On a crisp fall day, these mini apple Bundt cakes couldn't be more cozy. The warm flavors of cinnamon and apple shine through in every bite of cake. Aside from their taste, the best part is that you don’t need an electric mixer to whip up the recipe for these six cakes. Drizzle with a cinnamon cream cheese glaze fitting for the season.
These small cakes can double as a decadent little brunch sweet or an after-dinner treat for a special occasion. They're so versatile and make an especially perfect dessert in the autumn season.
If you're looking for other cozy options with fall spices and flavors, check out this pear and blueberry crumble, apple pear bread, dirty chai cake, cranberry sour cream Bundt cake, or cherry apple crumble.
For year-round staples, these chocolate chip blueberry muffins and small-batch chocolate chip muffins are easy to whip up. No mixer required!
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📋 Ingredients in this Apple Cake Recipe
Below are some of the key items you need to make these mini cakes. Find the full details in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Apples - During apple season, choose the apples of your preference. Fuji, Pink Lady, and Granny Smith Apples (what I used here) are my personal favorites for eating and baking, but this is really up to you!
- Canola oil – Canola oil also helps create a moist cake in this recipe. Canola oil also makes these cakes super easy to whip up in a large bowl without ever turning on your stand mixer.
- Cinnamon - Apples and cinnamon are a duo that just belong together. But if you prefer, feel free to explore other warm spices like nutmeg, cardamom, or ginger to tweak the flavors best to your liking in these delicious treats.
- Freeze-dried apples – While this isn't a "need-to-have" ingredient, I loved adding it to my cream cheese glaze to up the apple flavor. If you have this ingredient available to you, I recommend trying it out! But skip it if finding it is too hard. I got mine from Trader Joe's and have seen freeze dried apples at Whole Foods, Target, and other grocery stores, to name a few.
Bundt Cake FAQ
A Bundt cake is a bit of a misnomer. The name refers not to any particular recipe but to the ring-shaped pan, known as a Bundt pan, that holds your cake.
Oftentimes there is a middle section that's a central tube or "chimney." This feature helps the cake cook evenly and promotes uniform baking so that the cake's edges bake at a similar rate as its middle.
Here, I used my mini Heritage Bundt pan from Nordic Ware, which I absolutely adore.
For more Bundt cake recipes, check out these mini strawberry Bundt cakes and my chocolate raspberry Bundt cake. All of them come together with just bowls and whisks!
💭 Top Tip: Properly Prepping your Mini Bundt Pan
All the pretty grooves of a Bundt pan need to be properly coated so that it releases your baked goods once they've baked.
Use a pastry brush or a piece of paper towel to evenly coat the interior of the Bundt pan with a layer of melted butter, vegetable oil, or shortening. Make sure to get into all the nooks and crannies of the fluted design.
After greasing, dust it with a light coating of flour. This creates an additional barrier between the cake batter and the pan, making it less likely for the cake to stick.
Then, tap the pan over the sink or garbage can to remove any excess flour. This ensures that only a thin, even layer remains to prevent sticking.
You can also spray your pan with a non-stick spray for baking. Baker’s Joy or a homemade equivalent of baker’s release spray works well.
If you’re properly preparing your pan but still having issues, it could be that you need a new pan. As cake pans age, they can lose their ability to conduct heat as well as they once did.
📖 Step-by-Step Recipe Instructions
Step 1: Prepare the Pan and Ingredients. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour a mini Bundt cake pan, ensuring all nooks and crannies are covered. Dice or grate the apples into very small pieces.
Step 2: Mix Dry Ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Step 3: Mix Wet Ingredients. In a separate large bowl, whisk the eggs, dark or light brown sugar, granulated sugar, sour cream (or Greek yogurt), oil, and pure vanilla extract.
Step 4: Combine Batter. Gradually add the flour mixture ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing until just combined.
Step 5: Add Apples. Use a wooden or rubber spatula to gently fold in the chopped apples until evenly distributed.
Step 6: Bake the Cakes. Spoon the batter into the prepared Bundt pan, filling each cavity about ¾ full. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean.
Step 7: Make the Cinnamon Cream Cheese Glaze. While the baked cakes cool on a wire rack, soften the cream cheese in the microwave on low power in 10-second bursts until it’s runny enough to whisk (about 30-45 seconds). Whisk in the vanilla extract, cinnamon, pinch of salt, powdered sugar, and optional ground freeze-dried apples. Adjust the consistency with milk if needed.
Step 8: Glaze and Serve. Drizzle the cream cheese glaze over the cooled mini apple Bundt cakes. If desired, top with a dusting of ground cinnamon, or garnish with cinnamon sticks.
Storage Instructions for these Mini Bundts
Refrigerating - Due to the dairy in the cream cheese icing, I recommend keeping these cakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator between serving them.
Freezing - So long as you keep them in a tightly sealed container, you may also freeze these mini apple Bundt cakes for up to 3 months.
You may freeze them glazed or unglazed. If you stack them on top of each other glazed, it'd be best to separate the layers with wax paper.
Serving Suggestions
For refrigerated apple cakes - Let them come to room temperature before serving by placing them on the countertop for at least half an hour prior to serving.
For frozen bundtlettes - Let them thaw for a few hours at room temperature before serving.
For frozen or refrigerated mini cakes, you can also gently warm them in the microwave on a low setting for about 15 settings. They remind me of an apple donut like this!
Whatever you decide, feel free to serve these delicious apple desserts alongside a scoop of vanilla ice cream to take the flavors up a notch. Or keep it simple as is!
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More Fall Desserts
Mini Apple Bundt Cakes
Put your freshly picked apples to use in this recipe for mini apple Bundt cakes. Lightly spiced, this fall treat is perfect for the season.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Glaze Prep: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6 mini Bundt cakes 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Mini Apple Cakes
- 1 ⅓ cup (160 grams) all-purpose unbleached flour, spooned and leveled
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- 1 and ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs, room temp
- ¼ cup (40 grams) light brown sugar, packed
- ⅓ cup (75 grams) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (120 grams) sour cream or Greek yogurt, room temperature
- ⅓ cup (70 grams) flavorless oil, like canola or grapeseed
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 and ¼ cups (160 grams) peeled and chopped apples, packed (about one small to medium-sized apple)
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Glaze
- ⅓ block (75 grams) of cream cheese, room temperature or slightly softened
- 1-2 T milk, adjusted for your preferred icing consistency
- ⅓ cup (45 grams) powdered sugar
- Optional: 5 grams of freeze dried apples, finely ground (about 4 teaspoon once ground)
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
Apple Cakes
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF, and grease and flour a mini Bundt cake pan, making sure to cover all nooks and crannies of the pan.
- Dice or grate apples into very small pieces.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- In a second bowl, large enough to eventually hold all of your ingredients, whisk together the eggs, brown and granulated sugars, sour cream or Greek yogurt, oil, and vanilla.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and mix until just combined.
- Fold your chopped apples gently into your batter until incorporated.
- Spoon batter into your greased and floured mini Bundt cake pan until approximately ¾ full.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cakes comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Invert the cakes onto a wire rack and let cool completely.
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Glaze
- As your cakes cool, gently warm your cream cheese in a medium-sized bowl in the microwave in short, 10-second bursts on low power until it’s runny enough to whisk. Should take 30-45 seconds in total.
- Add your vanilla extract, cinnamon, pinch of salt, powdered sugar, and (if using) ground freeze dried apples to the bowl, whisking until the mixture is slightly thickened but still liquid-y. Loosen consistency with milk as desired.
- Drizzle cream cheese glaze onto the 6 mini bundts.
- If desired, top your mini Bundts with another dusting of cinnamon or cinnamon sticks
Notes
The nutritional values are approximate and can vary based on specific ingredient brands and measurements. For precise nutritional content, refer to product labels or use a detailed nutrition calculator.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 mini Bundt cake
- Calories: 337 kcal
- Sugar: 31 g
- Sodium: 364 mg
- Fat: 23.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 8.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 48.9 g
- Fiber: 1.3 g
- Protein: 6.8 g
Kat
These mini Apple Bundt Cakes are truly amazing! Perfect for the fall and colder weather. Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe, Susan!!
Susan Gravatt
You're the best! <3 Thank you for this comment and encouragement. I'm just so glad you got to enjoy them!!
Scott
I don't have a Mini Bundt Pan at home. Is there another pan I could use instead - muffin tin comes to mind?
Susan Gravatt
Hi, Scott!
That's a great question. While I haven't tested the recipe in a muffin pan, that should work.
I'd estimate you'd get about 10-12 "muffins" from this recipe if you swapped the pan. Just be sure to monitor their baking time, as I imagine it would be closer to 15 or so minutes.
If you make this in a muffin pan, I'd love to hear the results, but I think that would be a successful modification of the recipe.
Good luck!
Susan