Apple Snack Cake
This moist, old fashioned Apple Snack Cake is simple to make and perfect for fall! If you love apple desserts, you will love this delicious cake, with diced apples, pecans, brown sugar and cinnamon.
This tender homemade apple snack cake has a texture that is a bit more dense, with a deliciously rich consistency that is somewhere between a bar and a cake. It doesn't rise quite as high as our other sheet cakes, but it is packed with fantastic flavor in every bite.
Tart granny smith apples pair perfectly with the pecans, cinnamon, and a hint of brown sugar in this fall cake.
We've made many cakes with apples over the years, including our Apple Dapple Cake, Apple Pecan Bundt Cake, and Applesauce Cake, and more. We are happy to have another to add to the collection!
Table of Contents
How to Make Apple Snack Cake
Today’s cake is a twist on an Apple Sheet Cake recipe we found in a well-loved church cookbook. Sometimes you just can't beat an old-fashioned favorite. You can find our full, printable cake recipe at the bottom of this post. Here is a quick look at our steps!
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9x13 pan.
- In a medium bowl, combine peeled, chopped apples and white & brown sugar, stirring to combine. Set aside.
- Egg Mixture: In a medium bowl, add eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. Mix well to combine.
- Flour Mixture: In a large bowl, add the all purpose flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk to blend.
- Alternately stir in the flour mixture and egg mixture to the apple/sugar mixture. Start and end with the flour mixture. (We did three additions of the flour mixture and two additions of the egg mixture). *Stir just until combined- be careful not to overmix.
- Finally, fold in the chopped pecans. Pour the batter into the prepared 9x13" pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Allow to cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes before turning out. *If the cake begins to become more brown than you'd like, lightly cover pan with aluminum foil.
Frosting the Cake
This cake tastes great on it's own or with a drizzle of caramel, or dollop of whipped cream, but a simple frosting is a great option too!
Today, we frosted the top of the cake with our simple cream cheese frosting recipe.We just love this combination of flavors!
Once the cake had cooled completely, we piped rosettes over the top of the cake using a large 2D. (A 1M piping tip is great too!)
Thanks so much for stopping by today! We hope that you give this delicious apple sheet cake a try. Make sure to check out our other fall cakes as well. We have so many! Some of our favorites are Pumpkin Spice Cake, Sweet Potato Cake, Maple Pound Cake, and Carrot Cake.
Have you made this? We would LOVE for you to leave a ⭐️ rating as well as a comment and photo below! We really appreciate your feedback!
Apple Snack Cake
Ingredients
- 4 cups Apples, peeled & chopped (We used Granny Smith Apples)
- 1½ cup white sugar (300g)
- ¼ cup light brown sugar (55g)
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 10 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (This is ½ cup, plus 2 T) (142g)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (8g)
- 2 cups all purpose flour (250g)
- 2 teaspoons baking soda (12g)
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (4g)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup chopped pecans
Cream Cheese Frosting (We halved the recipe as we only frosted the top of the cake).
- 1 stick unsalted butter, softened (113g) (Should easily dent when pressed)
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature (brick style rather than tub)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (4g)
- ½ teaspoon salt (2g)
- 3 to 3 ½ cups powdered sugar (345g)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9x13 pan.
- In a medium bowl, combine apples and sugar, stirring to combine. Set aside.
- Egg Mixture: In a medium bowl, add eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. Mix well to combine.
- Flour Mixture: In a large bowl, add the all purpose flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk to blend.
- Alternately stir in the flour mixture and egg mixture to the apple/sugar mixture. Start and end with the flour mixture. (We did three additions of the flour mixture and two additions of the egg mixture). *Stir just until combined- be careful not to overmix.
- Finally, fold in the chopped pecans. Pour the batter into the prepared 9x13" pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Allow to cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes before turning out. *If the cake begins to become more brown than you'd like, lightly cover pan with aluminum foil.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Add the softened butter to the bowl of your mixer. Beat on low to medium speed until the butter is smooth.
- Cut the softened cream cheese into pieces and add to the butter, along with the salt, mixing at low to medium speed until incorporated. If you are using a hand mixer you may need to soften the cream cheese a bit more.
- Add the vanilla. Gradually add the powdered sugar mixing on low speed until blended. Cover the bowl with a towel to keep down the cloud of powdered sugar.
- Increase mixing speed and beat until fluffy. Don't over beat or it will become too soft. If it becomes too soft, just refrigerate a short while to firm it up a bit.
- This frosting will pipe best if used while still chilled. You can make it in advance, refrigerate and when ready to use let it soften slightly (do not microwave) and remix.
Decorating
- Once the cake has cooled completely, you can frost with the cream cheese frosting. Decorate however you'd like. We used a 2D piping tip to pipe rosettes on top of the cake.
Storage
- Because of the cream cheese frosting, this cake needs to be refrigerated. When cakes are refrigerated, they become more firm because of the butter. For this reason, it is best to move the cake from the refrigerator to the kitchen counter 2-3 hours before serving.
Hello,
Can we use this recipe for cupcakes? If so, can you please tell me temperature oven should be set and for how long? Do I need to make any adjustments to the recipe? Thanks!
Hello Melissa,
can ypu please let me know if I can use this recipe for cupcakes or if I need to make any tweaks to the recipe?
Hi Maria! I haven't tried this recipe as cupcakes- the cake is a bit more dense than our usual cupcake recipes and may not rise quite as high but I think it would still work. We usually put about 1/4 cup batter into cupcake liners, and bake at 350 for about 15-18 minutes.
We have lots of Apple layer cakes also in this roundup that could work for cupcakes as well: https://www.mycakeschool.com/apple-cinnamon-layer-cake/
this is very similar to one that I make. I use oil instead of butter. it does not affect the taste and is cheaper. I also frost with a cream cheese frosting but use 2 8oz blocks of cheese to 2 1/2c powdered sugar. people love when I make this cake.
Thanks Sally! Yes, it works with a 1/2 cup of oil as well. I should add that to the notes in case there are others who prefer oil over butter.
Would I need to double the recipe to use a half sheet pan?
Mary Ann
macarman6@gmail.com
Hi Mary! Yes, I would double it. Just fyi, this cake is fairly thin, so even doubled as a half sheet, it will probably be a bit thin also.
Looks awesome and no mixer required for the cake! :-)
Thanks Teri! And yes we don't have too many that don't require the mixer! ;0)
Like the look off these recipes 👌
Thanks! ;0)
Made this today, it is truly the BEST Apple Cake I've ever made!! Husband agrees! A definite keeper and I will surely make this again and again. Thank you!
Yay! So happy to hear that you all made it and loved it ;0)
Hey there! The cake was delicious! While I was eating it, I had the idea of converting the recipe from an apple cake to a carrot cake, so I am asking if you have any recommendations for that? Again the cake was fabulous, thank you!
So glad that you enjoyed it! Turning it into a carrot cake would be an experiment ;0)
We have a great carrot cake recipe that we love- and the two recipes are similar in some ways- maybe you could either try that recipe as a sheet cake or somehow do a combo of both to make a new recipe.
https://www.mycakeschool.com/carrot-cake-recipe/