Apple Pie Breakfast Cake

Saturday mornings are some of my favorites.  I love walking to (two) farmers markets and they've just started to have apples.  I'm not quite ready to part with summer (I'm still buying lots of nectarines, tomatoes and zucchini) but apples do get me excited for fall.

Saturdays also seem like an ideal day for a big breakfast. Breakfast happens to be my favorite meal and Sunday mornings are busy with church.  So after I got back from the farmers markets, this apple pie breakfast cake recipe was made immediately and enjoyed with a side of scrambled eggs.

When I found this recipe, I knew I had to make it - apple pie and breakfast? What more could I need?  And they turned out wonderfully!  They were warm with the cinnamon and spices, light and airy and made a great breakfast for two (although it would be easy to double the recipe or use smaller ramekins).  My husband said it was the fanciest breakfast he had in a while.


Apple Pie Breakfast Cakes
Taken from: How Sweet It Is
Serves 2 (or it would be easy to serve 4 with smaller ramekins)

• 1/4 cup butter, softened (I actually used 2 Tbsp of butter and 2 Tbsp of unsweetened applesauce)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt (I used nonfat plain regular yogurt instead)
• 1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour (although it would be easy to use all-purpose, too)
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• a pinch each of nutmeg, ground ginger, & ground cardamom (I omitted the cardamom)
• 1 medium apple, diced into cubes

Cobbler Topping

• 2 teaspoons of melted butter
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon flour
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• a pinch of salt
• 1-2 tablespoons of oats

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add egg and mix until well combined. Add in vanilla and yogurt and stir. Mix dry ingredients together and add to batter, only mixing until just combined. Fold in apple chunks.
3. In a small separate bowl, combine the cobbler topping ingredients.
4. Spray 2 ramekins (I used the 6 ounce, 3 1/2 inch although you could use 4 smaller ramekins instead) with non-stick spray and pour batter into them equally.  If desired, crumble the cobbler topping on top of the batter (I forgot and added the cobbler topping after they were baked which was still delicious).
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes (if using the smaller ramekins, check around 20-25 minutes) or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.
6. For an optional glaze on top, combine 3-4 tablespoons of powdered sugar and a drop or two of milk and whisk until a glaze forms.