Packed with apples and spices, this chunky apple cake will hit the spot whether it's for breakfast, a snack, or dessert. It's especially decadent when drizzled with caramel or peanut butter.
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 2/3 cup canola oil
- 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups Macintosh apples peeled, cored, and chopped
- 1 cup finely chopped walnuts
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare a 9x13 baking pan with spray oil.
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Peel, core, and chop 6-8 Macintosh apples. You should have about 4 cups of chopped apples when finished. Set aside.
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In a large bowl, combine the flours, sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, salt, and baking soda. Combine with a whisk and set aside.
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In a small bowl, lightly beat the 2 eggs. Whisk in the canola oil and vanilla until well combined.
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Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and stir until all the dry ingredients are fully incorporated.
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Add the apples and chopped walnuts. Mix with your hand, or a large spoon, until well combined. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan, and spread evenly in pan.
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Bake for about 50 minutes at 350F, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs. Allow to cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes before slicing. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Ingredient Substitutions:
- Flours: you have the option of making this either entirely with all-purpose flour, or with a combination of all-purpose and whole wheat flour as I suggest in the recipe. You could also use whole wheat pastry flour if you have that on hand. I do not recommend using only whole wheat flour, without combining it with a lighter all-purpose flour, as this will make the cake heavy.
- Apples: while Macintosh is not a traditional baking apple, it works great with this recipe. However, other class baking apples you could use include Pink Lady, Braeburn, Granny Smith, or Honeycrisp.
- Nuts: I prefer the walnuts called for in this recipe, but chopped pecans would work nicely, too. You can omit the nuts altogether if that is your preference, with only subtle alterations to taste and texture.
- Spices: the combination of cinnamon and cardamom is beautiful in this cake. However, if you do not have cardamom, just increase the cinnamon to 2 1/2 teaspoons. You could also swap out these spices for 2 1/2 teaspoons of chai spice seasoning, for a slightly different twist on this cake.