Easy One Bowl Apple Cake
This easy one bowl apple cake is packed with cinnamon-spiced apple flavor and bakes up deliciously tender and moist!
Oh, this easy apple cake! It’s one of my favorite go-to desserts—not only because it is sweet, tender and full of cinnamon-spiced apple flavor, but also because the whole thing mixes up in one bowl and bakes in one pan.
And here’s my little confession: there are no fresh apples involved. As much as I adore them, sometimes I’m simply not in the mood to peel, core and chop a pile of apples. Those are the moments when a can of apple pie filling is exactly the right answer.
Just stir everything together, pop it in the oven and get ready for a wonderfully moist apple cake—especially wonderful with a generous drizzle of caramel sauce! 🍎
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🔎 A quick look at this recipe
- What It Is: A tender, cinnamon-spiced apple cake made with apple pie filling
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Servings: 10 servings
- Calories: 399 calories
- Cooking Method: Oven
- Good For: Fall baking, holidays and easy entertaining
⭐️ Why this recipe works
- 🍎 Apple pie filling gives the cake plenty of sweet apple flavor without any peeling, coring or chopping.
- 🥣 One-bowl mixing keeps both the preparation and the cleanup wonderfully easy.
- ✨ Cinnamon and vanilla add warm, cozy flavor to every tender bite.
- 🌰 Walnuts and raisins bring a little crunch, chewiness and extra sweetness—and both are optional!
- 🍮 Caramel sauce turns this simple apple cake into an extra-special fall dessert.
🍎 Ingredients you need
📝 Ingredient additions
- Apple pie filling: You’ll need one 21-ounce can. If the apple slices are especially large, cut them into smaller bite-sized pieces before adding them to the batter.
- Flour: Regular all-purpose flour works perfectly here.
- Canola oil: This gives the cake its wonderfully moist texture without adding a strong flavor.
- Raisins: These are optional, so feel free to leave them out if raisins aren’t your thing.
- Walnuts: Walnuts add a lovely crunch, but pecans work equally well. You can also leave the nuts out altogether.
- Caramel sauce: Also optional—but a warm drizzle over each slice takes this apple cake straight into dessert heaven!
💡 Ingredient substitution ideas
Missing something or want to swap in something different? Check out the links below to find more ingredient substitution ideas. 👇🏻
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities and nutritional information.
👩🏻🍳 How to make this recipe
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350°F and generously grease a 9-inch round baking pan or springform pan.
Step 2: Add the apple pie filling, sugar, flour, canola oil, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, baking soda and baking powder to a large mixing bowl. Stir until everything is well combined. The batter will be very thick!
Step 3: Fold in the raisins and walnuts until they are evenly distributed throughout the batter.
Step 4: Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top into an even layer.
Step 5: Bake until the cake is deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs, 60 to 75 minutes. Let the cake cool before slicing, then serve as is or drizzled with caramel sauce. 🍎
🧐 Recipe FAQs
For this recipe, stick with canned apple pie filling. Its thick, sweet sauce supplies moisture that fresh apples alone won’t provide, so substituting fresh apples could change the cake’s texture.
Apple pie filling is in the baking aisle of your friendly neighborhood supermarket.
A springform pan is a pan that has a round bottom that is separate from the sides. The sides close with a lever that closes everything up, and then when you are ready to take whatever you are baking out of the pan, move the lever to open up the sides. No more trying to wrestle something sticky out of the pan!
Yes! A 9-inch square baking pan should work nicely. I don’t recommend a Bundt pan because this moist, slightly sticky cake may be difficult to remove cleanly. Begin checking the cake after 60 minutes, since baking time can vary with the pan.
Pop your question (or comment, or suggestion) in the Comments section below and I will answer pronto!
Cover the cake tightly and store it at room temperature for up to two days or in the refrigerator for up to five days. Bring refrigerated slices to room temperature or warm them briefly before serving.
Let’s stir up this sweet and simple apple deliciousness! 🍎🍰
Easy One Bowl Apple Cake
This easy one bowl apple cake combines cinnamon, apple pie filling, raisins and walnuts in a wonderfully moist fall dessert!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Yield: 10 servings 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- One 21 ounce can apple pie filling
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 2 eggs, slightly beaten
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
- Caramel sauce for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously grease a 9-inch round baking pan, square baking pan or springform pan.
- Place the apple pie filling, sugar, flour, oil, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, baking soda and baking powder in a large mixing bowl. Stir until well combined. The batter will be thick.
- Fold in the raisins and nuts. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
- Bake until the cake is deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs, 60 to 75 minutes. Begin checking after 60 minutes.
- Let the cake cool before slicing. Serve with caramel sauce, if you like.
Notes
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- Nuts: You can leave out the nuts if you don’t like them, or if you are taking this cake to a party where you want to be respectful of nut allergies. You can also swap in pecans for the walnuts if you like those better.
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- Raisins: Same with the raisins – you can either leave them out, or you can swap in dried cranberries.
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- Caramel Sauce: We love this cake just the way it is, but if you pour some caramel sauce over the top you will go straight to apple cake heaven. Look for the caramel sauce near the frozen food section (because it goes so well with ice cream!)
💫 Variations on this recipe
- Apple cake muffins: Divide the batter among greased or paper-lined muffin cups and bake at 350°F for about 15 to 20 minutes.
- Cranberry apple: Swap the raisins for dried cranberries for a sweet-tart twist.
- Pecan apple: Replace the walnuts with chopped pecans.
- Caramel apple: Drizzle the cooled cake generously with caramel sauce and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
- Nut-free: Leave out the walnuts without making any other changes.
- Extra spice: Add a pinch of nutmeg or ground cloves along with the cinnamon for even cozier fall flavor.
Other apple recipes we love ❤️
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⭐️We want to know what you think!
If you try this recipe, we would love to hear how it came out for you! I’d be super grateful if you could leave a star rating (you pick how many stars! 🌟 ) and your thoughts in the Comments section below the recipe card.
Can we make this in a 9 by 13 pan? Will it be too low?
Hi Brigitte! You can, but you are right that it will be a much thinner cake since a 9×13 pan is almost twice the size of the 9-inch pan the recipe calls for. If you don’t mind a thinner cake, go for it! I’d start checking for doneness after about 35–45 minutes, since it will bake faster. If you’re looking for the same nice thick cake, you can use a 9×13 pan and double the recipe. The baking time will be a little longer, so I’d start checking for doneness around the original bake time and add more time as needed until a toothpick comes out clean. Hope this helps and happy baking!
I had a very small block of time, and a can of apple pie filling, so googled for an “easy” cake recipe. I found this one and am so very glad I did. I followed the recipe as written, used no raisins or nuts. I used a 9” square pan to make it easier to cut as was running out the door while it was still warm. This recipe is a keeper. I will definitely make this again!
Hi Janae and thank you for these kind words – I’m so happy this cake recipe worked out for you! Happy almost weekend! :)
Can I bake this in another type of pan? Maybe Bundt?
Hi Deborah! My only concern with a bundt pand is that this cake is a little sticky (in a good way!) so it might be tricky to remove from a bundt pan, but if you both greased and floured it, it might work! If you do try it this way will you come back and let us know how it came out? Thank you!
Have you ever made this with either cherry or blueberry pie filling?
Hi Deborah! I haven’t but I think both would work just fine. You might want to leave out the cinnamon and/or the walnuts for these versions as they have more of an apple pie vibe. If you try this can yu come back and let us know how it came out? Thank you and happy baking
Oh yay, this looks easy enough for me to try. Going to make it into muffins, though, so I don’t have a whole big cake lying around tempting me. Thanks!
Oooh, apple cake muffins! Let me know how those come out – I’ve never tried them that way.
Apple dump muffins are a WIN! Made them last night, cutting up the apples a bit so they weren’t too big, cooked in about 15 minutes. Had one still hot with caramel for dessert, wow. Cut one open for the toaster oven with butter for breakfast, yum. Then warmed some up and brought them as a treat for the golf boys on this chilly fall morning, and they were a huge hit with coffee! I am not a baker by any means, but I’ll make these again and again!
Yahoo! I’m going to add the directions for making muffins to the original recipe as an alternative! Thanks for being an awesome recipe tester! xoxo
I used paper muffin cups, which I gave a quick spray. Since the cake is on the (deliciously) sticky side, made things much easier. :-)
Very sensible of you! :) I’m definitely going to give the muffin version of these a spin. :)