture sits on a marble surface beside a bowl of the same mixture and a blue striped cloth.Pin
    A glass bowl contains a mixture of dry oats and flour with a well in the center filled with wet ingredients, placed on a light countertop beside a blue striped cloth.Pin
    A glass bowl filled with chopped apples mixed into a batter, placed on a light marble surface next to a blue striped kitchen towel.Pin
    A square glass baking dish filled with a golden-brown cake containing visible apple chunks sits on a white surface next to a striped cloth.Pin
    Step-by-step Apple Sour Cream Coffee Cake. Photo Credit: An Off Grid Life.

    Use Other Fruit in This Apple Sour Cream Coffee Cake Recipe

    It's easy to substitute other fruits for the apples in this coffee cake recipe.  Try the following:

    • pears
    • peaches,
    • plums
    • 1 ½ cups of blueberries
    • ¾ cup of rhubarb
    • 1 ¼ cups  Saskatoon berries
    • 1 ½ cups everbearing raspberries

    If you are baking a blueberry sour cream coffee cake or a raspberry sour cream coffee cake,  freeze the berries for half an hour.  

    Sprinkle a little flour with the half-frozen berries to keep them from becoming mushy and discoloring the coffee cake purple. It might taste good, but a big purple block may turn off any picky eaters in your family.

    This apple sour cream coffee cake recipe marked the first time I used my new silicone bakeware, and I made it in a square 9-inch pan.  While I greased the silicone with butter, I don't think it was necessary. The silicone was so flexible that it simply peeled away from the cake.

    Give this recipe a try. If you make any substitutions and would like to recommend them, drop us a line.  Happy Baking!

    This apple sour cream coffee cake is a perfect recipe for baking with kids and provides a great way to use up leftovers and experiment with different fruit and flavor combinations. 

    If you choose to make a Blueberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake, adding 1 tablespoon of lemon juice is a nice touch.  This coffee cake also freezes well, and makes a good option for a potluck, church lunch, or to drop off at a neighbor's house.

    Like this post? Save it, share it, and read it!

    A bowl of baking ingredients beside green apples, and a slice of apple sour cream coffee cake on a plate, with the text "Apple Sour Cream Coffee Cake Recipe.Pin
    A bowl of diced apples beside a slice of apple cinnamon coffee cake on a plate, with whole apples, cinnamon sticks, and a striped towel nearby. Text promotes a vintage recipe.Pin
    A slice of apple sour cream coffee cake sits on a white plate under a banner that reads, "Apple Sour Cream Coffee Cake Recipe.Pin
    A slice of apple sour cream coffee cake on a white plate with a fork, cinnamon sticks, and a green apple nearby; recipe text overlayed.Pin
    Top image shows ingredients for apple sour cream coffee cake laid out on a counter; bottom image shows a slice of the cake on a plate with a fork.Pin
    A slice of sour cream apple coffee cake sits on a white plate, with a large text label above reading "Sour Cream Apple Coffee Cake.Pin
    Apple Sour Cream Coffee Cake RecipePin
    Apple Sour Cream Coffee Cake RecipePin

    Recipe

    A fork is pressed into a slice of apple cake on a white plate, with a cinnamon stick and a striped napkin nearby.Pin

    Apple Sour Cream Coffee Cake Recipe

    This easy apple sour cream coffee cake recipe is a fast and frugal dessert to feed a crowd. It uses just two apples, one egg, and leftover sour cream!
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 35 minutes mins
    Cook Time 1 hour hr
    Additional Time 5 minutes mins
    Total Time 1 hour hr 40 minutes mins
    Course Bread and Quickbreads
    Cuisine American
    Servings 12 pieces

    Equipment

    • KitchenAid Professional 600 Stand Mixer 6 quart, Ice (Renewed)
    • measuring spoons
    • Measuring Cups

    Ingredients
      

    • 2 cups all-purpose flour
    • ½ cup large flakes oatmeal
    • 1 ¼ cups brown sugar
    • ¾ cups room temperature butter or margarine
    • 3 teaspoons baking powder
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • 1 egg
    • ¾ cups sour cream
    • ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
    • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
    • 2 Granny Smith apples diced fine
    Get Recipe Ingredients

    Instructions
     

    • Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
    • Butter a 9-inch square pan and set aside.
    • Combine flour, oats, brown sugar, butter and cinammon if you're using it in a large bowl.
    • Use a spoon to press about half of the crumb mixture into the bottom of the pan.
    • Add baking powder and salt to the remaining crumb mixture and mix it well.
    • Make a well in the middle for your wet ingredients.
    • Whip together the egg, sour cream, and vanilla extract.
    • Pour wet ingredients into the well and mix gently.
    • Fold in other chopped apples or other fruit.
    • Use a spatula to scrape the coffee cake mixture into the pan on top of the crumb base.
    • Bake for 60 minutes then insert a knife into the centre. If it comes out clean, it's ready. If not, pop it back in the oven for another 5 minutes then repeat.
    Keyword apple coffee cake recipe, apple recipes, apple sour cream coffee cake recipe
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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    About Sarita Harbour

    Sarita Harbour is a long-time freelance writer, blogger, and homesteader who has been creating online content for over 15 years. She’s the founder of An Off Grid Life, where she shares practical advice on self-reliance, homesteading, off-grid living, and homeschooling based on her 11-year adventure living in Canada’s remote Northwest Territories.

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    Sarita Harbour.

    I'm Sarita. My family and I lived off the grid for 11 years in Canada's far north. If I did it, you can too.

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