Coffee Cake Recipe

With 5 minutes of prep, this crowd favorite homemade Coffee Cake is a delicious go-to for any breakfast, brunch, or celebration!

Along with our One Hour Cinnamon Rolls and Cinnamon Roll Cake, this Coffee Cake is always on our holiday must-make list. Be sure to try our Coffee Cake Muffins too! Can you tell we love our cinnamon cakes?!

One of my FAVORITE things to make for a breakfast get-together is Coffee Cake! This next recipe is quick and it is so buttery and cinnamon-y that everyone loves it.

My mom first made it for me when I left for a summer camp as a teenager and I remember thinking, “I need to have this recipe in my life!” It is packed with flavor!

I’ve tried a few coffee cake recipes before, but this is by far the best Coffee Cake recipe.

It’s simple and has become a staple for many holiday morning celebrations, especially Christmas and Thanksgiving. This Easy Coffee Cake is moist, soft, warm and full of cinnamon and sugar goodness.

Coffee Cake Recipe

With 5 minutes of prep, this crowd favorite homemade Coffee Cake is a delicious go-to for any breakfast, brunch, or celebration!

Prep: 15min

Total: 55min

Serving Size: 1 slice

Nutrition Facts: calories 264 kcal, Carbohydrate 52 g, Protein 4 g, Fat 5 g, Saturated Fat 3 g, Cholesterol 32 mg, Sodium 101 mg, Fiber 1 g, Sugar 32 g, servingSize 1 slice, Trans Fat 0.1 g, unSaturated Fat 1.4 g

Ingredients:

• 2 large eggs (lightly beaten)
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1¼ cups milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1¼ cups packed light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• ¼-⅓ cup unsalted butter (melted)

Instruction:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9-x-13-inch baking dish and set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix eggs, oil, milk and vanilla together.
3. In a medium bowl, blend flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
4. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well. Pour half the batter into the prepared baking dish.
5. In a medium bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon and mix well.
6. Sprinkle half of the cinnamon sugar on top of the batter. Top with remaining batter, by carefully pouring the batter over the cinnamon sugar layer. Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon sugar mixture over the top.
7. Drizzle the melted butter over the top, using more or less as desired.
8. Bake for 35–40 minutes and serve warm.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake (with Crumb Topping)

Every baker should have a classic, old-fashioned and buttery coffee cake recipe in their back pocket and this one is my gold standard, baseline recipe. You’re welcome to borrow it! An 8-inch square pan is required, but see the recipe Notes for other sizes.

Prep: 20min

Total: 1h10min

Yield: 9

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup (135g) packed dark or light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup (95g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
• 2 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
• 1 and 1/3 cups (166g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup (120g) full-fat sour cream, at room temperature*
• 2 Tablespoons (30ml) milk (any kind, dairy or nondairy, is fine)
• 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 Tablespoons (30ml) heavy cream or milk

Instruction:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line an 8-inch square pan (9-inch square is too big, see Notes for other pan sizes) with lightly greased parchment paper or directly grease the pan. I usually use this square pan or this square pan.
2. Combine the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl. Cut in the chilled butter with a pastry cutter or two forks (or use a food processor or your hands) until the mixture is in pea-sized crumbs. Some larger crumbs are OK. You’ll have a little over 2 cups of crumb. Refrigerate until step 5.
3. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside. In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the eggs and vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until combined. Beat in the sour cream. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula and beat again as needed to combine. Mixture will be lumpy.
4. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, and beat on low speed until just combined. Finally, beat in the milk. Do not overmix this batter. The batter will be thick. You’ll have about 2 and 1/2 cups of batter.
5. Carefully spread about half of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle 1 cup (about half) of the crumb mixture evenly on top. Carefully spread the remaining batter on top (every last drop of it!). This can be a little tricky since you’re spreading thick batter on top of crumbs, but do your best. I usually use a spoon or small offset spatula. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture evenly on top.
6. Bake for around 32–38 minutes or until the cake is baked through. To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, it is done. Allow cake to cool in the pan set on a wire rack for 15 minutes.
7. Whisk all of the icing ingredients together. Drizzle over warm cake.
8. Lift the cake from the pan using the overhang parchment paper around the sides and slice into squares. Or, if you didn’t use parchment, slice directly in the pan. Serve cake warm or at room temperature.
9. Cover leftovers tightly and store at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up 1 week.

Cinnamon-Streusel Coffee Cake

Looking for everyone’s favorite comfort-food coffee cake? This is it. Soft and moist, nicely cinnamon-y, this is the quintessential breakfast coffee cake. Note: For those of you looking for a cake with less filling, one where the golden cake itself is the main attraction, reduce the amount of brown sugar in the filling to 1/3 cup (71g), keeping the remaining ingredients the same.

Prep: 30min

Total: 1h30min

Yield: 24

Serving Size: 1 slice (98g)

Nutrition Facts: servingSize 1 slice (98g), calories 340 calories, Carbohydrate 56g, Cholesterol 55mg, Fiber 1g, Protein 5g, Sodium 250mg, Sugar 36g, Fat 11g, Saturated Fat 7g, Trans Fat 0g

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (198g) granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (if you use unsalted butter)
• 1 cup (120g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 6 tablespoons (85g) butter melted
• 1 cup (213g) dark brown sugar or light brown sugar packed
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa Dutch-process or natural
• 12 tablespoons (170g) butter at room temperature at least 65°F
• 1 teaspoon salt (1 1/4 teaspoons if you use unsalted butter)
• 1 1/2 cups (298g) granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup (71g) light brown sugar or dark brown sugar packed
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons King Arthur Pure Vanilla Extract
• 3 large eggs at room temperature
• 3/4 cup (170g) sour cream or plain yogurt at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups (283g) milk anything from skim to whole at room temperature
• 3 3/4 cups (450g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Instruction:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9″ x 13″ pan, or two 9″ round cake pans., Make the topping by whisking together the sugar, salt, flour, and cinnamon. Add the melted butter, stirring until well combined. Set the topping aside., Make the filling by mixing together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa powder. Note that the cocoa powder is used strictly for color, not flavor; leave it out if you like. Set it aside., To make the cake, in a large bowl, beat together the butter, salt, sugars, baking powder, and vanilla until well combined and smooth., Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition., In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream or yogurt and milk till well combined. You don’t need to whisk out all the lumps., Add the flour to the butter mixture alternately with the milk/sour cream mixture, beating gently to combine., Pour/spread half the batter (a scant 3 cups) into the prepared pan(s), spreading all the way to the edges. If you’re using two 9″ round pans, spread 1 1/3 cups batter in each pan., Sprinkle the filling evenly on the batter., Spread the remaining batter atop the filling. Use a table knife to gently swirl the filling into the batter, as though you were making a marble cake. Don’t combine filling and batter thoroughly; just swirl the filling through the batter., Sprinkle the topping over the batter in the pan., Bake the cake until it’s a dark golden brown around the edges; medium-golden with no light patches showing on top, and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes for the 9″ x 13″ pan, 50 to 55 minutes for the 9″ round pans. When pressed gently in the middle, the cake should spring back., Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool for 20 minutes before cutting and serving. Serve cake right from the pan.

Coffee Cake

FAQ

What makes a cake a coffee cake?

How do you put coffee in a cake?

How do you increase the flavor of coffee in a cake?

1. 1) Replace Some of the Liquid with Actual Coffee. …
2. 2) Add Coffee to Your Cream and Icing. …
3. 3) Consider a Final Coffee Glaze or Drizzle. …
4. Remember: Quality Counts.

Does Little Debbie make coffee cakes?