This wholesome whole grain flourless Applesauce Cake is made with all healthy ingredients, like oats, applesauce, avocado oil, pure maple syrup, and eggs. Packed with warm spices for an excellent healthy fall treat!
This easy oatmeal Applesauce Cake is everything I look for in a dessert recipe. It’s made with all wholesome ingredients, like oats instead of flour, pure maple syrup instead of sugar, and a combination of applesauce and oil instead of butter.
The end result? A perfectly sweet apple cinnamon treat with the loveliest texture!
Why make cake with applesauce? Well, applesauce is quite the rockstar ingredient in the sense that it brings moisture content to a cake without the need for excess fat in the form of oil. It also adds natural sweetness and subtle apple flavor.
For me, these are all big wins because we’re getting a tasty healthy cake with fewer calories and less excess sugar.
If you love this concept, also try my Applesauce Bread, Healthy Oatmeal Applesauce Muffins, or my Applesauce Oatmeal Cookies.
Let’s discuss the simple ingredients for applesauce cake.
Applesauce Cake Ingredients:
Unsweetened Applesauce: Providing moisture without excess fat, applesauce is an all-star ingredient in baked goods for lower calorie, healthy options. I use store-bought applesauce, but homemade applesauce works too.
Large Eggs: A couple of eggs help the cake batter rise into a fluffy texture.
Avocado Oil: Bringing moisture and rich flavor, we need some fat to produce a moist crumb and added flavor. I like using avocado oil due to its high omega 3 fatty acid content, but melted butter, olive oil, or melted coconut oil works too.
Pure Maple Syrup: The sweetener here. Pure maple syrup adds moisture to the cake while sweetening it and bringing maple flavor.
Pure Vanilla Extract: A touch of warm flavor makes this cake irresistible.
Rolled Oats or Quick Oats: Taking the place of regular all-purpose flour, we’re making a whole grain apple cake using oats instead of flour. The oats get blended up in a blender until a flour consistency is formed.
I use gluten-free sprouted oats in all of my recipes calling for oats.
Pumpkin Pie Spice or Ground Cinnamon: Because pumpkin pie spice includes ground cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg and cloves, it provides a great deal of warm flavor. If you don’t have any on hand, swap it out for ground cinnamon.
Fresh Apple: The best supporting actor, fresh apples add little bursts of sweet, tangy flavor to the cake to give it a refreshing vibrance. Pick your favorite kind of apples! Tart apples like Granny Smith apples yield a bigger apple flavor, whereas Envy apples, pink lady apples, honey crisp apples and Fuji apples add more sweetness.
Baking Powder: The leavening agent here.
Sea Salt: Salt is a major flavor enhancer! It brings out the apple flavor and the sweetness, so don’t skip it.
Recipe Customizations:
- Swap the oats for 1 ½ cups gluten-free all-purpose flour.
- Add ⅔ cup of chopped walnuts or pecans for a nutty crunch.
- If you prefer less fat or total calories, swap the avocado oil for more applesauce. This macro tradeoff results in cake that tastes less rich, but contains fewer calories.
- For sweeter cake, add 1 to 3 tablespoons of brown sugar, coconut sugar, or white sugar.
- Frost the cake with homemade cream cheese frosting if you’re looking for a more decadent cake.
- Make a glaze by mixing 1 cup of powdered sugar (a.k.a. confectioners’ sugar) and 2 tablespoons of water in a small bowl. Drizzle over the applesauce spice cake.
Now that we’ve covered the basic ingredients, let’s make this easy applesauce cake recipe!
How to Make Applesauce Cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper.
Whisk together the eggs, applesauce, avocado oil, pure maple syrup, and vanilla extract in a large bowl.
Blend the oats in a high-powered blender or a food processor for 60 seconds, or until a flour forms. Add the baking powder, sea salt, and pumpkin pie spice to the blender and blend for another few seconds until the dry ingredients are fully combined.
Pour the dry mixture into the bowl with the wet ingredients and stir well.
Stir the chopped apple into the batter.
Pour cake batter into the prepared pan and spread it into an even layer.
Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 23-28 minutes, or until the cake tests clean.
Insert an instant-read thermometer into the center of the cake to check for doneness. If the internal temperature is 190 degrees F or higher, it is ready.
Let cake cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing and serving. For with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a decadent dessert, or a cup of coffee as an afternoon snack.
Storage Options:
- Room Temperature: Cover the cake pan with plastic wrap and store on the counter for up to 2 days.
- Refrigerator: Refrigerate leftover cake in an airtight container or a large zip lock bag for up to 5 days.
- Freezer: Freeze in a freezer bag for up to 3 months.
Whether you’re in the mood for a dessert you feel zero guilt eating every single day, or a special treat for sharing with friends or family, this easy applesauce cake is here to serve fall flavors!
The next time you’re craving the perfect dessert for fall, make this healthy fluffy applesauce cake!
If you love simple healthy fall treats like this one, also try out these fun dessert recipes!
More Healthy Dessert Recipes:
- Healthy Sweet Potato Brownies
- Almond Flour Pumpkin Scones
- Flourless Pumpkin Brownies
- Almond Flour Apple Bread
- Carrot Apple Oat Bread
- Fudgy Chocolate Sweet Potato Cookies
Enjoy this slice of apple cinnamon goodness!
Applesauce Cake Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- ½ cup avocado oil*
- ½ cup pure maple syrup
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups quick oats or rolled oats
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp pumpkin spice or ground cinnamon
- 1 large apple chopped, about 2 cups
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper.
- Whisk together the eggs, applesauce, avocado oil, pure maple syrup, and vanilla extract in a large bowl.
- Blend the oats in a high-powered blender or a food processor for 60 seconds, or until a flour forms. Add the baking powder, sea salt, and pumpkin pie spice to the blender and blend for another few seconds until the dry ingredients are fully combined.
- Pour the dry mixture into the bowl with the wet ingredients and stir well. Stir the chopped apple into the batter.
- Transfer the cake batter into the prepared pan and spread it into an even layer.
- Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 23-28 minutes, or until the cake tests clean.
- Insert an instant-read thermometer into the center of the cake to check for doneness. If the internal temperature is 190 degrees F or higher, it is ready.
- Allow the cake to cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing and serving. For with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a decadent dessert, or a cup of coffee as an afternoon snack.
