The VERY Best Coffee Cake Recipe ever is moist and buttery, with a cinnamon sugar layer in the middle topped with crumb topping and a sweet glaze icing. Perfect for breakfast or brunch with a hot cup of coffee!
Make sure to try my Sour Cream Pecan Coffee Cake too!
Is there anything better than cake for breakfast? Of course it’s not an indulgence I afford myself on the regular, but the day after my birthday is the best because I know there is leftover cake waiting for me to have with my cup of coffee…which leads me to today’s long overdue post…
The VERY Best Coffee Cake Recipe Ever EVER!
I’m not sure of the genius who coined the term coffee cake, but I would like to extend a firm handshake. Well done, sir or ma’am. Well. done.
I feel like I have crammed all the things that you would ever want in a coffee cake into my recipe. What you have is a dense, but moist, buttery cake with a layer of sweet cinnamon filling baked in the middle. The whole cake is topped with a buttery, cinnamon crumb topping and then drizzled with a sweet icing glaze. No cake mix is involved in this recipe, it is a from-scratch-baked-with-love kinda vibe, and you are going to LOVE it.
Looking for more Coffee-Cake Recipes? Try These:
What Makes This Coffee Cake The BEST?
Well, I am sure this could be up for debate. I know after almost 11 years here on the internet that it’s impossible to make all y’all happy. I’ve tried. But I will say, that I have eaten my fair share of cake since the inception of this website (and for years before that), so I think I can call myself an expert in cake eating.
And this coffee cake is the best I’ve ever had. Hands down.
The cake itself is a dense, yet still fluffy texture with a buttery, vanilla flavor. The whole cake has a thick layer of cinnamon sugar filling baked in the middle, which, with the addition of flour, stays thick and doesn’t melt into the cake, which is amazing.
And of course I ALWAYS prefer a crumb topping on my coffee cake, and this one has the perfect amount, without being too much!
How Do You Make Coffee Cake?
There are a few defining characteristics of a coffee cake:
- No Frosting – OR a light drizzle of an icing glaze. A lot of the time coffee cake is just dusted with powdered sugar, which you could absolutely do on this recipe!
- Cinnamon. Coffee Cakes are generally spiced with cinnamon. I don’t make the rules.
- Crumb Topping – This is not a must, but it’s very common. A lot of coffee cakes include nuts in the crumb topping as well, which you could do here if you like that! I’ll hit on that in a minute.
- Vanilla Cake – It’s very typical for a coffee cake base to be a vanilla cake as opposed to chocolate.
- A Single Layer Cake – Whether it be a 9×13, or a round cake, coffee cake is generally a single layer cake!
Are the Steps Easy?
Yes! You most likely have all the ingredients to make this cake in your kitchen now! There are a few steps, but they all come together with minimal effort.
- The cake is a butter/sour cream cake. The addition of sour cream makes it extra moist and the batter comes together very quickly and easily.
- The filling is simply a mixture of cinnamon, sugar, and flour that you spread over half of the batter. Spread the remaining cake batter carefully overtop!
- The crumb topping is quick to prepare, using melted butter, which makes it very easy to mix!
I LOVE to enjoy this cake while its still warm, but it’s also delicious at room temperature!
PRO TIP: Make sure that once this cake is cut you cover it AIRTIGHT immediately, as it can dry out quickly. I like to use Press and Seal plastic wrap, and press it down directly over the cake, and then covering the entire pan again with foil!
STILL looking for more Coffee Cake Recipes? Here You Go!
- Banana Bread Crumb Cake
- Pumpkin Crumb Cake Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cup Chocolate Coffee Cake
- Pumpkin Crumb Cake
The Best Coffee Cake Recipe Ever
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Prep Time: 20 minutes -
Cook Time: 45 minutes
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Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
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Yield: serves 12 1x
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Category: Cake
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Method: Oven
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Cuisine: Breakfast
Prep Time:
Yield:
Category:
Method:
Cuisine:
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PinDescription:
Grab a cup of coffee and get ready for the best coffee cake ever! Soft vanilla cake with a sweet cinnamon layer inside, topped with buttery crumb topping!
Ingredients:
Cinnamon Filling
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Crumb Topping
- 6 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1 cup all purpose flour
Cake
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/4 cup milk
- 3 2/3 cup all purpose flour
Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2–3 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl prepare the cinnamon filling by whisking together the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon until combined. Set aside.
- To prepare the crumb topping, mix together the melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour in a medium bowl until it resembles coarse crumbs. Use your hands to mix to form larger crumb pieces. Set aside.
- For the cake, mix the butter, granulated sugar, and light brown sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed for 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add in the eggs, vanilla, sour cream, salt, and baking powder and mix for 1 minute until combined and smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Turn the mixer to low and add in the flour and milk in alternating portions, beginning and ending with flour. Mix until just combined and smooth, again, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Spread half of the cake batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the cinnamon filling evenly on top of the batter. Carefully spread the remaining cake batter on top of the cinnamon layer. Evenly sprinkle the crumb topping on top.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the cake is set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove cake from oven and place pan on a wire rack to cool completely.
- Whisk together the powdered sugar and milk until smooth and drizzle on top of the cooled cake. Or alternately sprinkle with powdered sugar instead of making the icing.
Notes:
Store airtight for up to 3 days
Nutrition Information:
Keywords: cookies and cups, coffee cake, crumb cake, cake recipe
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Hi! I’m Shelly and I’m an addict. Of the buttercream sort. I started this site a few years ago as a way to justify my sugary, buttery obsession with desserts. It has worked out well for me so far, because as it turns out you guys all love sugary, buttery desserts too! It feels good to know you're not alone, doesn’t it?
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What do I do if I don’t have sour cream can I replace it with another ingredient ?
I have a whole chart for you with substitutions! https://cookiesandcups.com/baking-ingredient-substitutions/
I don’t get all the nasty reviews.. I’ve made this several times, and it is absolutely delicious.. I always come back to it. Thank you.
★★★★
Recipe is fine, except for time. 1 hour to 1 hour/ten is correct. Baked in aluminum half pan. This cake is supposed to be tall as presented.
Those of you who gave up and tossed it without using your noodles your solve any problems, need to learn how to bake and how to logically use a scientific method when doing so. Recipes are merely a suggestion.
★★★★
45 minutes was not long enough. I tested the cake after 40 minutes and it was not done. I left it in for 5 more minutes and the toothpick came out clean. It was golden brown on the top. However, when I went to cut it the next morning, it was obviously underbaked. The bottom was a thick, sticky mess. Such a disappointment since I was supposed to take it for Easter brunch. My baking powder was fresh, the oven was at the correct temperature so I am not sure what went wrong. The entire 9×13 pan went into the… Read more »
My daughter has recently opened a coffee shop and I had the idea that a good coffee cake would help draw customers !! WELL, was I right !! I have been using your recipe and we can’t keep it in stock !! Our customers absolutely LOVE it !! Thank you for sharing it!
★★★★★
Good luck to your daughter!
Amazing Cake! We love it! Thank you for sharing!! I have made it three times already and it’s been amazing every time.
★★★★★
Love hearing this!! Thank you so much for your review!
I made this and with all the comments on cooking time, I almost over cooked it! Went for 50 min, would’ve been better at 43 or 45 min. It’s good, but INCREDIBLY dense! The top layer rose well, but the bottom not so much. I used a glass pan at 350. Maybe I’m a sweet treat freak, but a lot of comments say it was too sweet… didn’t think so. I didn’t do the glaze, tho. The only “problem” for me is that I didn’t check the pan size and this is A LOT of coffee cake!! If I had… Read more »
Dry coffee cake icing helps
★
Absolutely delicious!! Great recipe!! My family loves the cinnamon and sweetness of this coffee cake! My 15-yr old son helped me make it and he’s dancing as he eats it.
★★★★★
This coffee cake is very sweet and took really long to cook I poked it all over the cake and it came out clean so I took it out of the oven.but when I was cutting it after it cooled the top layer of the cake was still doughy in some spots.It’s not the best coffee cake ever and it’s not the worse either. It’s not bad enough to throw in the trash that is just a rude comment from someone who is not very nice don’t try recipes if you are going to be rude about it. Every time… Read more »
Where is the coffee???
I’m not sure what all the negative reviews are talking about. My guess is they either didn’t follow the recipe as written (any time you make substitutions in a baking recipe you risk a fail) or perhaps their ovens are off (an oven thermometer is useful) I followed this recipe exactly, used an old non stick metal 9×13 baking pan, and it rose just fine and came out perfectly done at 43 minutes.
★★★★★
So definitely does not cook in 45 minutes. Takes over an hour most times. This time I switch from a Lecreuset thick heavy 9×13 casserole dish to a LeCreuset non stick metal pan. I’m hoping it’ll cook quicker this way! Last time I cooked it for an hour in the thicker pan and I didn’t realize it was still much in the center. 20 minutes after having an hour realized it was mush so I covered the sides in tin foil and put it back in for about another 25 minutes. Best cake ever. But…. Last week I forgot the… Read more »
I was really disappointed in this recipe. It’s extremely sweet, and the cake itself gets lost. It does take at least an hour to bake just like several people have mentioned. If I was to ever try it again, I would cut the amount of topping in half as well as the amount of cinnamon filling inside.
★★
I just came across this recipe after having one of Dunkin’ Donuts’ coffeecake muffins.
Your recipe sounds like it would be amazing as a muffin! Do you have any idea how I would change the baking time? Thank you so much in advance!
★★★★★