Full of warm spices and tantalizing aroma, this healthy old fashioned applesauce cake is the perfect treat for your sweet tooth. It comes together super fast and only needs one bowl.
This applesauce spice cake may be the most delicious cake on our blog! I have a hard time choosing between it and our super fluffy chocolate cake. It’s definitely the best applesauce cake on our blog.
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This moist applesauce cake is the perfect treat to bake during apple season, especially if you like to make homemade applesauce. What says the flavors of fall more than apples and spices like cinnamon and nutmeg?
Enjoy a slice with a cup of coffee for a delicious fall treat.
We are all about simple cake recipes made with wholesome ingredients like our healthy banana cake bars, healthy zucchini cake, and of course, this easy applesauce cake.
What's Cool About This Recipe
- 100% Whole Grain: Whole wheat flour gives this old fashioned applesauce cake recipe great depth of flavor that you wouldn’t get from all purpose flour.
- Great apple flavor: This cake has a lot of applesauce in it, giving it great apple flavor and adds moisture to the cake.
- Easy-peasy to make: You only need one bowl and a few minutes to stir the ingredients together before baking.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- White whole wheat flour: If you are milling your own flour then use hard white wheat. You can substitute whole wheat pastry flour. If you are milling your own flour that would be hard white wheat or soft white wheat.
- Brown sugar: We use organic brown sugar like this one from Florida Crystals.
- Baking soda
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Spices: The spices we use in this cake to give it all those warm comforting flavors are; Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves.
- Egg
- Unsweetened applesauce: Make sure the applesauce you use is unsweetened.
- Melted butter: Salted or unsalted butter works, we use both (whatever we have on hand).
- Vanilla extract
See recipe card for quantities.
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- 8 or 9-inch baking dish
Variations
- Add ½ cup raisins and (or) ½ chopped nuts to the batter before baking.
- Frost the top of the cake, a cinnamon cream cheese frosting would be divine.
- If you want a low sugar applesauce cake then reduce the sugar to ⅓ cup.
Instructions
Stir the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
Add the wet ingredients and stir until combined.
Pour the batter into a well greased 8x8 inch or 9x9 inch cake pan.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean
Serve warm or place the whole pan on a wire rack to cool.
Serving Suggestions
Any way you eat this homemade cake will be delicious.
- Eat it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce
- Top it with a pile of whipped cream, fresh apples and toasted nuts
- Spread warm slices with butter
- You could dust the top with organic powdered sugar
Storage
Store in an airtight container or covered with plastic wrap for 3-4 days
HOW TO FREEZE
Wrap with several layers of plastic wrap and then wrap in aluminum foil. Label and freeze for up to 6 months. Allow to thaw at room temperature when ready to eat it.
Tips From Our Kitchen
Make sure your applesauce is unsweetened.
Be careful not to over bake the cake or it will dry out.
FAQ
We have not tried it but I would think you could.
No, unless it has a cream cheese frosting on it then it would need to be stored in the refrigerator.
Related Recipes
📖 Recipe
Healthy Applesauce Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup (128 g) White whole wheat flour see notes
- ½ cup (70 g) Packed brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon Baking soda
- ½ teaspoon Baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1/16 teaspoon (pinch) Nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon Ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon Cloves
- 1 cup (120 g) Unsweetened applesauce
- ½ cup (113 g) Melted butter
- 1 large Egg
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F
- Stir the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.1 cup (128 g) White whole wheat flour, ½ cup (70 g) Packed brown sugar, ½ teaspoon Baking soda, ½ teaspoon Baking powder, ¼ teaspoon Salt, 1 teaspoon Cinnamon, 1/16 teaspoon (pinch) Nutmeg, ½ teaspoon Ginger, ⅛ teaspoon Cloves
- Add the wet ingredients and stir until combined.1 cup (120 g) Unsweetened applesauce, ½ cup (113 g) Melted butter, 1 large Egg, ½ teaspoon Vanilla extract
- Pour the batter into a well greased 8x8 inch or 9x9 inch cake pan.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Serve warm or cool.
Notes
Nutrition
We calculate these nutritional facts using an estimate and they can vary drastically between ingredients used and measuring technique. So, they are not intended for medical use.
Pamela
I have not tried the recipe but your website is awesome. You have thought of everything. I love the switch to keep your phone from going black. Well done.
WholeWheatKitchen
Oh, thank you so much! This means a lot to us 😊
Jill
Reduced the sugar as suggested and added raisins. Easy to make and on the list to keep making. Liked my all on a snowy winter night. Like the instructions and website
WholeWheatKitchen
Thank you, we’re so glad you liked it!
Lisa
Easy, moist and delicious! I had quite a few apples that were past their prime that I made into applesauce. I was so happy to find this recipe, and even happier when it turned out so good!
WholeWheatKitchen
We’re so happy you found the recipe too, thank you for letting us know you liked it!
Melissa
What a delicious recipe! Next time I will reduce the sugar as it's plenty sweet for me, but wanted to make it "as is" the first time. I used homemade applesauce and freshly ground hard white wheat flour. Definitely going in my recipe binder. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
P.S. We ate it with whipping cream or vanilla ice cream (depending on the person), but this would be delicious frosted too.
WholeWheatKitchen
I’m so glad you liked it! It should work out just fine to reduce the sugar, we do it ourselves all the time:)
Melissa
I made this recipe again with 1/4 cup brown sugar and it was perfect for me! Also, I made muffins instead of a cake. I made 12 regular sized muffins, but they are pretty short, so probably 9 would have been better. Love this recipe!