This moist and fluffy Vegan Apple Cake tastes just like fall, with diced apples, crunchy walnuts, and warm cinnamon in every slice! It’s easy to make in one bowl and served with an optional caramel drizzle on top.
Left with tons of apples after a trip to the orchard? Use them up in this Perfect Vegan Apple Pie, this Apple Baked Oatmeal, and this Apple Upside Down Cake!
This Vegan Apple Cake is almost more apples than cake! Rich, fluffy, and comforting, it only takes one small piece to satisfy your sweet tooth. If your family is anything like mine, they’ll be asking you to make this as soon as the crisp fall weather arrives.
“My family said this is the BEST CAKE they have ever eaten. Whoa! It’s that amazing!” – Meg
From the comforting cinnamon to the tart-sweet apples in every slice, this apple cake is a real winner. Just don’t forget to serve it with the caramel drizzle on top when you want to take the cozy fall flavors up a notch. It seeps into the cake, making it extra moist and scrumptious. Yum!
Why you’ll love this easy vegan apple cake recipe
- Tastes like an apple fritter – If you love soft, fluffy, apple-filled vegan apple fritters, then you’re going to love this apple cake!
- The best vegan apple dessert – This is the dessert to turn to when you need a break from pumpkin recipes. It’s loaded with tart-sweet apples, crunchy walnuts, and cinnamon to make every slice feel like a warm hug.
- An easy one-bowl recipe – Just mix the simple ingredients in one bowl, bake the cake, and enjoy!
How to make a vegan apple cake
Find the complete printable recipe with measurements below in the recipe card.
Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl. Pour in the oil, applesauce, and vanilla and stir to combine. Fold in the diced apples and nuts (using your hands to incorporate everything if needed).
Press the batter into an even layer in the cake pan and bake until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
While the cake cools, prepare the caramel drizzle. Heat the vegan butter, brown sugar, and non-dairy milk together in a small pot until the butter melts. Bring to a boil and stir constantly. After 2 minutes, remove the pot from the heat.
Drizzle the caramel sauce over the cooled cake. Let it cool for 10 more minutes, then slice, serve, and enjoy!
Frequently asked questions
I recommend using firm apples with a mix of sweet and tart flavors. There are plenty of apples that are ideal for baking, but my favorites are Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, Granny Smith, and Braeburn (I’ll usually use 2 to 3 varieties). Just avoid soft apples, like McIntosh apples, since they tend to turn to mush.
The cake batter in this recipe is much stiffer and heavier than other cake batters, so it may not work as a layer cake. If you’d still like to try it, split the batter into two round 8-inch cake pans and decorate the cooled cake layers with vegan buttercream frosting and the caramel drizzle.
Sure! A few readers have tested this and had good results. Divide the batter into a muffin tin and bake at 350ºF for 28 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Drizzle the caramel sauce over the top before serving or decorate them with vegan maple buttercream frosting.
Sure! For a less-sweet cake, cut the sugar back to 1 1/2 cups or 1 cup.
A quality gluten-free flour mix will work pretty well as a substitute for the all-purpose flour.
The leftover cooled cake can be covered and stored at room temperature for up to 2 days, in the fridge for 4 to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
1 Bowl Vegan Apple Cake
Ingredients
Apple Cake
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup canola oil or melted coconut oil*
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups peeled and diced apples
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
Optional Caramel Drizzle
- 4 tablespoons vegan butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons non-dairy milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
- Now pour in the oil, applesauce and vanilla and stir until combined. The dough will be very stiff, not like most cake batters. This is because the fresh apples will provide a lot of moisture as the cake bakes.
- Fold in the diced apples and nuts. Use your hands if needed to get them incorporated.
- Press the cake batter into the pan, evenly. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let the cake cool while you prepare the caramel drizzle.
- Make the caramel drizzle: In a small pot on the stove, add the vegan butter, brown sugar and non-dairy milk. Heat over medium heat until the butter melts. Bring to a boil and stir constantly, being careful not to let the mixture overflow. Continue to boil for 2 minutes, stirring, then remove from heat.
- After the cake has cooled for about 20 minutes, drizzle the caramel sauce over it. Let cool for 10 more minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- You may use canola oil or melted coconut oil. Or use any neutral flavored oil you like, such as avocado oil.
- Substitute a gluten-free flour mix to make the cake gluten free.
- You can use walnuts or pecans, or leave the nuts out entirely.
- Serve with a dollop of vegan whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, if desired.
I subbed the applesauce with a very ripe mashed banana or 2, used less than 1 cup of sugar and halved the caramel and it still turned out great.
Good texture and taste. Followed recipe exclusively with no substitution. Baked perfectly at 42 minutes, afraid it was going to burn because it browned quickly. I will not change anything, shared receive and will certainly make again. I am certain friends and family will enjoy it as well!
I’m so glad it turned out great!!
I love all of your recipes as you already probably know lol!
I wanted a slightly healthier version so I did half of the sugar, half of the coconut oil and double the apple sauce, I substituted pastry flour because it’s all I had, did pecans instead of walnuts and it turned out heavenly!
The caramel sauce is bomb!
Thank you Nora ❤️
You’re welcome! Glad it was good!
Omg! Speechless
I couldn’t even get a pic before everyone started dipping into to it
The smell while it’s baking is soooo delicious
I added lemon juice to the apples since I chopped them first and didn’t think of the browning til after lol but this is overall the best Apple cake I’ve made
Thank you for this amazing vegan treat !
You’re so welcome! Thanks for the great comment!
Great recipe!! Thank you, my 2 daughters are vegan. My daughters were requesting for it and it came out amazing.
I’m so glad it came out amazing!! Thanks for the comment!
Hi Nora,
Any substitutions for the apple sauce?
Thank you!
I haven’t tried it with anything else so I’m not sure… Perhaps non-dairy milk but again I haven’t tested it.
I shredded an old apple!
Husband requested a vegan apple cake for his birthday. This was AMAZING. Made the glaze with oat milk and it was perfect!
I’m so glad to hear that it was amazing!!
This was absolutely amazing. I would venture to say it’s the best cake I’ve ever baked and I have made some delicious cakes!… I used 1/2 the amount of glaze but I swear I could have just eaten that by the spoonful! A big huge thank you for sharing this delicious recipe!
I’m so glad you liked the cake! Thanks for the comment!
I made this today with what I had on hand, a combination of honey crisps and d’Anjou pears, no baking soda, some fresh oj to replace some of the coconut oil and subbed the caramel for an orange juice based glaze, and it was absolutely delicious. Thank you so much for the wonderful recipe!
You’re welcome!
Hi Nora,
If I halved this, could I use an 8×8 pan? Do you think the cooking time would need to be adjusted? Thanks! (Can’t wait to try another of your recipes; they’re all amazing!)
Update: halved the recipe and used an 8×8 pan. Two apples for me was perfect. I also reduced the sugar to 3/4 cup. Ready in 35 minutes. Delicious! Thank you!
Yes, I think that would work just fine. The baking time would likely be a little less, so check it at 30-40 minutes.
AMAZING CAKE! all the non vegans in my house loved it. only thing i would say is i wish there was a way to make it with not so much oil 🙁
Made this cake today. I did not have all purpose flour, all I had was bread flour. So I figured hey, let me try and see. It turned out perfect! So delicious! Thank you I will share this recipe in my vegan group on facebook.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the apple cake and that it worked with bread flour! Thank you.
Great recipe, thank you! I made this with almond extract, and half apple half pear. It was amazing.
You’re welcome! I’m glad it came out great!
I just made this for Thanksgiving, and my entire family LOVED it. I made the cake part the night before and took it out 10 mins early. Made the caramel the next day and it is SO good and perfect. Thank you!
You’re welcome! So glad everyone loved it!
Made your cake today wih Pillsbury best gluten free all purpose flour blend. Beautiful cake and so delicious! Would love to post the picture of it.
I’m so glad it turned out so well, thank you!
I have made this recipe enough times to know it now by heart! Everyone loves it. Even non vegans. It’s very similar to an old family apple cake recipe that has been handed down from generations but without dairy ingredients. I’ll be making this for generations to come. Thank you for a delicious recipe Nora!!
You’re so welcome! I’m glad to hear that it’s so consistently good for everyone, vegans and non-vegans. 🙂
Wow!
I shredded the apples and didn’t make the caramel drizzle topping. The cake was so moist and delicious. And I never like Apple cakes. Finally there is one that I like!
Also my husband said it’s the best apple cake he has ever had !
Thank you for the recipe!
This was delicious!!! Thanks so much for the recipe. Will certainly make again. I made a few substitutions for things I didn’t have at home: vanilla extract for almond extract (super good!), canned pumpkin instead of applesauce, and brown sugar instead of white; also used half the amount of sugar. The flavor of the cake was amazing. Only thing I noted for next time is that it was a tad bit dry (probably due to my mistake or substitution). I’ll try adding in more pumpkin next time or maybe some non-dairy milk. Thanks again!
Sounds good! I’m glad you enjoyed it. The batter for this cake is very thick, but the cake should come out very moist because the apples release a lot of “juice” when it cooks.
Hi Nora, I tried your recipe and the cake turned out delicious. I wondered if I could bake these in a muffin pan. I want to take these when I visit my daughter in college for parents weekend and figured it would be easier to take them in a cupcake/muffin form. Thank you.
That would be fun! I think it would work well, but I haven’t tried it. They will need to bake for less time, I would check them after 20 minutes. Thanks!
I halved the sugar, used mostly spelt plus a little teff plus oat flour, heavy, a little, on the apples, and lengthwise banana slices on top. It tastes delicious, nourishing, no caramel but would try if I had the time, Thanks!!!
I am shocked by how good this is!! My family devoured it. Thanks for another winner.
Hello Nora!!! Wanted to tell you that I did the apple cake 3 days in a row and gave it to some friends of mine. They all LOVED IT and so did I!
Thanks for sharing! Whole wheat flour works great too!
Greetings from Cyprus !
Hi Nora, I made the apple cake and it is truly amazing, loved by one and all!
I decreased the amount of sugar, using coconut sugar for a third of the amount. I’d like to further decrease the amount of sugar. Do you think I could use 3/4 cup without it affecting the end result? Tamar
I’m pretty sure you could, yes! I’ms o glad you loved it! Thank you.
Hi! This looks great! I was wondering if anyone had tried this without the oil? And if so did you add more applesauce?
Thanks!
Can this be made into a pound cake?
I’m not sure, I haven’t tried it. It probably makes enough batter for 3 pound cakes, but I’m afraid it would be too dense in a loaf pan.
Do you think this would work in a bundt cake pan?
It might! It’s a pretty dense cake so I’m not positive it would hold up well in a bundt pan. Thanks Gayla!
Hi Nora! I can’t wait to try this. Would any type of apple work? Thank you so much!
Yes, any type of apple! I prefer pink lady, honey crisp or Granny Smith. Enjoy!