The BEST Coffee Cake
This Homemade Coffee Cake is incredibly delicious, easy to make, moist, and topped with a cinnamon streusel topping. Perfect for dessert or breakfast!
Over the years I’ve shared some of my favorite cake recipes with you. From carrot cake to chocolate cake and red velvet cake, so many of you have made and loved my homemade cakes. So today I’m sharing another one that has been requested quite a bit the last couple of months — this homemade coffee cake recipe.
This cinnamon streusel coffee cake took a few tries to get just right, but it’s by far one of the best coffee cakes I’ve ever tried. It’s made completely from scratch, but don’t let that fool you because this cake is still easy to make.
Another thing that I love about this recipe is that it has a layer of streusel in the middle of the cake and on top to ensure that you get some of that delicious streusel in every single bite. I’ve even included a full video tutorial to show you exactly how to make this recipe!
Recipe Ingredients
Contrary to what the name implies, this moist coffee cake recipe doesn’t actually contain coffee. It got its name because it tastes delicious alongside a cup of coffee! Here’s what we’ll need to make this cinnamon streusel coffee cake:
- All-purpose flour: When measuring the flour, spoon and level it to avoid making a dense coffee cake.
- Sugar: Both granulated sugar and brown sugar are used in this easy coffee cake recipe. Granulated sugar adds sweetness, and brown sugar also adds some flavor.
- Ground cinnamon: Adds tons of flavor to this homemade coffee cake.
- Unsalted butter: Needs to be beaten together with the sugar for several minutes to incorporate air into the batter. This will make for a lighter cake.
- Baking powder and baking soda: Helps this cinnamon coffee cake rise.
- Salt: Balances out the sweetness in the batter and enhances the cinnamon flavor.
- Eggs: You want your eggs to be room temperature for this recipe. If you forget to set your eggs out ahead of time, simply place them in a bowl of warm water for 5-10 minutes to bring them to room temperature.
- Vanilla extract: Pure vanilla extract is best.
- Sour cream: Full-fat sour cream is best, but low-fat can be used as well. Feel free to substitute full-fat plain Greek yogurt, if desired.
How To Make Coffee Cake
To make this cake, you’ll start out by making the streusel topping. To make the topping, you’ll whisk together some all-purpose flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon until well combined. Then add some cubed room temperature butter and cut it into the dry ingredients until it’s nice and crumbly like the picture above.
You can either use a pastry cutter or fork to cut in the butter, either one works fine here. Once the streusel is mixed together, transfer it to the refrigerator to chill while you prepare the cake batter.
To make the cake batter, you’ll start out by creaming together your butter and granulated sugar for about 4-5 minutes or until it’s light in color and fluffy. I typically love to use a mix of brown sugar and granulated sugar in recipes, but for this cake batter, we’ll only be using granulated sugar.
Next, you’ll mix in some room temperature eggs one at a time and some pure vanilla extract. I suggest stopping to scrape down the sides of your bowl at this point too just to make sure everything is well combined.
Then, you’ll whisk together your dry ingredients —some all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, and salt. The last step is to just mix in the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the sour cream. Alternating the dry ingredients and sour cream helps to ensure that you don’t overmix the batter which can lead to a denser cake.
The cake batter will be pretty thick, but this is normal! You’ll spread half of the batter into a 9×13 baking pan, then remove the streusel topping from the refrigerator and sprinkle half of it on top of the batter in the pan. Repeat one more time with the cake batter and the streusel topping so that you have a layer of streusel in the middle and on top.
Just a note, this won’t seem like much batter but the coffee cake will rise quite a bit in the oven as it bakes so don’t worry!
The final step is to place the cake into the oven and let it bake for about 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
I suggest letting the cake cool some before you slice into it so it’s not too hot. I prefer to let mine cool for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, then slice into it so it’s still slightly warm. You can also prepare this the night before and serve it at room temperature or warm up individual slices in the microwave.
FAQ’s
How Long Does Coffee Cake Last?
You can store this cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Can I Freeze This Cake?
Yes! The cooled cake may be stored in a freezer bag or container for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature or warm in the microwave before serving.
Can I Use Salted Butter?
I typically recommend using unsalted butter, since the amount of salt in salted butters can vary between different brands. However, you can use salted butter if that’s all you have on hand. If using salted butter, reduce the salt in the recipe by 1/4 teaspoon per stick of butter called for.
Baking Tips
- Before getting started, make sure all of your ingredients (butter, eggs, and sour cream) are at room temperature.
- I suggest making the streusel topping first and refrigerating it while you prepare the cake batter.
- When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it from the container. Instead, stir the flour around, spoon it into your measuring cup, and level it off with the back of a knife.
- Don’t have any sour cream on hand? You can replace it with an equal amount of plain Greek yogurt.
- When mixing in the dry ingredients and sour cream, only mix in each addition until just combined. Over mixing the batter can lead to a denser cake.
Video Tutorial
More Homemade Cake Recipes to Try!
Coffee Cake
Ingredients
For the topping:
- 1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour , spooned & leveled
- 2/3 cup (135 grams) light brown sugar , packed
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter , softened and cubed into small pieces
For the cake:
- 2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour , spooned and leveled
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter , softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs , room temperature
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (240 grams) sour cream , room temperature
Instructions
To make the topping:
- Add the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon to a large mixing bowl and whisk until well combined. Add the cubed butter and cut it into the mixture with a pastry cutter or a fork until the mixture starts to come together and is crumbly.
- Cover and transfer to the refrigerator while you prepare the cake.
To make the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Spray a 9x13-inch pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using a hand-held mixer, beat the butter and granulated sugar together until light and fluffy (about 4-5 minutes).
- Mix in the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated, then mix in the vanilla extract, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients in three parts alternating with the sour cream (starting and ending with the dry ingredients). Make sure to mix in each addition until just combined.
- Scoop half of the batter into the prepared pan and smooth it out evenly. Remove the streusel topping from the refrigerator and sprinkle half of it on top of the cake batter. Scoop the other half of the cake batter on top and smooth it out, then top with the remaining half of the streusel topping.
- Bake at 350°F (177°C) for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven and cool on a wire rack in the pan for at least 45 minutes to 1 hour, then slice and enjoy!
Hi Danielle..thank you for sharing the recipe and method. I do not see coffee is included in any part of the recipe. Could you please advise?
Coffee cake doesn’t have coffee in it, it’s just meant to be eaten with a cup of coffee 🙂
I love Danielle’s recipes…. They sre mouthwatering.
Thank you, Bernette! Hope you enjoy the cake if you try it!
Perfectly moist and delicious! The batter is very thick. I would suggest pouring less batter in the bottom of the pan, since I barely had enough batter to cover the streusel. I will definitely make this again.
This looks very good! I can’t wait to try it! Thanks for posting!!
Coffee cake was delicious; the batter was a little dry; so I added milk (1/4 cup) to give it better consistency. Made coffee cake in bundt Pampered Chef pan; Family approved!
So glad you enjoyed the coffee cake, Sunny!
The batter was delicious (I definitely scraped the bowl and ate the raw batter that was left!) but to echo another comment above, the batter was very dry and was not at all spreadable atop the first crumb layer. I had to make another half batch of the batter to sort of scoop and drop over the crumb topping in order to have any hope of a second near-full layer of the cake. I also made 50% crumb topping because I like a LOT of crumb topping on top. We’ll see how it turns out but it smells delicious in the oven!
Is there any chance there was supposed to be another egg, or more butter or milk in the recipe? I could have scooped the batter onto a cookie sheet and made whoopee pies, based on the consistency. Which… would certainly not make for a bad cookie!
Hi, Nick! Since this cake is made with sour cream, the batter is very thick. If you made sure to spoon and level the flour, you didn’t do anything wrong. It won’t seem like much batter when you spread it out in the pan, but the cake will rise quite a bit as it bakes. If you have trouble spreading it, you can try spraying the back of a spoon or rubber spatula with some non stick cooking spray and that should help too!
Hi Danielle! I want to make this cake so bad but neither sour cream nor Greek yogurt are available where I live at the moment. Is there something else I can use, like buttermilk or regular full fat yogurt maybe? Love all your recipes 🙂
You can use full-fat yogurt in place of the sour cream.
Made these and my siblings loved them! thank you
This coffee cake was delicious!! Though i anticipated an angel food cake like consistency and mine was VERY dense. Note I don’t have a hand mixer so I mixed the sugar and butter my whisk…I wonder if that was the problem. Either way will make again!! 🙂
Hi, Rachel! Since this coffee cake is made with sour cream it is denser, I prefer to eat it warm while it’s still a little soft. I’m glad you enjoyed it!
I follow this recipe exactly and coffee cake comes out perfectly every time! It tastes exactly like store bought cake!
Hello Danielle
I made your coffee cake recipe last night,, it was to die for, delicious, moist tasty & easy to make., i will making this coffee cake again,I want to thank you., I will be looking forward to see more of your recipes.
,Today I will knocking on my neighbors doors who have a sweet ? like me to give them a piece,
Thank you, Laurna! So glad you enjoyed the coffee cake!
This cake was delicious though it was a bit too moist and wet. Otherwise, great job! 🙂
Hi Danielle
I made the coffee cake and everyone loved it. It was moist with the perfect amount of crumb. I did make one change as I do with all your recipes. I used King Arthur’s Measure for Measure GF flour since I cannot have gluten. Otherwise I followed all your tips. It’s another winner and no one ever suspects your treats are gluten free.
Thank you! So happy to hear that the cake turned out great with gluten-free flour, Stephanie!
Super easy to make, turned out great! Batter looks thick but like it’s going to be a thin cake. At first I was skeptical but the cake baked up and turned out amazing! Perfectly moist as well!! We made 2 batches for my bf office and all the guys loved it! Went back for seconds, all gone in no time 🙂 Every Sunday night we make a breakfast type pastries/sweet something for their Monday morning meet, this is definitely a keeper for my rotation!
So happy to hear that the cake turned out great for you, Danielle!
Is it possible to bake this in a traditional bundt pan so it looks more “cakelike”?
I think it would be fine to use a bundt pan. It may not be *quite* enough batter to make a full-size bundt cake though.
This coffee cake is fantastic! Moist and delicious. My husband said it is a hit and a keeper. I have also been in search for the perfect coffee cake and your recipe has stopped the search. I will definitely serve this when our children come for a visit and for guests. I only had 3/4 cup of sour cream and I didn’t have any Greek yogurt but I did have heavy whipping cream that I added to round out the full cup that I needed. Worked great. I have never tasted such a moist coffee cake as this one. I followed your tips. Thank you so much!
So glad the cake turned out great for you, Jen!
Hi, I made this coffee cake to surprise my husband for his birthday since it’s so hard to find moist coffee cake in stores (without added stuff like fruit)! It seemed to fall (or not rise) in the center and was undercooked in the center, and too dry on the ends–this after baking at 350 for more a few minutes more than the 35 minutes recommended. I’m sure this was my fault, given all the other comments, but I don’t know what I did wrong! Thanks–Will try it again but hoping for tips.
Hi, Nate! It may be that your oven runs a little warmer than mine. If you make it again and find that this is happening, you can loosely cover the top with foil until the center is baked through. That will keep the ends from drying out and allow the center to fully bake. I hope that helps!
This cake is FANTASTIC!! I used plain yogurt instead of sour cream because I had some I was trying to use up and it turned out GREAT. Everybody in my house loved it.
Thank you, Alison! That’s wonderful to hear!
Do you think it would work to bake this in a cheesecake pan?!
You can bake it in a 9-inch springform pan. You will probably need to increase the baking time though.
I did a 9×9 pan & it got really thick. Smells yummy but I’m afraid I messed it up lol. Follow the instructions people!
Okay, update . Baked in 9×9 for 45 minutes and it came out amazing !
I would have to agree and use less batter at bottom otherwise you may not have enough for top layer. But tastes great!
Just made this and had a lot of fun! It’s very good. Also very, very rich and sweet. Next time I will use half the measurements for the topping. I will try halving the butter and sugar for the cake and sub with plain yogurt. It’s very good. Just too rich for my tastebuds.
Delicious & moist. I didn’t have sour cream but I substituted cottage cheese (( whipped up with lemon) & it came out great!