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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
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 Video
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.
I have just bitten into the most delicious, moist, flavorful coffee cake to have ever passed over my taste buds! I can’t wait to bake another to share at church! (And I say that as a proper casserole sharing Lutheran🤣!) The crumb of this cake is amazingly perfect and the mix of flavors leaves you enjoying bite after bite! Thank you, Ms. Kern, you’ve developed and shared a great recipe!👍
Giving you 5 stars 🌟
I just made the coffee cake and it is delicious! The only thing I had some difficulty was preparing the streusel topping. I think if I’d used cold butter cut in little pieces and mixed with a fork in the flour and sugar until grainy, I would have a better result and would have been easier to spread that on the top of the cake.
Absolutely delicious and so easy to make! it was better than expected. it was a fan favorite for my family and friends. looking forward to baking it again!
Quick, easy and tasty. Family loved it!
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