Last Updated on April 27, 2026 by Deliciously Organic Editor
Caramel Apple Coffee Cake is a delicious way to bring in the fall!
Only three weeks until my new cookbook, The Grain-Free Family Table, hits shelves! I’m thrilled, nervous, excited, and anxious to share this book with you.
Here’s a pic I posted on Instagram featuring some of the book interior. Pictured above: my Fluffy Pancakes, Sautéed Kale with Raisins and Walnuts (a GREAT dish for Thanksgiving!), Chicken Nuggets (my kids’ ultimate fav), Mixed Greens with Strawberry, Oranges and Avocado, and Slice and Bake Cookies with Dairy-Free Frosting (you need this one for the holidays – the frosting is so, so good!).
A pic of me last week when I received my first copy of the book! After all of the struggle and hard work, it felt so good to hold this in my hands. I think you’re going to love it!
I saw a version of this caramel apple coffee cake in Southern Living magazine a couple of months ago and adapted their ideas using my grain-free coffee cake recipe. It’s a dynamite cake for a fancy breakfast or for dessert after dinner.
Salted Caramel Apple Coffee Cake (Gluten-Free)
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hr 25 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- Yield: Makes one 9" cake
- Category: Baking, Brunch, Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
Instructions
For the Apples: Melt butter in a large sauté pan and add apples. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring every-so-often until apples are beginning to turn soft. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Cool completely.
For the Salted Maple Caramel: Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in maple syrup and bring to a boil. Whisk constantly for about 2 minutes. Slowly pour in cream. Bring to a boil, whisking often. Boil until sauce thickens and coats the back of a spoon, (or reaches 220ºF) about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in salt. Let cool for 10 minutes.
For the Cake: Preheat oven to 350ºF and adjust rack to middle position. Place all the batter ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Pour batter into a buttered 9-inch springform pan. Place apples on top of cake batter in an even layer (some will overlap a bit). Pour 1/2 of the caramel over the apples. Drop spoonfuls of topping over batter. Cover loosely with a foil.
Bake for 25 minutes and then remove the foil. Bake an additional 20 minutes until golden brown and a cake tested inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean (the tester might have a bit of caramel on it, just make sure there isn’t any batter on the tester). Cool for 1 1/2 hours. Cut and serve with remaining caramel sauce.
For the Topping: Wipe out food processor bowl with a paper towel or cloth. Place nuts, cinnamon, honey and butter in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until nuts are coarsely chopped and ingredients bind together.
Thank you for this one! I was so hoping you would post this so I could make with my fresh picked Julian apples. It’s going to be dessert tonight, YUM!
This cake is gorgeous! Congratulations on your cookbook. I can’t wait to check it out!
This looks incredible! I’ve made your other coffee cake, and loved it- but thought it would be really good with fruit on top. So this is a must try now!
I made two mistakes with the recipe. 1. I forgot the yogurt (went to get it out and got distracted, ugh). 2. I used a 10″ springform pan instead of the recommended 9″.
I know if I had not made these mistakes this cake would have been AMAZING. As it turned out, it was still very good but a little lacking in moisture, my bad! I will make it again, soon, and follow the directions more carefully.
I LOVE the topping and the caramel is to die for, best and easiest recipe, ever! Can’t wait for the new cookbook, something new to woo my guests during the Holidays. Yea!
Glad you enjoyed it despite forgetting the yogurt! 🙂 Try it again with the yogurt! With the added layer of apples and caramel on top of the batter, the cake is ultra-moist. 🙂
Yum! Looking forward to trying this one soon. Looks delicious 🙂
This looked absolutely amazing and I got really excited until I realized there was dairy in it. I can eat eggs but no dairy, so the heavy cream and yogurt were deal breakers. 🙁
You can use the dairy-free substitution offered in the ingredient list for the yogurt and then use your favorite dairy-free caramel sauce. I have a dairy-free caramel sauce in my new book, but can’t share that recipe yet. 🙂 in the meantime, this looks like a good alternative: http://www.allergyfreealaska.com/2013/05/17/liquid-gold-dairy-free-caramel-sauce/
Oh you’re totes killing me! And I can’t wait to see your cookbook! You’re so cute! 😉
I was just wondering earlier today if there was a decent substitution for heavy cream? If there’s One thing I miss, it’s that! I developed a dairy allergy 2 years ago, but I sure would love to make my homemade scalloped potatoes again!! I don’t see how there could be a non-dairy option nearly as divine as heavy cream! But thanks for sharing a link up there so I can make a caramel sauce – or maybe I’ll just wait for your book! 😉
This sounds amazing, but am I missing something? It says to add 1/2 the caramel sauce over the apples. Do you drizzle the remaining 1/2 of the sauce on top??
Oops! I forgot to mention to serve the cake with the remaining sauce. I made the edit. 🙂
Thanks!
Can you use greek yogurt instead of the plain strained?
Thanks!
Wendy
If you’re using the Paleo option and can get some dairy-free Greek yogurt than that would be fine. If you’re using plain yogurt (with dairy) then just follow the recipe as written.
No springform pan here (small kitchen=selective tools!). Can I use something else for similar results?
A cake pan will do just fine. 🙂
Carrie you look amazing. So glad that you healed yourself. I just shared your page about coffee creamer on facebook. I am starting a blog on tumblr (it is in skelatore stage right now) I think you would find my first couple of posts interesting.
Sincerely, Karen Silva
I’m headed to the store today and this IS on the list 🙂
Carrie,
I have been unable to access my meal plans for 2 weeks. When I go to the page it is blank, I try to log in it does so. However I then get rerouted to the home page, select meal plans and nothing, actually logs me out. I looked under contacts and there is no direct link. So hopefully this comment can help correct what ever the issue is.
I’m sorry to hear you are having issues. Please write us over at: info@deliciouslyorganic.net and we can look into the issue for you. Thanks!
Cake just came out of the oven. Oh my, the house smells delicious! I don’t want to take this beauty to the Halloween party we’re going to tonight! 🙂 Can’t wait to dig in…
Yay! Hope you all enjoyed it! 🙂
It was a hit! Everyone loved it and commented on how beautiful it was and delicious too. Thanks for another winner recipe! Definitely one that I’ll reserve for special occasions, though, as it’s a bit more time intensive. But totally worth it!
OH MY GOODNESS! This cake was heavenly! I knew I had to make it as soon as I saw the recipe. I made it for potluck at church last night and got rave reviews! I even gave away the little bit of salted caramel in a canning jar to a lucky friend! So delicious! Good thing I was full from most of the other deliciousness there or I would’ve eaten the whole cake myself! 🙂 My gluten free friends really appreciated it too! Thanks for sharing your deliciousness from your kitchen to ours! I’ll be forwarding this recipe on!
Oh I forgot to mention, I made it my cast iron skillet (I didn’t feel like fooling around with a springform pan and digging it out since we’re in the middle of a kitchen remodel) so I melted butter in the pan and cooked it according to the directions -and perfecto! fyi!
Ahhh…thank you for the feedback! I’m so glad you all enjoyed it so much! 🙂
Can’t wait to make, it has my name written all over it!!!
This looks ahhhmazing! I will definitely be making the Paleo/dairy free version though. I have been searching around for a good apple cake recipe and I stumbled upon your blog. I’ve never had coconut yogurt and not sure if I can even find it where I live. Do you think the solid fat from a can of refrigerated coconut milk would work once it separates from the liquid? I guess I’ll have to experiment if I can’t find the yogurt. I will let you know how it turns out! 🙂 Thanks again!
Yes! The cream at the top from a can of chilled coconut milk should work great. I’ve used that many times in place of yogurt and it always works well.
This looks absolutely amazing! Your cookbook also looks so inspiring and beautifully laid out. Good job!
Hi, looks good! Can this be made ahead? I am thinking of making it for Christmas Day morning, it looks so special.
Yes, a day ahead would be fine. The topping will get softer the next day, so you can pop it in the oven for about 10 minutes to freshen it up.
I would have loved to taste this but my oven caught fire while it was baking!!! Ahh! Thank the Lord everything turned out okay…. except the poor cake which was supposed to be my husband’s birthday cake. I’ll be trying this again in the future after I get over my trauma. 🙂 It smelled heavenly!
Oh no! I’m glad everyone is ok! Happy Birthday to your husband! 🙂
Could you substitute almond flour for the coconut flour? Just curious if it would bake up similarly?
Thanks in advance!
WOW! Delicious and very indulgent for a paleo dessert! I’m very picky about paleo baking, and this was fantastic!
With organic apples from a friend’s backyard, this has become my all time favourite cake. I’ve been eating it for breakfast because with 8 eggs, yogurt, fruit and nuts I figure it is breakfast material!!
Thanks for sharing this.
Daft question but can’t see the amount of coffee required can you please let me know, also where can I find the coffee cake recipe without the fruit ?
The definition of coffee cake in the US is: a cake, often cinnamon-flavored, with a drizzled white icing or crumb topping, and usually eaten with coffee.
Here is the link for the coffee cake without fruit: https://deliciouslyorganic.net/coffee-cake-coconut-flour-recipe-gluten-free/