Brown Butter Apple Pie Coffee Cake

October 21, 2026
2 Comments
Dessert

Brown Butter Apple Pie Coffee Cake with Salted Vanilla Glaze ᝰ.ᐟ

Brown butter apple pie coffee cake slice with salted vanilla glaze

Apple pie, but make it coffee cake!! With apple season in full swing, I really wanted a coffee cake that tastes like a slice of apple pie, and I’m so happy to say that I’m here to deliver that today. We’re browning the butter for the cake (because brown butter makes everything better, and I feel like it just belongs in all fall recipes), layering in cinnamon apple pie filling, and piling on SO much crumb topping. And of course, a drizzle of salted vanilla glaze to finish it off!

Few Tips ᝰ.ᐟ

Making this the first tip because it makes the biggest difference: brown your butter all the way! I know it can feel a little scary if it’s your first time browning butter, and it’s so tempting to pull it off the stove the second it starts changing color, but keep going! Keep swirling until it smells super nutty and toasty and you see those beautiful brown specks at the bottom of the pan. Scrape ALL of those brown bits into your bowl, that’s where the flavor is.
If you’re wondering why there’s butter AND oil in this cake, the brown butter is for flavor and the avocado oil keeps the cake super soft and moist for days. So we’re getting the best of both worlds, my favorite combo to add into any cake recipe!
Let your brown butter cool down before it goes into the batter. That’s why we’re browning our butter first, so it has time to sit and cool down while we make the apples and crumb topping, before we get to our batter.
We’re cooking our apples on the stove first instead of adding them in raw. Raw apples release a ton of water while they bake, which can leave you with a soggy, gummy layer in the middle of your cake. Cooking them first gets all that juice out, and the cornstarch thickens it into a real pie-filling consistency. Let them cool completely before layering, or they’ll start melting into your batter.
For baking, I always go with either Honeycrisp or Granny Smith apples. They both work phenomenally here, so it’s totally the baker’s choice!
I’ve realized melted butter is my favorite way to make streusel, as opposed to cold or room temperature butter. Melting the butter lets the flour fully hydrate, and it gives us so much more control over the texture. When you first mix it together, your streusel definitely won’t look like crumble just yet, and that’s okay! We’re going to pop it in the fridge while we finish up the rest of the recipe, and by the time we need it, the butter will have set completely. So when we crumble it up, we get to choose our textures: big chunky crumbles AND tiny little pieces, which makes our topping a beautiful family of different textures.
Don’t over-mix! Once your dry ingredients go in, mix until JUST combined. It really makes a huge difference in how tender the cake is.
If using table salt instead of Diamond Crystal, use about half the amount. Diamond Crystal is much less salty by volume.
Ovens vary, so start checking around 60 minutes. If the crumb topping is browning too fast, loosely cover with foil.
I know it’s SO hard, but let the cake cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting into it. This gives the apple layers time to set so you get those clean, pretty slices. I personally waited a full hour.

Process ✮⋆˙

Brown Butter Apple Pie Coffee Cake

Brown Butter Apple Pie Coffee Cake with Salted Vanilla Glaze

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 1 10

Total Time 2 30

Course Dessert

Servings 9 to 12

Ingredients

Apple pie filling

445 grams apples peeled and diced into 1/2-inch pieces (Honeycrisp, about 3 to 4 medium)
28 grams unsalted butter (2 tbsp)
55 grams light brown sugar packed (1/4 cup)
4 grams ground cinnamon (1 1/2 tsp)
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
4 grams cornstarch (1 1/2 tsp)
10 grams lemon juice (2 tsp)

Crumb topping

190 grams all-purpose flour (1 1/2 cups)
100 grams light brown sugar packed (1/2 cup)
50 grams granulated sugar (1/4 cup)
5 grams ground cinnamon (2 tsp)
3/4 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
140 grams unsalted butter melted (10 tbsp)

Brown butter cake

120 grams unsalted butter weighed before browning (1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp)
80 grams avocado oil (1/3 cup plus 2 tsp)
250 grams light or dark brown sugar packed (1 cup plus 2 tbsp)
2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk room temperature
240 grams sour cream full fat or low fat, room temperature (1 cup)
8.5 grams vanilla extract (2 tsp)
300 grams all-purpose flour (2 1/3 cups)
6 grams baking powder (1 1/2 tsp)
3 grams baking soda (1/2 tsp)
3 grams Diamond Crystal kosher salt (1 tsp)
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves

Glaze

120 grams powdered sugar (1 cup)
30 to 45 grams milk (2 to 3 tbsp)
2 grams vanilla extract (1/2 tsp)
1/2 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease an 8-inch square pan and line it with parchment paper, leaving a little overhang on two sides so you can lift the cake out easily later.

Brown the butter

In a light-colored saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter, swirling the pan often. It will foam and sputter, then quiet down. Keep swirling until the milk solids at the bottom turn a deep golden brown and the butter smells nutty and toasty, 5 to 7 minutes.
Immediately pour the brown butter into a large heatproof bowl, scraping in every last brown speck (that’s where all the flavor lives). Set aside to cool while you make the filling.

Apple pie filling

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and salt. Cook, stirring often, until the apples are just tender but still hold their shape, 7 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and lemon juice until smooth. Once the apples have cooked for 7 minutes, pour the mixture over them and stir to combine. Let it simmer for 2 more minutes, until the juices thicken and turn glossy. Spread the filling onto a plate and let it cool completely.

Crumb topping

In a small bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon and salt. Pour in the melted butter and mix until no dry flour remains. At this point it’ll look more like a soft dough than a crumble, and that’s exactly what we want.
Transfer the bowl to the refrigerator while you make the batter. As the butter firms up, the mixture will be ready to break into crumbles of every size.

Batter

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
Add all of the wet ingredients right on top: the cooled brown butter, avocado oil, brown sugar, eggs and egg yolk, sour cream and vanilla. Whisk everything together, then switch to a spatula and gently fold just until no streaks of flour remain. The batter will be thick.

Assemble and bake

Spread half of the batter into the prepared pan in an even layer. Spoon half of the apple filling over the top.
Dollop the remaining batter over the apples and gently spread it to the edges. Dolloping first makes it much easier to spread without dragging the apples up into the batter, and it’s completely fine if a few peek through.
Scatter the remaining apples over the top. Take the crumb topping out of the fridge and break it apart with your fingers into a mix of big, chunky clusters and tiny crumbs, then sprinkle it evenly over the cake. Use all of it!
Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, 65 to 70 minutes. If the topping is browning too quickly, tent it loosely with foil.

Glaze

While the cake bakes, whisk together the powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons of milk, the vanilla and the salt in a small bowl. Add more milk a teaspoon at a time until the glaze is smooth and pourable, but not watery.

Back to our cake

Let the cake cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes, then use the parchment overhang to lift it onto a wire rack.
Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake and let it set for about 10 minutes before slicing and serving.