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This is the best Coffee Cake Recipe I’ve ever had! With a cinnamon filling, delicious streusel crumb topping, it has the softest and most tender crumb and is the perfect breakfast or brunch with coffee – it reminds me of childhood!
This is a version of my mom’s crumb cake recipe – it has a fluffy tender moist cake filled with cinnamon swirl and topped with cinnamon streusel. We can never stop eating this coffee cake every time I make it – I usually make it for holidays but often just on a random day because…who doesn’t love it?
This coffee cake recipe is really easy and has three parts: the a delicious cinnamon filling, a moist vanilla cake, and the favorite crumble topping. It’s soft and moist with a little crunch from that streusel – I’m getting hungry just thinking about it!
Best Coffee Cake Recipe Ingredients
- Sugar: Granulated Sugar is needed in the cake and brown sugar in the streusel
- All-purpose Flour: Be sure to measure it correctly
- Ground Cinnamon: Necessary!!
- Butter: I use unsalted butter and I start with it melted to keep the cake moist
- Baking Powder: For that fluffy cake texture
- Salt: Reduce to 1/2 teaspoon if using salted butter
- Large Eggs: The fat from the yolk keeps the cake moist and the whites add structure
- Vanilla Extract: For flavor
- Milk: You can use nonfat, 2%, whole or nondairy
How to Make Coffee Cake
- Whisk cinnamon filling ingredients in a small bowl. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside. Set aside. Place streusel ingredients in a medium bowl and stir with a fork until it looks like wet sand.
- Mix melted butter and sugar in a large bowl with a hand mixer at medium speed. You can also use a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or stir by hand. Mix in egg and vanilla. Stir in milk, then stir in dry ingredients until just moistened.
- Spread half of cake batter in a prepared 9×13-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with cinnamon filling. Top with remaining cake batter. Sprinkle with streusel topping.
- Bake until a toothpick comes out clean. I don’t add a drizzle to this but you could make a simple powdered sugar icing with milk if you want to!
Expert Tips
- For the best crumb, it’s important to measure the flour accurately. Ideally, you should measure it with a kitchen scale, but I have also included the cup measurements.
- I also recommend using room-temperature eggs because cold eggs are harder to mix into the batter.
- You can also make this with nonfat, 2% or nondairy milk. I recommend whole milk.
- Don’t over bake the cake – it’s done when a toothpick comes out clean.
- If you like nuts you can add 1/2 cup chopped pecans, walnuts, or almonds to the streusel or filling.
FAQs
The best way to make a moist coffee cake is to accurately measure the flour, use butter in the batter, use regular milk instead of nonfat, and not overbake the cake.
The type of coffee cake popular in the US (like what I’m sharing today) is not made with coffee. Instead, the name refers to the fact that a slice of this sweet cake goes perfectly with a cup of coffee.
Streusel Coffee Cake Recipe
Recipe Video
Ingredients
Cinnamon Filling:
- ⅔ cup (134g) packed brown sugar
- ¼ cup (31g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Streusel Topping:
- ¼ cup (57g) unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup (31g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (200g) packed brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Cake:
- 3 cups (372g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 ½ cups (300g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (237ml) milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray a 9×13 pan with nonstick cooking.
- Whisk cinnamon filling ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Place streusel ingredients in a medium bowl and stir with a fork until combined (will look like wet sand). Set aside.
- Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Mix melted butter and sugar in a large bowl with a hand mixer at medium speed. Mixture will be grainy. Mix in egg and vanilla. Stir in milk, then stir in flour mixture until just mixed.
- Spread half of cake batter in prepared pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon filling. Top with remaining cake batter. Sprinkle with streusel topping.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. It cuts best when completely cooled, but you can serve it warm. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Cooled cake can be sliced and placed in an airtight container and frozen for up to 1 month.
Recipe Notes
- You can substitute vegetable oil for the butter in the cake batter but I do not recommend it in the topping.
- You can also mix the cake by hand with a whisk.
- I recommend using room temperature eggs if you remember to take them out of the refrigerator.
- You can also make this with nonfat, 2% or nondairy milk. I recommend whole milk. If you’re using nondairy milk use a higher fat one. More fat in the milk makes a more moist cake.
This is, by far, the BEST coffee cake I have ever made. I have been trying for years to find the perfect coffee cake, and now my search has ended. THIS IS IT!! My family had to be up very early one Saturday morning to drive to a sporting event a couple hours away. Friday night I made this and it ended up being the perfect thing to have for breakfast once the kids were fully awake. Complete hit! We all loved it! So did everyone else we shared it with. This has become my go to coffee cake recipe!
Just made this recipe this morning and it was SO delicious! Very easy to make and filled with a lot of great flavor. Will definitely be making this again soon!
This was so much easier than I ever could have imagined. And really tasty too. Much more moist than any other coffee cake I’ve ever had. Can’t wait to make it for holiday brunches!!!
I absolutely love this recipe! It only uses basic ingredients that I always have around the house (which is a HUGE plus for me). It was super easy to make. I enjoyed the middle layer of cinnamon, and the top layer was divine. My husband loved it and asked when we could have it again. I plan to share the recipe with my mom.
So glad you loved it!
How can you call this a coffee cake when there is no coffee in it????
Just joking 😉 This looks amazing, I plan on trying it out this week! Thank you for another amazing recipe!
LOL!
I made it yesterday – it was very easy compared to the sophisticated appearance! We had 12 guests for supper and I served this for dessert together with some fruit, and it got raving reviews. Definitely to make again!
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