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Irish Apple Butter Coffee Cake

This slightly savory (but mostly sweet) brunch recipe for Irish Apple Butter Coffee Cake is full of warm apple flavor and lots of wonderful spices!

What makes this Irish Apple Butter Coffee Cake Irish?

Um…the apples? Probably just the apples. Possibly the dough preparation, which is a little on the unusual side, at least from my perspective. The base recipe that Chels found for Irish coffee cake had boldly labeled itself as such, and so we kept the countried moniker once we added our modifications. Identifying a recipe or meal with a particular national heritage just makes it more fun somehow, and with St Patrick’s Day right around the corner, it just made sense. We like “Irish” recipes, if you haven’t noticed…

This slightly savory (but mostly sweet) brunch recipe for Irish Apple Butter Coffee Cake is full of warm apple flavor and lots of wonderful spices!

This recipe, however, whatever its true national origin (American Apple Butter Coffee Cake?), is wonderful. The crumble on top is a natural slightly crunchy offset to the warm cakey body of this breakfast treat, and the apple butter adds a delightful spice to the whole mixture. Actually, there are some great spices in the cake itself before you even get to the apple butter, and just to top it off, this is one brunch that stays nice and warm! We were all astonished by how well it held its heat, making it a perfect centerpiece of weekend brunch!

This slightly savory (but mostly sweet) brunch recipe for Irish Apple Butter Coffee Cake is full of warm apple flavor and lots of wonderful spices!

Irish Apple Butter Coffee Cake

Irish Apple Butter Coffee Cake

Yield: 9
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

This slightly savory (but mostly sweet) brunch recipe for Irish Apple Butter Coffee Cake is full of warm apple flavor and lots of wonderful spices!

Ingredients

Coffee Cake

  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) softened unsalted butter
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/4 cup apple butter
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves

Topping

  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 6 tbsp brown sugar
  • 5 tbsp sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 3/4 cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Instructions

Coffee Cake

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Grease a square baking pan (8x8 or 9x9) with shortening or cooking spray.
  3. Gently mix flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.
  4. Using a stand mixer if available, beat in egg yolks, butter, and lemon juice and thoroughly mix.
  5. In a separate small bowl, stir together applesauce, apple butter, cinnamon, and cloves.
  6. Separate the dough into halves. Roll both halves out flat, to roughly the size of the baking pan, and press one half into the bottom of the prepared pan.
  7. Spread the applesauce mixture over the top of the dough, and top it with the remaining flattened dough, gently spreading it out to completely cover the mixture and dough beneath it.

Topping

  1. In a medium-sized bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
  2. Using a pastry cutter or your hands, cut or mix the pieces of chilled butter into the flour mixture until large clumps have formed.
  3. Sprinkle topping over coffee cake and bake for about 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out clean.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 9 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 506Total Fat: 19gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 106mgSodium: 154mgCarbohydrates: 79gFiber: 2gSugar: 38gProtein: 7g

Nutrition information isn't always accurate.

This slightly savory (but mostly sweet) brunch recipe for Irish Apple Butter Coffee Cake is full of warm apple flavor and lots of wonderful spices!

emilee

Friday 12th of January 2018

Has anyone made this recipe as it is written? The "dough" ingredients do not make a dough that rolls out. What liquid do you add?

Joshua Rief

Friday 12th of January 2018

Hi, Emilee - I did make this in order to blog the recipe and shoot the pictures, of course. The egg yolks, lemon juice, and butter are the "liquid" (ish) ingredients that are added to the flour, salt, and sugar to make a "dough". It's definitely a bit of a non-traditional dough, but you don't need to spread / roll it out like a pie dough - you're just trying to get something that will fit in your baking dish. I hope that helps!

Brian Mosser

Wednesday 16th of March 2016

Looks delicious! Might have to whip this one up!

Chelsia Rief

Wednesday 23rd of March 2016

Let me know what you think! It's a yummy one for sure!

Jamie Bowers

Wednesday 16th of March 2016

Looks wonderful, can't wait to try it!

Chelsia Rief

Wednesday 23rd of March 2016

It's a great breakfast treat that I think works all year round! I hope you enjoy it! :)

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