Tender, cinnamon laced healthy apple cakes are perfect for a sweet after dinner treat, to start the morning or pack as a snack! Easily made in the blender without oil or butter and filled with bites of fresh apple pieces.
It is Monday and I am sitting here in my pajamas declaring that today we eat cake for breakfast. Who's with me?!
But there's no reason to stress because this cake is filled with all sorts of good, get your day going goodness that's constantly being stocked in this house for easy morning breakfast or after meal sweet treats with the kiddos.
Yes, we're talking about these adorable miniature and deliciously healthy apple cakes. They're pumpkin and acorn and maple shaped adorable cakelets that are also super tasty, moist and made out of whole food goodness. I MEAN, COME ON.
Why are we loving them?
- no refined sugar (sweetened with dates!)
- no butter
- no oil
- combo of oats and whole wheat flour
- light texture
- super moist (thanks apple pieces!)
- warming fall spices
While you can eat these apple cakes for breakfast, they're also extremely satisfying for dessert! Especially with a generous serving of whipped cream if I may say so myself.
How to make healthy apple cakes
If you've been around this fall, you know I'm a sucker for a fun baking pan. This autumn inspired cakelet pan from Nordicware doesn't disappoint in the totally snackable size cute cakes department.
We're making these harvest theme bites of apple and cinnamon healthy by swapping out a few go to cake ingredients for some healthier options.
Instead of sweetening with granulated sugar we add dates. My favorite tip for baking with dates is to soak them in hot water before blending or chopping. It softens them so they're easier to blend, especially if your blender is not super powerful.
For the base of the muffin we blend together both oats and whole wheat flour. The oats add heartiness and retain the moisture from the wet ingredients, but the blend of flour with the oats adds lightness.
Instead of oil or butter, we're blending up a real ripe banana. The kind that's brown and spotted and really soft. They're naturally sweet and along with just a little greek yogurt, is all the wet ingredients we need. If you don't have yogurt or if you want to keep these apple cakes vegan you can substitute an extra banana and a flaxseed egg.
The best part though is the fresh bites of apple folded into the batter! Not only adding moisture but delicious fresh apple taste. It's like a pie that we can eat any time of day without judgment.
Oh man, Halloween came upon us and it's been a tip of the scales into indulgence ever since. We let Shea pick out our costumes this year so we were all characters from Frozen, because 4 year olds, ya know? Since then Elsa has been gracing us with her presence every day, demanding juice more time before bed. Luckily for me she hasn't used those powers to freeze me to the couch yet.
As long as we're supplying these cakes. Mom can feel good about an easy breakfast and the kids enjoy eating something that's filled with wholesome ingredients. In the most indulgent time of the year, it's nice to having something to balance the scales.
Healthy Apple Cakes
Ingredients
- ½ cup old fashioned oats
- ½ cup whole wheat flour
- 6 pitted dates
- 1 large ripe banana
- ½ cup plain greek yogurt
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground clove
- 1 gala macintosh or fuji apple peeled, cored, and cut into tiny pieces
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray the cakelet pan or a 6 piece muffin tin with baking spray. In a small bowl, soak the dates in piping hot water for about 5 minutes. This will make them easier to blend. While the dates soak, chop the apple into small diced pieces, set aside.
- Drain the dates from the water. Add the oats, flour, dates, banana, egg, yogurt, baking soda, vanilla and spices to a blender. Blend on high for 30 seconds until all the ingredients are finely mixed.
- Transfer the batter to a medium sized bowl and add the diced apple pieces. Stir to combine and scoop the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of one cakelets comes out clean.
Notes
- If you don't have the cakelet pan, this recipe will yield about 6 regular size muffins but may require a few more minutes of cooking.
- To make these vegan, substitute an extra banana for the yogurt and a flaxseed egg.
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