Applesauce Breakfast Cake

Photo: iStock

As a child, I loved a great aunt's applesauce cake. It was so moist and sweet! I want to eat applesauce cake for breakfast so I tried my hand at making a healthier recipe. You can easily turn the cake batter into cupcakes to eat breakfast on the go if you wish.

Applesauce Breakfast Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup of applesauce

1/4 cup mashed ripe banana (= 4 tablespoons)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 teaspoons cider vinegar (I think organic tastes best.)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups of oatmeal turned into flour in a food processer

(You can substitute unbleached all-purpose or whole wheat flour. I use oatmeal for a breakfast cake, and flour for a dessert.)

1/3 cup dark brown sugar (White sugar works too.)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda (The cider vinegar activates it)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup of chopped walnuts

1/2 cup of raisins (Omit if you wish. Raisins will keep your cake moist for extra days.)

Optional substitution: A pumpkin spice mix powder has cinnamon and nutmeg in it so if you have it, feel free to use it.

Directions:

1) Get out 2 mixing bowls. Mix all your wet ingredients in one bowl and all your dry ingredients in the other bowl.

2) Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and incorporate with a mixer or whisk.

3) Pour the batter into a greased square 8-inch by 8-inch baking pan. Sometimes I use a loaf pan, which you can also cut into squares) If you decide to make cupcakes instead, pour the batter into each cupcake holder 2/3 full.

4) Bake the cake or cupcakes in a 350 F degree preheated oven for about 22 minutes. Check the cupcakes at about 16 minutes as they may bake faster.

5) After the center is done, remove from the over. Remove from the pan, not when hot, but while still warm.

Light Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients 

8 oz Neufchatel (light) cream cheese

Drops of milk

As much powdered sugar as you need

1 teaspoon of vanilla extra

Directions:

Whisk all ingredients until creamy. I start with a cup of powdered sugar and add a little more at a time.

Alternatively, you can sprinkle your applesauce cake with powdered sugar instead of frosting. It will have even less calories.

Ahhh, the perfect autumn breakfast with coffee, tea, or milk. Enjoy a light treat that also has a few nutrients in it!🍎🍏

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Homemade Applesauce

I turned a refrigerator crisper drawer full of apples into applesauce. We like apples but for an unknown reason didn't eat the apples. I gave some away and still had plenty of them left -- Gala, Red Delicious, Honeycrisp, Fuji, Baldwin, and Empire, as far as I could tell as I didn't select them. {I kept one Granny Smith (tart apples are my favorite) for eating.} While I didn't care for peeling and corking all those apples, I'm surprised and delighted by how delicious my homemade applesauce turned out! Here is my impromptu recipe:

Homemade Applesauce

Ingredients:

8 oz (1 cup) apple juice (without added sugar)

At least 5 lbs of apples (guessing, I used a crisper drawer full) - peeled and corked - just fill up a 10 oz - 12 oz stockpot.

1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon 

1/4 each teaspoon of ground and fresh nutmeg

1 tablespoon of ground pumpkin pie spice (substitute ground cloves and allspice if you wish.)

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamon

A squeeze of lime (or lemon)

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

A sprinkle of Stevia

I tossed in cinnamon sticks (just because I had them. What am I going to do with them otherwise?)

Optional: Frankly I don't think it was needed, but I poured in a teaspoon of vanilla flavoring because it was in the cabinet. Cooking is like chemistry, and it's fine to experiment. Use my recipe as a guide - taste and spice to your liking.

Directions:

1) I threw the peeled apples into a big pot, followed by the apple juice, spices, and dark brown sugar.

2) On the stovetop I simmered the mixture on medium heat for one hour, let it cool a bit, then mashed it with a potato masher. You could also puree the cooked apples in a food processor or blender. I like a bit of texture.

3) After it cools completely, dip it into air-tight containers. Makes about 7 cups of applesauce.

We ate a still-warm portion in a bowl after dinner. Later I filled and put 2 16-ounce containers in the refrigerator and 1 16-ounce container in the freezer. I hear frozen applesauce is delicious partially thawed like a homemade slushy, which we're trying next!

Waste, not, want not! We won't have any trouble polishing off our apples as homemade applesauce.

Happy Autumn, Folks!🍎🍁🍂

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All About Apples

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