This Cinnamon Coffee Cake recipe is moist, buttery, and full of cinnamon flavor. It’s perfect as an afternoon snack, a breakfast pastry or an after dinner dessert!
A homemade cinnamon coffee cake recipe doesn’t get much better than this Cinnamon Coffee Cake with Streusel Crumb Topping!
While I am generally happy to share every recipe that I post, there are some that I am REALLY excited to share- and this is one of them. I’m not a huge breakfast eater, but one thing that I can never resist is coffee cake. Take a look at Coffee Works website where you can learn more ideas of how to enjoy even more your daily coffee.
This is also why I rarely ever buy or make it- I can’t stay out of it.
I love the general idea behind a coffee cake recipe. Someone clearly really wanted to eat some sort of spice or fruit laden cake at 7 AM, but could still hear their mother’s voice wheedling at them, “You don’t eat cake for breakfast!”
“Hush Mom, this is COFFEE cake. Its totally different. You eat it in the morning with coffee! It’s breakfast! Its practically health food.”
I’m not going to sit here and lie to anyone and tell you that this moist coffee cake is health food. It is most definitely not. I WILL tell you that this is the best cinnamon coffee cake and came out exactly the way that I had hoped. It has a light, buttery crumb, but yet is still somehow just a little dense.
There is a ribbon of cinnamon filling through the middle and it is piled with a cinnamon streusel on top. It DOES go perfectly with coffee… and ice cream too. Don’t worry- I won’t tell Mom.
What is Coffee Cake, exactly?
Coffee cake is a butter-based cake that, contrary to what the name implies, does NOT contain coffee. Its somewhere between a regular cake and a pound cake in terms of weight and texture. It’s not supposed to be over-the-top sweet, and is meant to be paired with a cup of coffee- hence the name!
What you’ll need for this breakfast coffee cake recipe:
- Hand mixer – Having a hand mixer really comes in handy for making your recipes. Be sure to grab this [easyazon_link identifier=”B001CH0ZLE” locale=”US” tag=”gogogogo03-20″]Hand Mixer[/easyazon_link] to get your recipes made right!
- Mixing bowl – These bowls are perfect for mixing up any recipe and even come in three different sizes. Get your [easyazon_link identifier=”B00LGLHUA0″ locale=”US” tag=”gogogogo03-20″]3-Piece Glass Mixing Bowl Set[/easyazon_link] here.
- Food processor – I recommend using a food processor to make your toppings required in this recipe. This [easyazon_link identifier=”B00755KNCS” locale=”US” tag=”gogogogo03-20″]Food Processor[/easyazon_link] should do the trick and even has dishwasher safe parts!
- Baking pan – This [easyazon_link identifier=”B001PKUXN8″ locale=”US” tag=”gogogogo03-20″]9 by 9 Inch Covered Pan[/easyazon_link] is great for any kind of baking. You’ll get some great use out of it!
If you Like This homemade Cinnamon Coffee Cake recipe, you’ll also like easy dessert recipes:
NOTE: after multiple readers telling me that they find the topping to be too heavy on the flour, I am amending the topping to reduce the flour by 1/4 cup and increasing the butter by one tablespoon.
Update (5/6/2016): Alright. As I keep getting comments that say that the batter is too thick and the cake is too dry and the topping has too much flour and its too sweet (and yet simultaneously not sweet enough!), I decided to remake this and test the recipe for the third time. It came out just like it did the first and second times I made it.
This recipe is based off my Blueberry Buckle with Streusel Topping, which is always a major success and I have never faced any complaints. The only thing that I changed was using softened butter in the topping, rather than cold butter, which I have now amended in the recipe ingredients. I’m sitting here and eating a piece of it and wondering why anyone would want this either more or less sweet.
I don’t think its dry in any way- in fact the cake is quite moist. Its a butter based cake batter, so its not going to be runny like a boxed cake mix would be. As I state in the instructions, using an offset spatula makes spreading the batter over the filling much easier. I also took pictures at each step, so you can see what everything should look like along the way. These are below the instructions.
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Cinnamon Crumb Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 stick butter softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 egg
- 2 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- pinch salt
- 3/4 cup milk
Filling
- 3 tablespoons butter softened
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
Topping
- 5 tablespoon butter softened
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- In the bowl of a mixer, cream together the butter and sugar, scraping down the sides occasionally. Add the vanilla and egg, mix in.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add one half of it to the mixer, and when mostly combined, add the milk. Once the milk is mostly incorporated, add the rest of the flour.
- To make filling: in a small bowl, pinch together the softened butter, flour, sugar and cinnamon until soft crumbs form.
- To make topping: add the butter, flour, brown sugar and cinnamon to a food processor and pulse until coarse crumbs form (You can cut in with forks or a pastry cutter, but I am not patient enough for that!).
- Grease a 9x9 baking pan. Pour in ½ of cake batter, and spread to all four corners. Sprinkle the filling over top, then pour in remaining cake batter, and spread carefully across the top, disturbing the filling layer as little as possible (an offset spatula works well for this).
- Sprinkle the topping over the top and press lightly so it adheres.
- Bake in preheated oven for 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool to warm on wire rack before serving.
Notes
Donna says
This is more of a message for you than a comment about the coffee cake.
I am a Florida born and raised lady. Our baking here is different from most other places. Our tastes are also very different. Southern ladies usually live by the saying, “It’s sweet or fried”. With that said, don’t stress over what others are saying. Stay true to yourself and your talents. This recipe is wonderful and doesn’t need to be changed in any way. Smile and have a beautiful day.
Fani says
Hello I want to ask you how many grams is a steak of butter. The recipe looks delicious I’m definitely going to make it. Thank you😊
Sues says
Coffee cake is probably one of my favorite things in the world and this one is perfect!! That crumb topping is out of control! So is the swirl 🙂
Diana Johnson says
Gorgeous! Can’t resist a good coffee cake. Love the struesel!
Karen @ Seasonal Cravings says
Gimme that coffee cake! I have a serious weakness for that crumb topping – it’s totally addictive. I love all your step by step photos to make it easier for those of us who don’t bake a lot!
Janette | Culinary Ginger says
This must be so good warm from the oven and that streusel topping looks so good.
Valentina says
Oh my gosh, I would not be able to resist this either! The topping is mouth-watering! Yummy.
Ashley Fehr says
This is my kind of coffee cake! That thick layer of streusel is really the best part — it gives the best crunch!
Roxana says
I love coffee cakes and its been a while since I made one. Your pics are absolutely gorgeous. And the cake is perfect. I bake a lot and it looks fantastic.
Michelle says
Can I double this recipe?
Jacqueline says
You can double it- I’m assuming you’d use a 9×13 baking pan? You will need to bake it longer since it will be thicker- definitely plan on covering it for at least part of your baking time so the top doesn’t get too crisp. You might be better off at 1.5x instead of doubling it. My recipe plugin should scale it for you.
Francis Palazzolo says
I made this coffee cake this morning and it is going in my loose leaf binder of recipes as page 1!!!
I have been trying many cinnamon coffee cakes with crumb topping and have not found the right one until now. It’s a home run! It is moist and has just the right of amount of butter flavor.
I followed your recipe to the letter and got perfect results.
Thanks for posting it here.
Miriam says
This was delicious! I just made it for my family last night! So yummy. I did lesson the flour in the topping by 1/4 cup and it was perfect for my tastes. Love it!
Traci says
Has anyone ever added sour cream to the cake batter? Just curious how it would affect the texture.
Sonpreet Dhanoa says
Excellent recipe. Kid’s loved it.
Merrill says
I googled easy to make cinnamon coffee cake and this one came up! Several steps but easy to make nonetheless! It has the perfect amount of sweetness and I have several gluten free friends so I used a certain brand gluten free 1:1 flour and it turned out moist and delicious!
Melanie says
Just made this and it is delicious! Perfect in every way! I will definitely make this again! Thank you!
Jennifer says
I made this to bring to work for breakfast. Of course I had to test taste it strictly for quality control lol!
I read through some of the reviews after I put it in the oven. So for me to begin with spreading it in the pan was difficult although it could have been because I don’t have an off set spatula. So I greased up my hands and patted it in. The top does taste a little floury. (is that even a word?) However in terms of the cake mine was not dry. I ended up eye balling the butter in the topping so none was slightly more then called for. I did bake it for the minimum time and it was spot on. I got 12 pieces out of a 9×9 pan afterall less is more! In the end I really like this recipe! I’ll definitely be keeping this in my rotation. Thanks again for the great recipe!
Andi says
I love this coffee cake! Made it once and it was amazing! I don’t know if this has been asked, but do you think it’s possible to make it the night before, put it in the fridge overnight, then put it in the oven in the morning? Will it be ok “raw” in the fridge for the night?
Lorraine says
Oh I can’t wait to make this !!! I’ve been searching for a basic but yummy recipe and here it is ! I think the only teeny suggestion I’d ever ask but only based on how our butter is packaged here – is to state 1/2 cup butter as opposed to one stuck.. Yes I realize we all should know but is’s just my little suggestion 😀. This recipe looks soooooo scrumptious, I think I’ll go make it now 🌟
Devon Leary says
Can you use buttermilk as the “milk”?
Jacqueline says
I never have, so I’m unsure. Report back!