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This easy applesauce cake recipe comes together with one bowl and a whisk — no electric mixer required! Bake the simple, flavorful spice cake in a loaf pan and finish with a sweet cinnamon icing. It’s delicious with a cup of coffee for breakfast, or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a cozy fall dessert!
Table of Contents
While this applesauce spice cake is perfectly appropriate at any time of year, it’s especially inviting in the fall when local Virginia apples are at their peak. Use either a jar of store-bought applesauce, or take advantage of fresh fruit and prepare your favorite homemade recipe. You just can’t beat the aroma of the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves baking in this cozy autumn treat!
What does applesauce do for a cake?
The applesauce serves a couple of different purposes in this recipe. First, it keeps the loaf cake nice and moist, in the same way that oil or butter does — without the extra fat. It also adds natural flavor and sweetness to the cake, reducing the need for too much additional sugar.
It’s important to note that while unsweetened applesauce works as a replacement for some of the oil or butter needed in a cake recipe, it should not replace all of the fat. If you try to bake a cake without any oil or butter (using 100% applesauce instead), the end result will be a gummy, dense cake. Instead, the goal is to achieve the perfect balance of applesauce and oil — resulting in a cake with a subtly sweet, apple flavor, a tender texture, and a moist crumb.
Ingredients for Applesauce Spice Cake
This is just a quick overview of the ingredients that you’ll need for an easy applesauce cake recipe. As always, specific measurements and step-by-step baking instructions are included in the printable recipe box at the bottom of the post.
- Vegetable oil: keeps the cake moist and tender. Feel free to substitute with a different neutral oil, such as canola oil or avocado oil. Melted unsalted butter would also work; however, oil adds a bit more moisture.
- Granulated sugar: for sweetness. Brown sugar would probably work fine, but you don’t need the extra moisture since you’re adding applesauce to the batter.
- Applesauce: for sweetness, flavor, and moisture. I like unsweetened applesauce here, but any variety will work. Use homemade applesauce if you’ve got it!
- Eggs: give the cake structure.
- Vanilla extract: for extra flavor and warmth.
- Salt: to balance the sweetness and enhance the other flavors in the cake.
- Baking powder and baking soda: leavening agents that help the cake rise.
- Ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, and ground ginger: warm spices that pair nicely with the applesauce, giving the cake its cozy fall flavor. Feel free to omit any spices that you don’t care for, or add others (like cardamom) that you enjoy.
- All-purpose flour: the base of the batter. You’ll add this at the end so that you don’t overwork the flour, activating the gluten, and ending up with a dense, tough loaf cake.
- Chopped walnuts: sub with chopped pecans, or omit the nuts altogether. Raisins or dried cranberries would also be a nice substitute for the nuts.
- Powdered sugar and milk: combine with vanilla extract, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt to make the cinnamon glaze.
How to Make a Cake with Applesauce
What makes this applesauce cake recipe easy? You only need one bowl, a whisk, and about 10 minutes of prep time! There’s no need to use an electric mixer or stand mixer to cream together butter and sugar; and there’s no need to use separate bowls for wet ingredients and dry ingredients. Instead, this easy recipe eliminates fancy equipment and minimizes the dishes that you have to wash at the end!
I’ve included detailed directions in the recipe card below, but here’s the quick version:
- Whisk together the wet ingredients.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients, stirring to combine.
- Fold in the nuts.
- Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan, and bake for about 50 minutes.
- Let the cake cool, and then drizzle with a simple cinnamon glaze.
- Let the icing set, and then slice and serve!
Serving Suggestions
This recipe for applesauce cake works well as a sweet breakfast or brunch treat with a hot mug of coffee, as an afternoon snack with warm tea or cider, or as a cozy fall dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a dollop of whipped cream, or a drizzle of caramel sauce. It would even be a nice addition to your Thanksgiving dessert buffet, right alongside the pumpkin pie!
Preparation and Storage Tips
- Make-Ahead: This cake just gets better as it sits! The flavors come together and the applesauce helps keep it nice and moist.
- Wrap your loaf in plastic wrap or aluminum foil to prevent it from drying out. The cake will stay fresh at room temperature on the counter for 2-3 days, and it will last in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
- To Freeze: Cool the loaf completely, wrap tightly, and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. It’s best to freeze the cake before icing, since the icing won’t look as nice when it’s thawed.
Easy Applesauce Cake Recipe Variations
- Swap out the walnuts and use pecans instead. For a nut-free cake, omit the nuts altogether, or substitute with raisins or dried cranberries (like Craisins).
- Instead of using the cinnamon glaze, top the cake with cinnamon-sugar, cream cheese frosting, a maple glaze, or drizzle with caramel sauce just before serving.
- Double all of the ingredients to make two loaf cakes at once. Enjoy one now, and freeze the second for another day. Just make sure to let the cake cool completely before wrapping and freezing. Thaw completely before frosting.
Tips for the Best Applesauce Cake Recipe
- Start with room temperature eggs and applesauce, which will blend together more easily.
- Use store-bought applesauce (unsweetened or sweetened is fine), or make your own applesauce at home when time allows.
- Do not over-mix the batter. It should come together so that everything is combined, but then stop stirring! Mixing too much will result in a dry, dense loaf.
- Check your cake early, as mine is always done by about the 50-minute mark. Baking it too long can cause it to burn on the edges or dry out in the center.
- The total baking time will vary depending on the type of loaf pan that you use. A dark metal, nonstick pan cooks the cake faster, so it will likely be done within 45-50 minutes. By contrast, a lighter metal pan, a glass pan, or a ceramic pan can easily require up to 60-65 minutes of baking in a 350°F oven. You can tell that your loaf is cooked through when you insert a toothpick or long stick deep into the center of the cake and it comes out clean.
More Apple Cake Recipes to Try
Apple Walnut Cake with Caramel Glaze
4 hours hrs 15 minutes mins
Apple Coffee Cake
40 minutes mins
Apple Bundt Cake {Apple Dapple Cake}
3 hours hrs 30 minutes mins
One-Bowl Applesauce Cake
Ingredients
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup applesauce
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
FOR THE GLAZE
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons milk or cream
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour an 8½ x 4½-inch loaf pan or spray with nonstick baking spray; set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together oil and sugar until combined. Add the applesauce, eggs, and vanilla extract; whisk to combine.
- Sprinkle salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger over mixture and stir until well blended. Add flour, stirring just until combined. Be careful not to over-mix or your cake will be tough. Fold in the walnuts.
- Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50-60 minutes. Do not overbake.
- Remove from the oven, unmold from the pan, and cool completely on a wire rack before glazing.
FOR THE GLAZE
- In a small bowl, whisk together confectioners sugar, 2 tablespoons of milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt until a thick, pourable glaze comes together. If the glaze seems too thick, add more milk, one teaspoon at a time, until it reaches the desired consistency. If the glaze is too thin, gradually add more sugar.
- Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake. Slice and serve.
Notes
- Start with room temperature eggs and applesauce, which will blend together more easily.
- Use store-bought applesauce (unsweetened or sweetened is fine), or make your own applesauce at home when time allows.
- Do not over-mix the batter. It should come together so that everything is combined, but then stop stirring! Mixing too much will result in a dry, dense loaf.
- Check your cake early, as mine is always done by about the 50-minute mark. Baking it too long can cause it to burn on the edges or dry out in the center.
- The total baking time will vary depending on the type of loaf pan that you use. A dark metal, nonstick pan cooks the cake faster, so it will likely be done within 45-50 minutes. By contrast, a lighter metal pan, a glass pan, or a ceramic pan can easily require up to 60-65 minutes of baking in a 350°F oven. You can tell that your loaf is cooked through when you insert a toothpick or long stick deep into the center of the cake and it comes out clean.
This beautiful cake will take pride of place at our Canadian Thanksgiving celebration in a couple of weeks.Thanks so much for all your wonderful recipes.I visit your site every Sunday morning & always find something good to make for my family.Take care & see you next week–Bye for now Michelle
That’s so good to hear, Michelle. Happy Thanksgiving to you — I hope the holiday is wonderful!
Hi.
Loved your applesauce cake one bowl recipe. Definitely gone try it. And let you know the results.
Pls keep them rustic farm type recipes coning. Especially one bowl and with cranberries. Pears. And apples.
My favorite!
Thanks a lot.
Thanks so much! We’ll definitely keep the recipes coming.
Another great and easy recipe! This is pantry friendly and easy to double. I used cream cheese with cinnamon for the glaze. Always njoy your site with the great photos!
Thank you so much, Cheryl!
I made this and the cake batter looked more like cookie dough, very disappointed
Hi, Billie! I’m sorry to hear that it wasn’t a success. The batter shouldn’t look like cookie dough, so it makes me think that perhaps some of the ingredients were not measured correctly. Maybe you accidentally used too much flour or not enough applesauce, for instance? The batter should be more like quick bread or muffin batter. I know that other folks have had great results with this recipe, so I’m sorry that it didn’t work for you.
Can I omit cloves do like it should I substitute something else?
Hi, Beverly! Sure, you can absolutely just omit the cloves. No need to replace them with something else unless you’d like to. For more spice, feel free to use some extra cinnamon, ginger, or nutmeg.