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With sweet cinnamon swirls and grated tart apples, this delicious Cinnamon Apple Bundt Cake is a perfect dessert for fall. It’s moist and light and full of rich fall flavor.

Cinnamon Apple Bundt Cake on a wood slice platter with green apples in the background.
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Key Ingredients

This apple cinnamon bundt cake has sweet and tart apples and lots of warm cinnamon flavor. It’s tender and moist and just melts in your mouth. The ingredients are mostly basic pantry ingredients that you’d expect for a cake like eggs, sugar, oil, butter, and flour.

  • Apples – I like to use a few different varieties when I bake, but the best apples for baking are crisp and tangy, like Granny Smith, Braeburn, Honeycrisp, Pink Lady and Jonagolds.
  • Butter and Vegetable Oil – I use both because they each offer something different to the texture and flavor of the cake. Butter gives you that rih, buttery taste, while oil keeps the cake tender and moist.
  • Sugar – For the cake itself, I added granulated sugar, but I used brown sugar for the swirl. So the cake is sweet and the swirl has that distinct warm molasses flavor.
  • Other Cake Ingredients – Flour, baking powder, salt, eggs, vanilla and ground cinnamon.
Cinnamon Apple Bundt Cake - A slice of this sweet cake on a white plate.

How to Make Cinnamon Apple Bundt Cake

This apple cake is pretty straightforward and simple, albeit with a number of steps.

I used Granny Smith apples, but any tart, crisp apple would work; Grannies are just the most readily available. Chop them up into very small chunks – large enough that you can see them, but not so big that they won’t soften while the bundt cake is baking. Or ideally, grate them with a larger grater.

Combine the flour and all the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt) in a bowl. Then in another bowl the butter, oil, vanilla and sugar. The sugar melts into the butter and oil, which is why it’s considered a “wet” ingredient in this recipe. The two are mixed until “well combined,” meaning the flour is no longer visible and the batter is formed. Fold in those apples you chopped up, then layer half of the batter, a cinnamon-sugar mixture, and the remaining batter. More cinnamon sugar goes on top of that, and then everything is swirled together to get that delicious cinnamon flowing throughout the cake, and that nice pretty ribbon swirling through the middle.

Step by step photos of how to make a Cinnamon Apple Bundt Cake.

Bundt Cake Tips and Tricks

Bundt cake recipes are often misunderstood as difficult when really, they just *look* hard. Getting that warm cake to release from a bundt cake pan can be a challenge, but if you prep it right, you’ll do just fine.

  1. Start with Nonstick. Use a nonstick pan that is free of any scratches as that can mean that the pan is no longer as “nonstick” as it once was.
  2. Grease it. The key to getting your apple cake (or any bundt cake) to release easily from the pan is is greasing your bundt pan quite generously, with nonstick cooking spray or melted shortening.
  3. Flour it. Flours, or even granulated sugar, I’ve found to be helpful in preventing sticking.
  4. Release warm. Releasing the cake when it’s warm (not hot) can aid in an easy release. As the cake sits, the oils around the pan solidify and hold the cake in there. While still warm (but after sitting and resting for 10-15 minutes), invert the bundt cake onto a plate, let it sit for another 10 minutes, then give it a gentle shake and it should slip right out.
A slice of Cinnamon Apple Bundt Cake on a serving spatula.

More Apple Recipes

Tools Used

  • Bundt Cake Pan – Nothing super fancy, but nonstick is a must for this kitchen tool.
  • Box grater – This is perfect for getting large grates of the apples without them getting mushy.
  • Nonstick cooking spray – I love the baking version of the Pam nonstick spray.
  • Round Cake Plate –  A flat service is a must when plating a cake. Having a cake plate on hand like this one with a dome lid, is helpful.
Cinnamon Apple Bundt Cake sliced, with a bit ready on a fork.
Recipe
A close up of Cinnamon Apple Bundt Cake

Cinnamon Apple Bundt Cake

4.78 from 74 votes
With sweet cinnamon swirls and grated tart apples, this delicious Cinnamon Apple Bundt Cake is a perfect dessert for fall. It’s moist and light and full of rich fall flavor.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings 8 slices

Ingredients
  

  • 4 eggs
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup oil
  • 1/2 cup softened butter room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 4 cups peeled and grated apples granny smith, pink lady or honeycrisp work best
  • 4 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 4 tablespoons brown sugar

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 
  • Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt together in a small bowl and set aside.
  • In a large bowl, beat eggs, butter, oil, vanilla and granulated sugar until creamy and smooth.
  • Stir in flour mixture until well combined.
  • Stir in apples gently until combined.
  • In a separate small bowl, stir 4 teaspoons cinnamon and 4 tablespoons brown sugar together and set aside.
  • Grease a bundt pan generously with nonstick cooking spray. Coat with granulated sugar if desired.
  • Pour half of the cake batter into the prepared bundt pan. Sprinkle half of the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture evenly over the cake batter and swirl through with a knife. Repeat with the remaining cake batter and brown sugar mixture.
  • Bake in a 350 degree oven for 50-60 minutes. Top will be golden brown and sides will pull away from the pan.
  • Allow to cool 10-15 minutes completely before turning out on a round cake plate. If the cake does not release immediately, let sit another 10 minutes, then give a gentle shake.
  • Once cake is completely cooled, top with a sprinkling of powdered sugar, or a vanilla glaze, if desired.
  • Slice and serve.

Notes

  1. Start with Nonstick. Use a nonstick pan that is free of any scratches as that can mean that the pan is no longer as “nonstick” as it once was.
  2. Grease it. The key to getting your apple cake (or any bundt cake) to release easily from the pan is is greasing your bundt pan quite generously, with nonstick cooking spray or melted shortening.
  3. Flour it. This is a step that I don’t often use, as flour can cause an extra layer of white stuff stuck to the top of your cake. Nut flours, or even granulated sugar however, I’ve found to be helpful in preventing sticking.
  4. Release warm. This actually goes against what I used to do, but releasing the cake when it’s warm can aid in an easy release. As the cake sits, the oils around the pan solidify and hold the cake in there. While still warm (but after sitting and resting for 10-15 minutes), invert the bundt cake onto a plate, let it sit for another 10 minutes, then give it a gentle shake and it should slip right out.

Nutrition

Calories: 624kcalCarbohydrates: 90gProtein: 6gFat: 28gSaturated Fat: 9gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gMonounsaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 112mgSodium: 483mgPotassium: 150mgFiber: 3gSugar: 62gVitamin A: 511IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 160mgIron: 2mg
Keyword apple bundt cake, cinnamon bundt cake

 

Kristin Maxwell

Kristin Maxwell is the creator and main recipe developer, writer, and photographer of Yellow Bliss Road. A self-taught cook and self-appointed foodie, she specializes in easy, flavorful and approachable recipes for any home cook.

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Comments

  1. I sprayed the pan but then didn’t read the recipe all the way through. I realized you swirled it halfway through so I took half of the batter out. It baked perfectly, but when I tried to take it out of the pan the outer layer stuck. It was because I took out the batter and swirled after. It tasted amazing. I loved it 10/10 would definitely recommend and will be making it again.

  2. This is such a great recipe. I’ve made this 3 times before and I’m making it again tomorrow. My husband isn’t much for homemade cakes because they’re usually more dense but this cake is so moist and the apples and cinnamon are wonderful. He loves this!!!

  3. This cake has exceeded all expectations. Not only was it incredibly delicious, but it was also remarkably quick to make, which is a huge plus. The cake was delightfully moist and had a heavenly light and fluffy texture. The balance of cinnamon and apple flavors was spot on, creating the perfect amount of sweetness. Thank you for the amazing recipe!

  4. Made this today. I did make a small error by putting the bulk of the cinnamon in w the dry goods and the one/two teaspoons of it w the brown sugar. Not a big error. IT IS DELICIOUS!

  5. First one I made stuck a bit. Greased and added cane sugar to Bundt prior to adding mix and 2nd one released perfect. FYI, used the first as a crumble for kiddos ice cream and they loved it. The second one I finished with lemon, zest, sugar and powdered sugar. I let the cake absorb and served a few hours later- Perfection! This one will become a staple. Thank you! Kiddos Loved!

  6. I haven’t made this yet, but looks delicious! I would like to use my 6 portioned mini buntlette pan. Would I cut the recipe in half?

    1. Agreed. Just making it now and the butter doesn’t cream with the addition of eggs and oil. Will do that next time too.

  7. The results were great. The cake was very tasty and moist; and it looked great. I would have creamed the sugar and butter first and then added the oil to the wet mix.

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