This beautifully easy Chocolate Coffee Cake is sweetened with banana and applesauce and topped with a chocolate-cashew crumb topping.
Coffee cake confuses me. The “coffee” part makes me think breakfast, but it’s cake. I guess doughnuts, danishes, and most muffins are more like dessert than a healthy start to your day, yet they somehow got the stamp of approval for breakfast. Coffee cake is no different. In this recipe, I used banana and applesauce to add sweetness and moisture while reducing the oil and sugar, which makes it practically health food.
I know lots of people who can’t drink coffee in the evening or they will be up all night, so for those folks this chocolate coffee cake would have to be breakfast. Lucky for me, I can drink a cup of joe any time of day or night without it affecting my sleep, so I will gladly enjoy this cake in the morning or after dinner.
Don’t let the pretty marbled effect make you worry that this recipe is difficult. Making it marbled is just one tiny extra step, but we can keep that our little secret. I know everyone you serve this to will be impressed with your mad baking skills, and they’ll never guess it’s super easy. I used cashews in the crumb topping because I had a bag of broken cashews that needed to be used, but peanuts or walnuts would be great too.
Be a hero at your next potluck, bake sale, or brunch with this easy and delicious Chocolate Coffee Cake!
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Marbled Chocolate Coffee Cake with Cashews and Banana
This beautiful coffee cake is easy to make and just right for breakfast or dessert.
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8 1x
Ingredients
- 1 ripe banana
- 1 egg
- 2/3 cup milk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup applesauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups flour I used spelt flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup cold butter cut into 1” cubes
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup cashew pieces
- 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8″ square or 11 x 7″ baking pan with cooking spray and set aside.
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In a large mixing bowl, mash banana until smooth. Add egg, milk, sugar, oil, applesauce, and vanilla, and whisk together very well. (You can also do this with an electric mixer if you prefer.)
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Add flour, baking powder, and salt, and whisk vigorously for about a minute. (Again, use an electric mixer if you’d like. I apparently wanted an arm workout when I made this cake.)
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Spread about half of cake batter in the prepared baking dish. Whisk cocoa powder into the remaining batter, and pour it on top of the plain batter. Use a spoon to swirl the two batters together, but don’t swirl too much or you’ll end up with chocolate cake instead of a marbled effect.
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With a pastry cutter, fork, or your fingers, blend the butter, flour, and sugar together. Add cashews and chocolate chips, and mix a little more until they are evenly distributed. Crumble this butter mixture over the top of the marbled batter.
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Bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes until edges are brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out mostly clean. Serve immediately or cooled.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 45
- Category: Dessert
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[email protected] says
I’m loving everything about this coffee cake! Especially that cashew crumb topping! It looks to die for! :)
Andi says
Thanks so much, Jocelyn! Glad you like it :)
Kelly says
I am a sucker for coffee cake and I absolutely love that you made this with spelt flour and lightened it up with banana and apple sauce! This looks delicious and I love that I can have a big slice for breakfast too :) Chocolate for breakfast is always a win-win especially when there’s a pretty marble topping too! Pinning to try :)
Andi says
Thank you so much, Kelly! I love an excuse to eat chocolate for breakfast too :)
Mallory @ Chocolate with Grace says
This looks fantastic! I am all about chocolate for breakfast!
Andi says
Thank you, Mallory! I try to squeeze chocolate into as many meals as possible ;)
Nutmeg Nanny says
This looks great!
Andi says
Thanks so much!
Jaren (Diary of a Recipe Collector) says
I love marbled desserts and this one looks so good! I’m lucky I can have a cup of coffee before bed too! I need it some nights…
Andi says
Thanks, Jaren! I think most of us mom bloggers are working late at night when we finally have downtime, so yes evening coffee is a good thing! By the time I go to bed, I’m so exhausted that nothing can keep me awake ;)
Carol at Wild Goose Tea says
I love making coffee cake. I have never made a marbled one. Fun! I am going to be a proud
winner to my family with this one.
Andi says
Hi, Carol! You can tell your family that it’s really complicated, and they’ll be super impressed.