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Check out this slow cooker apple cake! It’s my first attempt at baking in the slow cooker. I’m really impressed with the results.
This apple cake baked up moist, dense and delicious. Chock full of chunks of apples, it’s a perfect dessert for fall.
Every October, I find myself craving a piece of the fresh apple cake my mom made when I was a kid. So, it’s become a tradition to bake it or something similar.
For the past two years, I’ve made this Healthy Harvest Fresh Apple Cake, which is much lighter and healthier than Mom’s original, while still satisfying my craving.
So, I was excited to see this slow cooker apple cake recipe, in my latest cookbook find, Fix-It and Forget-It New Cookbook: 250 New Delicious Slow Cooker Recipes (affiliate link) by Phyllis Good.
Recipe Notes
I loved the cooking notes included with this slow cooker cake recipe. If they hadn’t been there I would have panicked too. “When I first made this cake I was sure I should have used more flour, sugar and eggs. But I decided to see if the apples were juicy enough to hold things together and wind up with a dense and delicious finish. And it worked!!”
It really is mostly chopped apples coated with what seems like too little cake batter. But go with it!
I made a few changes from the original recipe, I:
- substituted 3 tablespoons canola oil for 1/4 cup melted butter.
- Decreased the sugar from 1 cup to 3/4 cup.
- Decreased the chopped nuts from 1/2 cup to 1/4 cup, to save a few calories/Weight Watchers Points.
This apple cake turned out better than I expected. It was sweet, but not too sweet, with a nice hint of cinnamon.
Chock full of chopped apples, the texture was dense and moist.
How Many Calories and Weight Watchers Points in Slow Cooker Apple Cake?
According to my calculations, each slice has 235 calories.
To see your WW Points for this recipe, track it in the WW App!
(You must be logged into WW on a smartphone or tablet.)
9 SmartPoints (Green plan)
9 SmartPoints (Blue plan)
8 SmartPoints (Purple plan)
6 PointsPlus (Old plan)
Mom and Rod both gave it their enthusiastic approval. I will definitely be making this slow cooker apple cake again. Enjoy!
If you like this easy Crock Pot Apple Cake, be sure to check out some of my other easy, healthy Weight Watchers apple friendly recipes including WW 4-Ingredient Apple Pancake Puff, Slow Cooker Applesauce Spice Cake, Slow Cooker Cranberry Apple Cake, Apple Brownies and Cranberry Apple Oatmeal Cookies
If you’ve made this lightened up Apple Cake, please give the recipe a star rating below and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. And stay in touch on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the latest updates.
Lightened Up Slow Cooker Apple Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups chopped apples, peeled or not (2 to 3 apples, I used Pink Lady’s)
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Ideal slow cooker size: 6-Quart to 7-Quart.
- Grease and flour a bread pan or baking dish that fits in your slow cooker. Place a trivet or metal mason jar rings in the bottom of your slow cooker to support the pan.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, egg and vanilla until creamy and well blended.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
- Stir the flour mixture into the sugar mixture until well combined. Stir in the apples and walnuts. (It will seem like too little batter for so many apples, but it’s not.)
- Scrape the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Cover the pan with foil. Set into the cooker.
- Cover the slow cooker with the slow cooker lid. Bake on HIGH for 2 to 3 hours, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Begin checking after the slow cooker apple cake has been cooking 2 hours. If it isn’t done, cover and continue cooking for 15 to 30 more minutes and then check it again.
- When the cake is done, carefully lift the hot baking pan out of the slow cooker and set it on a wire rack to cool for at least 15 to 20 minutes before serving.
- Cut into 8 slices and serve.
Notes
(Must be logged into WW on a smartphone or tablet.) 9 SmartPoints (Green plan) 9 SmartPoints (Blue plan) 8 SmartPoints (Purple plan) 6 PointsPlus (Old plan)
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Source: Adapted from Fix-It and Forget-It New Cookbook: 250 New Delicious Slow Cooker Recipes (affiliate link) by Phyllis Good
Watch how you can make your own healthy, low calorie apple spice cake at home:
More Weight Watchers Apple Recipes:
- Apple Cake with Caramel Glaze (SkinnyKitchen)
- Caramel Apple Loaf (DrizzleMeSkinny)
- Maple Glazed Apple Cider Doughnuts (LaaLoosh)
- Apple Crumble in a Mug (HungryGirl)
- Gooey Whole Wheat Apple Bars with Apple Cider Glaze (TheYummyLife)
- Apple Sliced Scones with Spiced Glaze (SkinnyTaste)
- Skinny Caramel Apple Pie Trifle (SkinnyKitchen)
Stephanie from JoyOfBaking.com demonstrates how she makes her preferred apple cake:
This worked brilliantly and is so delicious! I only had light brown sugar so it had that rich treacly taste and was definitely sweet enough even though I only used 2/3 of the amount of sugar in the recipe. Like one of the other comments, I subbed some of the oil for apple sauce. I also didn’t have a tin that fits in my slow cooker so just used a loaf tin liner straight in the slow cooker insert. I have a sear and stew model and it was easily done in 1h45. Thank you !
Martha, I tried this apple cake yesterday; it’s delicious! Our neighbors have a few apple trees & these apples used were free! I’m unsure the type of apple, but they’re darker red w/black, brown splotches on them. The BEST for cooking!!! I’m making another of your apple cakes today…it may b eaten now, or frozen for later…many thx!
Hi Alice, so glad you liked it. Thanks for taking the time to let me know. ~Martha
Is the crockpot empty aside from the cake, or do you fill it with water partway up the side of the cake pan?
Hi Scott, no water necessary. – Martha
I love the cake, but trying to think of ways to make it lower in points.
Has anyone tried substituting applesauce for the oil, and Splenda instead of sugar?
Love the cake, but 9 points really cuts into my daily 30 point allowance.
Hi Vicki, I haven’t tried any of these changes. Please let me know if you discover a lighter alternative.
I made it yesterday and substituted applesauce for the oil, and used Splenda in place of the sugar (and I forgot to put in the nuts) – and it was still yummy for only 2 points! If I had hadn’t forgotten the nuts, it would have been better, I’m sure – and still only 3 points.
I love this recipe and the fact that I can enjoy eating cake everyday without blowing my diet.