Spice things up with this delicious Apple Protein Spice Cake! It’s easy to make, tastes great and will make your whole house smell amazing!
Full of nutrients and fiber, this cake is a great way to incorporate “an apple a day” and boost your protein intake.
Apples have many vitamins including C, E, iron and zinc (1), are full of antioxidants (2), and have been shown to help lower cholesterol and improve cardiovascular health (3).
Apples are also a great source of fiber and pectin which helps our beneficial gut bacteria and contributes to our overall gut health (1). And bonus, they are delicious!
I included my vanilla protein powder in this recipe, which I like to add to baked goods to reduce the sugar impact, and support my body with the amino acids it needs for all of its many tasks.
Enjoy this tasty Fall-flavored cake with a glass of cider, a cup of tea, or just on it’s own!
Apple Protein Spice Cake
Yield: 6 servings
You will need: mixing bowls, measuring cups and spoons, cutting board, knife, 8×8″ baking dish or muffin tins
Key: T = Tablespoon; tsp = teaspoon 
Ingredients:
- 1 T apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (or milk of choice)
- 1 egg, beaten (or 1/4 cup egg substitute)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup gluten free 1:1 baking flour (or oat flour)**
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 6 servings (180 grams) I ❤️ Vanilla Protein powder (or protein powder of choice)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 cup apple, peeled and chopped (1 medium apple = about 1 cup)
Topping:
- 1/2 cup monk fruit/allulose sugar blend (or sugar of choice)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 T coconut oil, melted
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly coat a baking pan with oil or line with parchment paper.
- Combine almond milk and vinegar in a medium bowl, and mix to combine. Whisk in eggs and vanilla and set aside.
- In large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, spice and protein powder until just combined.
- Stir the wet ingredients into the dry until well combined, and then stir in the applesauce.
- Fold in apples.
- Transfer batter to a pre-greased baking dish and make the topping.
- Combine monk fruit sweetener, cinnamon and coconut oil in a small bowl, and evenly distribute it over the cake batter.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
*For muffins, reduce baking time to 15-20 minutes.
**Oat flour also works in this recipe. It will make the cake a little denser. I found it to work with around the same cook time, but you may just want to keep an eye on it and test with a cake tester or toothpick once you start to smell the cake, and adjust cook time accordingly.
Nutrition Facts
I love this recipe – it’s so delicious! Enjoy this awesome cake with friends and family!
I ❤️Vanilla Protein powder from Whole Betty by Betty Rocker works great in baking, and is also my staple protein shake! It’s organic and has 20 grams of plant-based protein blended from 4 different superfoods!
- Oyenihi, Ayodeji B et al. “”An apple a day keeps the doctor away”: The potentials of apple bioactive constituents for chronic disease prevention.” Journal of food science vol. 87,6 (2022): 2291-2309. doi:10.1111/1750-3841.16155. Web. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9321083/
- Feng, Shuhan et al. “Systematic Review of Phenolic Compounds in Apple Fruits: Compositions, Distribution, Absorption, Metabolism, and Processing Stability.” Journal of agricultural and food chemistry vol. 69,1 (2021): 7-27. doi:10.1021/acs.jafc.0c05481. Web. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33397106/
- Sandoval-Ramírez, Berner Andrée et al. “The effects and associations of whole-apple intake on diverse cardiovascular risk factors. A narrative review.” Critical reviews in food science and nutrition vol. 60,22 (2020): 3862-3875. doi:10.1080/10408398.2019.1709801. Web. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31928209/