E: Apple Granola Cake

So close to Friday, I can feel it! How about you? I was excited to see all of the cool recipes each of you is making for your Thanksgiving dinner.  I am in charge of a side dish and a dessert. I wanted to switch up my dessert a bit, so I took a Joy of Baking recipe, and added my own twist to it. I made a trial cake yesterday (didn’t want to risk a failed experiment on Thanksgiving day).  I hope you enjoy:

Ingredients:

Cake

• 2 medium apples, coarsely chopped ( I used Granny smith)
• 1/3 cup of walnuts, chopped
• 1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 ½ cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 large eggs
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons milk

Granola Topping

• ½ cup oats
• ¼ cup walnuts
• ½ tablespoon honey
• ½ tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon apple butter (you could probably use apple sauce here as well)
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Directions :

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven. Butter or spray with a non stick cooking spray, an 8 inch (20 cm) square baking pan (I used a Pyrex dish).

Peel, core, and coarsely chop the apples. Toss with 1 - 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.

 

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and ground cinnamon. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla extract and beat until fully incorporated.

Fold in the chopped nuts and apples. If the batter is thick, stir in the milk(I used the milk).

 

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Bake cake for ~10 minutes. Meanwhile, mix up the granola topping (mix well!!).

Remove the cake from oven and sprinkle with topping. Place cake back in the oven for ~35 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean).

The result:

  

 

 

 

mmm…I have a feeling this is going to be super tasty with whipped cream or ice cream!

Just a reminder, you have until November 24 at noon to join the December Blogger Baked Goods Exchange. All you need to do is send an email to Mandi and I (itzyskitchen at gmail dot com) with your blog name, address & any dietary needs/food allergies/baked good preferences ;).