A tender, delicate sour cream cake with not one, but two layers of cinnamon crumbs – both inside and on top of the cake.
I remember the first time I tasted a piece of coffee cake – or at least, what I thought a coffee cake meant at that time. I was a little girl, sitting in a small lovely coffee shop in Napa Valley, and I kept staring at the large pieces of cakes that had a delightful cinnamon smell. I asked the waitress what kind of cake it was and she said it was a coffee cake. I told her that I don’t like coffee, so she smiled, but I didn’t understand why. I ordered it anyway because the cinnamon smell was killing me. My first thought after I took a bite was that it doesn’t taste at all like coffee! Now, before you think I’m a total weirdo, let me defend myself and say that I have tasted many coffee cakes before that, I just didn’t know they were called that. Back then I knew nothing about desserts, except that I wanted to eat them all the time (not that anything has changed since then…). It took me a while, but eventually I figured it out – the name suggests that the cake is supposed to be eaten alongside coffee. But, that still didn’t make sense. Don’t all cakes go well with coffee?
This recipe is amazing, and the best part of it is the layers of cinnamon streusel. I love it so much that I thought to myself, why add just one layer of streusel, when I can add two? If you’re anything like me, you’ll like this idea. So, instead of sprinkling the streusel just on top of the cake, I have added another layer inside the cake. One layer just didn’t seem to be enough for me. The cake is tender and moist with just the right amount of crumbs. I used sour cream as the liquid, which makes this cake super delicate. The cake isn’t overly sweet like some coffee cakes I’ve tried before. You can taste both the cake and the crumbs in this cake – the crumbs don’t overpower the cake taste since the cake is delicious on its own!
Making the streusel is super-duper easy. No pastry cutter or food processor is needed. All you need to do is mix melted butter with the dry ingredients. The mixture becomes moist and crumbly as a result. The cake is done by using the creaming method. That means creaming the butter and sugar first, then beating in the eggs and vanilla. Only then do you add the dry ingredients and sour cream alternatively. Then, scrape half of the batter to the pan, then half of the crumbs and repeat.
If during baking the crumbs start to brown too much (although it didn’t happen to me), cover the cake loosely with aluminum foil. My cake was ready in 35 minutes, but start checking it after 30 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of the cake should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs. The cake isn’t ready if the batter on the toothpick is still wet.
So… how do you like your coffee? I like mine with a cake!
Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake
Ingredients
For the streusel:
- ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons (125 grams or 4.5 ounces) all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup (65 grams or 2.3 ounces) granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup (65 grams or 2.3 ounces) brown sugar (light or dark)
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons (85 grams or 3 ounces) butter, melted
For the cake:
- 1 ½ cups (210 grams or 7.4 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (1 stick or 115 grams) butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200 grams or 7 ounces) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs , at room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup sour cream
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350F/180C degrees. Grease a 9-inch pan (round or square). Set aside.
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To make the streusel: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Add the melted butter and mix with a fork until the mixture is uniformly moistened and crumbs form. Set aside.
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To make the cake: In a medium bowl sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
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In a mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed for one minute until creamy. Add sugar and beat on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary. Beat in vanilla extract. On low speed, beat in the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating it with the sour cream in 2 additions (starting and ending with the flour). Do not overmix.
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Scrape half of the batter into the prepared pan and smooth it into an even layer. Sprinkle the streusel mixture evenly over the batter. Scrape the remaining batter on top and smooth it into an even layer. Sprinkle the remaining streusel mixture evenly on top of the cake. Gently press down with your hands so the crumbs will stick to the batter.
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Bake the cake for 30-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Place the cake in the pan on a wire rack to cool completely.
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Store cake at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days or refrigerate for up to 5 days.
Gayle @ Pumpkin 'N Spice says
This looks delicious! Cinnamon streusel coffee cake is my absolute favorite! Very pretty pictures, too!
Shiran says
Thank you Gayle! 🙂
dina says
i love coffee cakes. yum!
Shiran says
Me too! (obviously..) 🙂
Anna says
This is absolutely yummy, it tastes just like cinnamon swirls! Thank you for sharing ❤
Jess @ whatjessicabakednext says
I love cinnamon coffee cake- this looks amazing Shiran! Loving all the photos and your plate is so cute! Lovely recipe, hope you’re having a great weekend! 🙂
Shiran says
Thank you Jess! I’m in love with this plate 🙂
Anne says
You are killing me here! All I want to do is grab it from the screen and eat it. It looks soooo delicious!
Shiran says
Thank you Anne! 🙂 Trust me, I know how it feels!
Annie @Maebells says
I adore coffee cake! I prefer it over cookies, pie, or any other cake. Your photos look beautiful! I am going to try a gluten free version.
Shiran says
That’s great! I’m always looking for new gluten free recipes! And Thanks 🙂
Linda says
Hi, how did your gluten free version come out? I’m thinking of converting it to gluten free also. thanks.
Winnie says
עוגת קפה עם קינמון היא אחת העוגות שאני הכיייייייייייי אוהבת
אני משוגעת על קינמון ואם יש בעוגה שתי שכבות של מילוי, אני מסוגלת לאכול אותה עם כפית ישר מהתבנית 🙂
Shiran says
Me too! I love it sooo muchhhhh!
Heather P @The Owl with the Goblet says
You are seriously the dessert queen. Just looking at your page make my sweet tooth go crazy! I am a huge fan of coffee cake and will be pinning this to make sometime soon… yum!
Shiran says
Thank you so much Heather! 🙂 You are so sweet!
Max says
Oooh~ The cake looks so wonderfully moist! Out of curiousity, what kind of sour cream did you use? (low fat, non fat, full fat)
Shiran says
Hi Max! The cake is indeed very moist and wonderful 🙂 I used full fat sour cream, although sometimes I use reduced fat. I don’t recommend using non fat sour cream.
Marilyn says
Hi, I am going to try your streusel coffee cake. I would be interested in having a gluten free recipe if someone has one and it works out well!
Thanks
Marilyn
Alyssa says
Hi Shiran,
This recipe looks delicious! I want to make it for a potluck using a 9×13 pan would I double the recipe or do you have an adjusted recipe to fit that size?
Shiran says
Hi Alyssa 🙂 You can either multiply the recipe by 1.5 or double it for a taller cake. You may also need to adjust the baking time and bake the cake for several minutes longer.
sharon root says
if you dont have sour cream what can you use?
Shiran says
Hi Sharon, the best result will be with sour cream, but you can use buttermilk or plain yogurt instead.
NRS says
This was delicious! Thanks so much for the recipe!
Barbara says
I’ve been craving coffee cake, and this did not disappoint! Moist, delicious, easy to make. Thank you!
Alicia says
Followed the directions exactly and it turned out perfect! Just FYI I only had an 8×8 pan, so it took a little longer to bake.. SO MOIST AND YUMMERS!
Kevin Pflaum says
This cake is so amazing!! The recipe is easy to follow. The cake is so melty and delicious. The topping is just perfect. But instead of melting the butter for the topping, I cubed it and it came out great. I’ve been baking for 20 years and this is the best coffee cake I’ve ever eaten. Thank you so much for posting this recipe.
Emma says
FYI for Gluten Free peeps: I tried this, but substituted with Pamela’s Gluten Free All-purpose flour. I baked it for 50 minutes on 350 (in a square 9 inch pan) and ended up calling it when it was still ooey gooey in the middle. The outer edges were cooked and it was it was very yumm. Honestly a little too moist. Next time I might try 1/2 cup sour cream and 1/4 cup milk or something. I’ve used this flour to sub for regular flour in lots of cookie recipes and it turned out great, but of course cookies and cakes are different.
Genni says
Mine also is gooey in the middle and it’s been baking for near an hour as well. The edges are getting really cooked though so I may just have to take it out. Otherwise it’s a great recipe!
Ginger says
Has anyone tried this recipe using country crock as opposed to butter? I know the streusel topping should be fine but I’m wondering about the cake part. I’m out of stick butter so looking for another option! This looks so delicious!
Leena says
Hi ,
Can we use greek yogurt instead of sour cream? Also what does one cup equals to in metric measurements ?
Mary Ann Stiles says
This cake is amazing! I didn’t have any vanilla or sour cream but I substituted a heaping cup of vanilla Greek yogurt (whole milk real sugar type). The result was moist, tender and flavorful. The cake had the perfect amount of sweetness! My super picky grandson loves it,
Casie says
This cake is so delicious. I’ve made it 3 times and it came out perfect each time. I used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.
Dee says
It tastes amazing but my streusel melted into the cake while cooking 🙁
Kristy says
Can’t wait to make this, its my absolute favorite!!
….Would love nutrition facts posted though…my son has type 1 diabetes and we have to know the carb amount to give insulin for him to eat it too.
Lisa says
Has anyone tried using buttermilk instead of sour cream and if so how did it turn out?
Shiran says
I personally prefer it with sour cream, but you can use buttermilk instead.
Mariam says
I made this today and it turned out delicious. I didn’t have sour cream on hand so I used yogurt. I topped it with a brown butter caramel sauce. Thank you!
kathy morgan says
Love this recipe!! So good!
Riza A. says
Done this today, turn it into mini square cup cake, and cooked it a little shorter.Thank you Maam for sharing your coffe cake recipe. God bless.
Aditi says
Why can’t i see coffee in the ingredients? *Very confused*
Aditi Sheel says
Just figured that coffee cake is any cake that goes with coffee. *facepalm*
denise jackson says
Made this Christmas morning when I couldn’t find Sara Lee. WAY BETTER! Thank you for this amazing recipe.
Tamara says
Thanks so much for the recipe!! It tasted great and moist 20-30 mins after cooling. But when I came back 2 hours later after that, it had become dry and less flavourful. Is it best to wrap it up with Saran Wrap sooner?
Shiran says
Hi Tamara, if the cake became dry after only a few hours, try a bit less baking time next time.
Lily says
Delicious!! It was just what I was looking for! Perfect texture and taste. Thanks a lot for the recipe!
Camille says
Absolutely wonderful! It did not last more than 2 days in our household so there was no need to worry about storage.
Annabelle says
Hello Shiran;
I just discovered your website; very nice. I did make this coffeecake and it turned out great; moist and not too sweet. Would you know the caloric information of this cake? Thank you in advance for your assistance.
Annabelle
Talia @ Pretty. Simple. Sweet. says
Hi Annabelle, so glad to hear you liked the recipe! I do not calculate the nutrition facts for my recipes but there are lots of nutrition calculators on Google that you can use:)
Annabelle says
Hello Talia:
Thanks for the quick response. A family member asked the question about calories, so I thought I would ask. I’ll just tell her to just eat a little at a time and increase her exercise activity. I did freeze most of mine, so I will see how it tolerates being frozen.
Thanks again for sharing the gift of baking.
Annabelle
Madi says
Can this batter be made in advance and stored in the fridge for a couple days?
Talia @ Pretty. Simple. Sweet. says
Hi Madi, I have actually never experimented doing that with this particular recipe, but in general, you can make cake batter ahead of time (I recommend 1-2 days), store in the fridge, and then bake it. So my guess is that it will work for this as well 🙂 Would love to hear how it turns out!