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This Salted Bourbon Apple Crumble Coffee Cake is fall baked up into a sweet little cake, infused with warming autumn spices, bourbon, and swirled with crisp autumn apples. This cake is no fuss, easy to mix up, and SO DELICIOUS! Every bite is layered with sweet cinnamon streusel, apples, and bourbon-vanilla coffee cake crumbs. Finish with a light drizzle of sweet glaze for a cake that no one can turn down…breakfast or dessert.
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I’m taking a pause from all the pumpkin recipes to bring back an autumn apple recipe! Once October hits I feel like we can all get sidetracked by baking (and cooking) with so much pumpkin. It’s easy to do, something about baking with pumpkin just feels so quintessentially perfect in October.
But, I’m here to remind us all that it’s still very much apple season. And we can’t forget about baking with fall apples too!
Enter this cake. It’s honestly one of the more delicious recipes I’ve baked up all month.
Here are the details
There are three steps to this cake…the batter, the streusel, and the glaze. The batter is pretty simple but has a few special ingredients: apple butter, apple cider, bourbon, apples, and a bit of sour cream to give the cake a perfect moist crumble.
Simply mix together the wet ingredients in a large bowl, then add in the dry…very simple, nothing fancy.
For the middle of the cake, you’ll need to make a streusel. You’ll also need some Honeycrisp apples. For this cake, I opted out of any creamy cheese, as I wanted the flavors of the apples and bourbon to really shine through.
I swirled the middle of the cake with chopped apples and then added a layer of streusel mixture.
For the very top of the cake, I like to arrange a few apple slices around the cake. Then I finish it off with streusel. It’s so delicious and perfect atop this apple cake.
Now on to that glaze
I don’t love a straight powdered sugar glaze. I find it to be pretty bland, and really, it’s just too sugary for my taste.
With this glaze, I wanted it to be exciting, but not overpowering. I wanted the flavors within the glaze to help highlight the flavors in the cake. Apples pair so well with maple. They help to make this my favorite buttery glaze. The bourbon adds a warmth and richness to the glaze, and the small pinch of salt ties it all together.
Not too strong, not too sweet, but just right. Especially when drizzled over this warm cake.
Insanely delish.
When everything is combined into one cake, you have a truly special fall apple cake. Make it today for something sweet tonight. But don’t forget about it when Thanksgiving rolls around next month as well.
It makes for a great brunch cake too!
We all really loved this. Especially my dad, who highly agreed that the apples really do make this cake.
Looking for other apple fall recipes? Here are a few ideas:
Apple Cinnamon Rolls with Brown Butter Maple Icing
Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts with Cinnamon Maple Glaze
Chewy Brown Sugar Maple Cookies
Lastly, if you make this Salted Bourbon Apple Crumble Coffee Cake, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Salted Bourbon Apple Crumble Coffee Cake
Ingredients
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) salted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2/3 cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream
- 1/3 cup apple butter
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup apple cider
- 1/4 cup bourbon, (or more cider)
Streusel
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 6 tablespoons cold butter, grated
- 1 1/2 cups chopped apples, plus 1 small apple, thinly sliced
Glaze
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon bourbon
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter a 9-inch bundt pan.2. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and brown sugar until combined. Add the sour cream, apple butter, and vanilla, beating until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until combined. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Slowly mix in the apple cider and bourbon until just combined, being careful not to overmix.3. To make the streusel. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Add the butter and use your fingers to mix the butter into the flour until a crumble forms.4. Spoon half the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the apples over the batter, sprinkle half the crumble over the apples. Spoon the remaining batter over in an even layer. Evenly layer on the apple slices, then top with the remaining streusel mix.5. Bake for 60-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool 30 minutes and then invert the cake onto a plate, flipping it back upright onto a serving plate.6. To make the glaze, add the butter and maple to a small pot set over medium heat to melt. Whisk in the powdered sugar, bourbon, and salt. Drizzle the glaze over the cake and let set 10 minutes. Serve the cake slightly warm or at room temperature. Keep cake stored, covered in the fridge.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
I’d like to try making this cake for a friend who has a gluten sensitivity. I plan to use a 1:1 GF flour substitute. Do you have experience/advice for adjusting the recipe?
Hi there! I haven’t made this recipe gluten free before, but the 1:1 ratio should work great! xTieghan
Can this be made in a loaf pan if we don’t have a Bundt pan?
Yes, that would work just fine! xTieghan
Delicious fall cake! Made this and brought the remaining cake into work, and everyone loved it!
Hey! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Thanks for trying it out and Happy Halloween! xTieghan
This looks so delicious. What can I add to the glaze in place of the Bourbon? I am Allergic to alcohol so I need to put something else in its place. Thank you
Hi there! I would add some more vanilla! xTieghan
Just made this……omg! You nailed it! The perfect blend of taste and texture…and I mean perfect! The glaze was amazing with that subtle hint of Bourbon ??. I baked mine for 55 minutes (for the fear of over cooking it) may have done 50 min but whatever, it was delicious!
Hey Tiffany, Happy Thursday! So glad this recipe was enjoyed and thanks for making it! xTieghan
Can I substitute home made applesauce for the apple butter or will it add too much liquid?
Hi Nadine! That should work just fine! xTieghan
This recipe was DELICIOUS! I saw the post on Instagram the other day and knew I had to make it ASAP. Can we just talk about the flavor?? Perfect combo of cinnamon, streusel and apple. It will be a remake this fall season again for sure as my friends and family would love it! I used a springfoam pan as mentioned in some of the other comments below and it came out perfect. So easy to make – thanks for sharing 🙂
Happy Thursday! So glad this recipe was enjoyed and thanks for making it! xTieghan
This cake was so good! It is moist and not overly sweet. I used a spring form pan as a few other reviews recommended, to I could get the streusel on top. It turned out beautifully!
Hey there! So glad you enjoyed this recipe, thanks for giving it a try! xTieghan
Another amazing recipe! Perfect fall recipe. I have a question though – for whatever reason mine was really crumbly. I couldn’t get a perfect slice, it crumbled in the middle. Any ideas what could be causing that?
Hi Sarah! Is there anything you did differently in the recipe? Perhaps it was overbaked? xTieghan
This is literally THE BEST EVER! My husband is a huge fan of coffee cakes, but this…. this has taken it home! So good! I love apple over pumpkin any day!
Hey there! So glad you enjoyed this recipe, thanks for giving it a try! xTieghan
Absolutely delicious! Can’t recommend this cake enough!! I’ll be making this for years to come. 🙂
Hey there! So glad you enjoyed this recipe, thanks for giving it a try! xTieghan
Best coffee cake recipe ever and one of my favorite things I’ve baked!! Came out absolutely fantastic and family loved it too. Two thumbs up
Hey! This is awesome, I’m so happy to hear this recipe turned out the way you’d hoped! 🙂 xTieghan
I made this today and it was SO good. Perfect cozy rainy day baking treat. I love that it’s so fall without the pumpkin. Thank you!
Hey Qunicy! This is awesome, I’m so happy to hear this recipe turned out the way you’d hoped! 🙂 xTieghan
I just made 3 salted bourbon apple crumble cakes. Amazing everyone loved it. Thank you for sharing the recipe love it.
Hey! This is awesome, I’m so happy to hear this recipe turned out the way you’d hoped! 🙂 xTieghan
Absolutely a wonderful coffee cake. I didn’t have a apple butter but used the pumpkin butter (your recipe). My glaze did not look like yours. This recipe s a keeper. Smells and taste amazing.
Hey! This is awesome, I’m so happy to hear this recipe turned out the way you’d hoped! 🙂 xTieghan
I made this today. It turned out great. This is a keeper. I agree with your dad, the Honeycrisp apples are the way to go here. Also, make the effort to find apple butter (I almost subbed applesauce but decided to get the apple butter). Thanks Tieghan!
– Marci
For anyone else reading this and trying to find apple butter, I almost gave up but found it in my grocery store on the top shelf in the peanut butter and jelly section
Hey! This is awesome, I’m so happy to hear this recipe turned out the way you’d hoped! 🙂 xTieghan