This is my all-time favorite coffee cake. It’s super soft, buttery, and loaded with a thick cinnamon-sugar layer right through the middle. Perfect for breakfast or brunch with a hot cup of coffee!
Is there anything better than calling cake breakfast and getting away with it? This recipe is exactly what I want next to my coffee—soft, buttery cake, a cinnamon-sugar swirl in the middle, a crumb topping that means business, and a sweet glaze to finish it all off. If you’ve been looking for a go-to coffee cake that feels bakery-level but still comes together with minimal effort, this is it.
Why You’ll Love This Coffee Cake Recipe
- Tender cake that’s packed with flavor. This cake has that buttery, sturdy texture I love. It’s like a fluffier pound cake. It can hold its own under all that cinnamon-sugar goodness and crumb topping.
- The crumb is everything. Thick, sweet, and next-level delicious. If you’re here for the crumb, you’re in the right place.
- That glaze on top? Not optional. I always finish mine with a quick icing drizzle because… well, why wouldn’t you?
- It’s from-scratch and totally doable. No mixes here, but don’t stress! My teenage sons have made this one on their own, and it turned out great.
Heads up on the bake time: This is a thick cake, so depending on your oven, it might need a few extra minutes. If the top starts browning too fast, just tent it with foil and keep going until the center is set. Trust me, it’s worth it.
How To Make Coffee Cake
- Prep your tools. Preheat the oven to 350°F and coat a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- Make the cinnamon filling. In a medium bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon until combined. Set aside.
- Make the crumb topping. In another medium bowl, mix the melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour until it resembles coarse crumbs. Use your hands to form some larger pieces. Set aside.
- Make the batter. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or use a hand mixer), beat the butter, granulated sugar, and light brown sugar on medium speed for 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add the wet ingredients. Add the eggs, vanilla, sour cream, salt, and baking powder. Mix for 1 minute until smooth, scraping the bowl as needed.
- Finish the batter. Turn the mixer to low and add the flour and milk in alternating portions, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix until just combined, scraping the bowl again if necessary.
- Assemble the cake. Spread half the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the cinnamon filling evenly on top. Gently spread the remaining batter over the filling, then sprinkle the crumb topping evenly across the top.
- Bake. Bake for 40–45 minutes, or until the center is set and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Cool. Remove from the oven and place the pan on a wire rack to cool completely.
- Add the icing. Whisk together the powdered sugar and milk until smooth and drizzle over the cooled cake, or dust with powdered sugar instead.
I LOVE to enjoy this cake while it’s still warm, but it’s also delicious at room temperature!
What Is Coffee Cake? Why Isn’t There Coffee in It?
There are a few defining characteristics of a coffee cake. And nope there is no ACTUAL coffee in this recipe. This cake is meant to be enjoyed WITH coffee.
- 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!
Simple Variation Ideas
- Add chopped nuts to the crumb topping. About ½ cup of chopped pecans or walnuts mixed into the crumb gives it a nice crunch without affecting the bake.
- Swirl in some fruit. A layer of thinly sliced apples or a handful of fresh blueberries over the cinnamon filling works great. Just don’t overdo it—too much moisture can weigh the cake down.
- Switch up the spice. Try adding a little ground nutmeg or cardamom to the cinnamon filling for a subtle twist.
- Use a flavored glaze. Swap the milk in the icing for maple syrup or a splash of orange juice to add something a little extra on top.
- Make it mini. Bake the batter in two 8×8 pans instead of one 9×13 if you want one to keep and one to gift (or freeze). Just start checking for doneness a little earlier.
How to Store
- Room temp: Keep it tightly covered on the counter for up to 3 days. It stays soft and amazing—no need to refrigerate.
- Fridge: If your kitchen runs warm or you just want to stretch it a bit longer, you can refrigerate it for up to 5 days. Just bring it to room temp before serving so it’s not cold and dense.
- Freezer: Yep, it freezes great! Wrap slices individually or the whole (cooled) cake tightly in plastic wrap and foil, then freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw on the counter and warm it up a little if you like it cozy.
More Coffee Cake Recipes
The Best Coffee Cake Recipe
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: serves 12 1x
- Category: Cake
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Breakfast
Description
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
Scale
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
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 660
- Sugar: 55 g
- Sodium: 248.4 mg
- Fat: 24.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 101.1 g
- Protein: 9.6 g
- Cholesterol: 108 mg
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I totally mess up :/ I put the filling on the top, and the crumbs in the middle. Late night mom brain :/ well see how it comes out when it’s done.
Omg, I can’t wait to hear how this comes out 🙂
Update lol: came out dry on the top, but the crumbs in the middle came out yummy lol.. will try again tonight. Must get it right.
I think if your purposely do it like that. Don’t put the filling on top just crumbs in the middle would be fine.
I think the recipe is backwords on here as I just made it and it seems as the spit that says cinnamon filling should be the topping and the crumb topping should be the filling as that is what it looked like.
Hi! Salted or unsalted butter?
I use salted 🙂
This Coffee Cake IS THE BEST EVER! You know how you want something to taste in your mind before you bake, but then it falls short? THIS recipe exceeded what I had in mind. It makes a very dense, moist cake. The filling and topping drives home the cinnamon of every good CC. The topping provides an excellent crunchy texture and the icing a nice sweet finish.
All my ingredients were at room temperature which is needed when baking. I didn’t have milk, but a combo of Half and Half and Heavy Whipping Cream. I think it made the cake even more decadent. I added a bit more HH/HWC because my batter seemed to need extra liquid. Other than than reducing the sugar in the cake to 1 1/2 (1 c granulated and 1/2 brown), all ingredients were exactly the same.
I also used All Purpose White Lily Flour which has a lower protein content than AP King Arthur. I think it makes a more tender cake. Wow, Shelly! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
SO glad you liked it!!! Thanks for the helpful feedback!
Hi Connie! Did you use salted butter?
I was wondering if you could make this recipe using plain or vanilla yogurt instead of sour cream?
I would recommend Greek yogurt!
Wonderful coffee cake!! I was in the mood for coffee cake with my coffee this morning. So I searched …..well not really, the first one I came to was yours and it looked great so I sat out to make it. You should have seen my kitchen ….counters covered with bowls, measuring cups, measuring spoons and ingredients. Drawers and cabinets left open in the process, LOL!! And no, I’m not a new baker ….my kitchen usually looks like this when I make something completely from scratch! Anyway, it came out of the oven looking delicious! I was worried though since after mixing the topping up and the filling I had to open up a new bag of flour for the Cake only to discover it said unbleached flour on the bag! I must have grabbed it instead of the usual all purpose flour at the grocery. I had to use it at this point, worried that it would turn out dry. But when inserting the toothpick in after the given baking time it came out still wet in the middle. After a couple more checks it baked for 75 minutes in all. I baked it in a “9×13” pan and it was a very high cake and dense as you said. I made the drizzle for the top. It was a hit with my husband and it tasted great with my cup of Sumatra!! Thanks for a great recipe!
Do you think this would freeze well?
Yes, I think it would be fine!
This was the best coffee cake I’ve had.
SO glad you liked it!!!
I made this cake for a brunch on Sunday. The cake had a very delicious flavor but the cake itself was on the dry side.?? I followed the recipe exactly but my cake took about 10 additional minutes to bake.
Could this cake be baked as a bundt cake ?
Help. I have a go to crumb cake that i have been using for years, but this looked yummy and needed one for tomorrow, So i decided it give it a try. but I need your help. I bought fresh ingredients and followed the recipe to the T. and when i got to the CAKE portion and under step 2 when I added the eggs, vanilla, sour cream, salt , baking powder & mixed them for “1 minute until combined and smooth ” as the recipe says. However, mine NEVER became smooth, it curdled. do you have any ideas what could of happened ? I never experienced that before while baking . Thank you.
That’s very strange, I have never had that happen. Make sure all the ingredients are mixed in smoothly and I would continue on and add in the flour and milk and mix it together. I imagine it will still come together perfectly!
Hi, the recipe says to cook 40 to 45 minutes at 350. My internal temperature gauge said 350. I baked it in a 9×13 pan and it took 65 minutes. No in high altitude just good old California altitude on a 95 degree day.
Oven temps and bake times can certainly vary. Hope you enjoyed it!!
Came out perfect. Not too sweet and very moist. Everyone loved it. I have bookmarked this recipe as it will be my go-to for coffee cake. So good!
So glad you liked it!!
…. I find using a light sour cream gives that curdle effect
But comes together perfectly with flour and milk as you suggested
Wonderful cake!!! Thanks for the recipe
Toni A, were your ingredients cold (sour cream , milk eggs?)
Did you make sure all of your ingredients were at room temperature?