My deliriously soft coffee cake has a surprise ripple of cinnamon in the middle and a super simple streusel topping. This recipe takes just 30 minutes to prep and makes enough to feed a crowd (if you’re willing to share!). Recipe includes a how-to video!
The Only Coffee Cake Recipe Worth Making Again
Bold claim up there 👆🏻 I know. But I stand by it 100%. Ever since developing this moist coffee cake recipe almost five years ago, I have yet to find another that measures up.
Maybe it’s that soft, sweet (but not too-sweet) crumb, or the ribbon of cinnamon tucked away in the center. Maybe it’s that buttery blanket of streusel on the top, or the simple drizzle of vanilla glaze. Whatever it is, I’m hooked, and I know you will be too!
Serve this one up at your next special occasion or brunch (scones or French toast casserole are always a hit, too!), and just sit back and watch your guest’s eyes roll to the back of their heads with their first bite. Or just make it for dessert tonight, because Thursday’s are worth celebrating, too!
Why You’ll Love My Recipe:
- Has the softest texture and so much flavor, thanks to my secret ingredient 🤫
- Bakes in a large pan, so it’s perfect for serving to a crowd.
- The streusel topping is incredibly easy to make with NO pastry cutter!
- Takes just half an hour to prep before going in the oven.
What You Need
I’m not going to go over every ingredient on this list, but there are a few important ones worth a mention:
- Cream cheese. This is my secret weapon. I substitute some of the butter for cream cheese, and I believe this is what makes my recipe better than any other out there. The crumb on this cake is so soft, so moist, so melt-in-your-mouth–and the flavor is divine. And in case you’re worried that it makes the cake actually taste like cream cheese, it doesn’t!
- Sugar. While this probably isn’t an unexpected ingredient, using a blend of granulated and light brown sugar certainly isn’t always the norm. I love using brown sugar in many classic recipes where just granulated is typically used (like my chocolate cake!) because it adds depth of flavor and moisture.
- Cornstarch. We’ll add this to encourage a soft, tender, melt-in-your-mouth crumb. Cornstarch is another secret ingredient that I use in many of my recipes (remember my cinnamon rolls or chocolate chip cookies!?).
- Buttermilk. Regular whole milk would work here, but buttermilk adds flavor and moisture to the end-result (which is what makes my buttermilk pancakes so special). If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, feel free to use my buttermilk substitute instead.
SAM’S TIP: This batter will be thicker than what you’re used to, and that’s exactly as it should be. Because of this, when you layer your cinnamon sugar swirl in the center, the top layer can be a bit tricky to spread. You can try to smooth it over the surface like I suggest in the recipe, or you can just use a knife and swirl it into the cinnamon and sugar.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Coffee Cake
- Cream together the cream cheese and butter, then add the sugars and beat until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
- Alternate adding the dry ingredients and buttermilk to the wet ingredients.
- Pour half the batter into your greased and floured pan, then add the cinnamon sugar layer.
- Add the remaining batter on top and use a knife to smooth (if it gives you a hard time, don’t stress it and just use a knife to swirl the batter and cinnamon together!).
- Melt your butter, then pour it over the remaining streusel ingredients and toss/claw the ingredients together to combine. You want the mixture to be nice and clumpy, don’t overwork it or it’ll be pasty and difficult to sprinkle!
- Sprinkle streusel over the prepared cake and bake for 40-50 minutes.
SAM’S TIP: While overmixing isn’t as much of a concern with this recipe, overbaking is definitely possible. If your cake turns out dense or dry, it was probably baked for a few minutes too long. Keep a close eye on your cake to make sure this doesn’t happen to you!
Frequently Asked Questions
Coffee cake (at least in America, though I know this is the case in other countries as well) doesn’t get its name because it contains coffee; rather, the name refers to a cake that is often served with coffee. While technically any cake you serve with coffee could fit the bill, coffee cake as I know it should always have a buttery-soft crumb and lots of streusel, just like today’s recipe.
Yes! Readers have reported this cake takes about 55 minutes to bake in a bundt pan. I do also have a classic vanilla bundt cake recipe.
This recipe yields a wonderfully moist, tender crumb that stays soft for days. To keep it tasting fresh, I recommend you store it in an airtight container at room temperature and enjoy within 3 days. While I haven’t frozen this cake, I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t do well in the freezer (do not refrigerate it though, or it will dry out!).
Not quite! Crumb cake has a much thicker crumb topping with less cinnamon, and it lacks the cinnamon ripple that I add to the middle of my coffee cake. Both are equally delicious and go great with a cup of coffee though!
Serve yourself a slice (with or without coffee!) and admire just how beautiful a simple breakfast cake can really be ❤
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Coffee Cake
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter softened
- 8 oz (225 g) cream cheese softened
- 1 cup (200 g) light brown sugar tightly packed
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups (335 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (120 ml) buttermilk
Cinnamon Swirl
- ¼ cup (50 g) sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Streusel Topping
- 1 ⅓ cup (175 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup + 2 Tbsp (225 g) brown sugar packed
- 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 4 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 10 Tablespoons (140 g) unsalted butter melted
Glaze (optional)
- ½ cup (65 g) powdered sugar
- 2-3 teaspoons milk
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and lightly grease and flour a 13×9 baking pan.
- In stand mixer, or using an electric mixer in large bowl, cream together butter and cream cheese.½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, 8 oz (225 g) cream cheese
- Beat in sugars until light and fluffy.1 cup (200 g) light brown sugar tightly packed, ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined. Scrape down sides and bottom of mixing bowl with rubber spatula.2 large eggs
- Stir in vanilla extract.1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cornstarch and salt.2 ½ cups (335 g) all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, ½ teaspoon salt
- Gradually add flour mixture to wet ingredients, alternating with buttermilk, until all of the flour mixture and buttermilk have been combined.½ cup (120 ml) buttermilk
- Spread about half of the batter into prepared pan (batter will be thick).
- Quickly whisk together sugar and cinnamon for cinnamon ripple layer in a small bowl and sprinkle it evenly over the batter.¼ cup (50 g) sugar, 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- Dollop remaining batter over the cinnamon sugar layer and use a knife to spread evenly overtop. If it gives you a tough time/doesn't want to spread, just try your best but don't stress! If it's easier, just swirl the cinnamon/sugar in with a knife. Set aside and prepare your streusel topping.
Streusel
- Melt butter in a medium-sized bowl on 10 second increments (stirring between) until just melted (you don’t want it to be too hot, if it does get too hot allow to cool.10 Tablespoons (140 g) unsalted butter
- Use a fork to stir together your flour, sugars, cinnamon, and salt. Pour melted butter over mixture and use a fork to toss/claw together the ingredients until combined (mixture should be crumbly).1 ⅓ cup (175 g) all-purpose flour, 1 cup + 2 Tbsp (225 g) brown sugar, 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar, 4 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon salt
- Sprinkle streusel evenly over batter.
- Bake on 350F for 40-50 minutes (check doneness with a toothpick inserted in center, it should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs).
- Allow to cool before cutting and serving.
Glaze (optional)
- If desired, make glaze by whisking together powdered sugar and milk. Drizzle over cooled coffee cake.2-3 teaspoons milk, ½ cup (65 g) powdered sugar
Notes
Storing
Store leftover coffee cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Related Recipes
Originally published April 10th, 2017. Post updated to include more details and information and a video February 2020. Recipe remains the same, it was perfect as-is!
Roxanne
HI i want to make this cake but don’t have but I only have 6.3 oz of cream cheese. Can i still make it or should i replace the missing cheese with butter? Thanks for your help.
Sam
Hi Roxanne! It’s really tough to say how it will turn out. It could be less flavorful, moist and the texture could be negatively affected.
Gail Wham
Truly The BEST Coffee Cake recipe ever! Only change I made was to add chopped walnuts to streusel topping. Served to a group of ladies and they ALL raved. Sharing your Website with them all!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Yummmm! Thanks for sharing, Gail 🥰
Barbara Marrin
I’m cooking for one now, with the last kid out the door. It’s no fun, bt that’s where I am. Can I halve this recipe and bake it in a smaller pan? It’s way too much tempting cake for one person!
Sam
I’m so sorry to hear that Barbara! It can be cut in half and would probably fit in an 8 inch square pan. I’m not sure on a bake time though. Enjoy! 🙂
Deb
This coffee cake turned out perfect!
Everything a coffee cake should be! My now go to recipe! Thank you
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you enjoyed it, Deb! Thanks for the review ❤️
margaret Richmond
I have just made this coffee cake and it is awesome! So delicious! Thanks for for sharing!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Wonderful! We’re so happy it was a hit for you Margaret ❤️
Marie Rife
It was so delicious and soft texture!!
Malia
This is definitely yummy! I had so much streusel for the top! (I could have put some of it in the middle as someone who commented wanted.) At 35 minutes, I found that the toothpick came out clean and continued to do so for a long time (15 min) before it appeared done. I had mistakenly thought the cook time was 30-40, instead of 40-50 minutes. I could tell by touching the top that it was still liquid and too soft to be done. I dug in a little and it was still wet batter. When it finally seemed firm, it was at least 50 min. But it may have been a tad too long. My family said I’m way too picky about my cooking. That may be true because they devoured this wonderful coffee cake! 😂
Lynda Franzeb
A question…can this be made a day ahead of serving?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Absolutely! Enjoy 😊
Lisa
Baked mine for 40 mins and it came out super dry. Any tips/thoughts as to why?
Sam
I’m so sorry to hear this, Lisa! I wonder if your oven was running a little hotter than it says it is. 🙁
Debbie Valburg
This is wonderful! It’s the best coffee cake ever! It’s so moist! LOVE all your recipes I’ve tried! Thanks for sharing!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thanks so much for the sweet comment, Debbie! We’re so happy you love the coffee cake ❤️
Hilary W
This cake is delightful! I haven’t made a from-scratch cake in years and have been itching to bake something new. The batter consistency made me nervous when I spread it in the pan, but it baked up nicely. The cake is fluffy and moist. It’s everything I love about the Starbucks coffee cake but 10x better. Now I want to try some of the other cake recipes on this site!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so glad you gave our recipe a shot, Hilary! Enjoy your cake and let us know what else you try 🥰
Dianne Burke
Your recipes are always fantastic used many of them.
Syndee
This is such a great recipe! It’s a favorite in my family.
Judi
Fabulous recipe
Just curious if anyone had tried making it with more streusel filling? Like those box mixes you used to buy, that had a thick ribbon of it through the middle. I may try it when I make this again. That’s my only negative, that I’d like more in the middle.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Judi! You could double the streusel layer, but it will be more difficult to spread the top layer of batter over it. Enjoy! 🙂
Kay
I just made this (Saturday morning), and it’s delicious! I did not put any glaze on it. I have an event Wednesday morning and thought I’d bring the coffee cake. What do you suggest so that it will taste the best?
Freeze it?
Store it at room temperature?
Refrigerate it?
Make a new batch?
Thank you!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Kay! Your coffee cake will last for 3 days in an airtight container at room temperature, so we’d recommend making a fresh one if planning to serve Wednesday 😊
Sarah
I love that you don’t skimp on the toppings. Love the recipe. Wonderful as always Sam!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
That’s the best part! ☺️ Enjoy, Sarah!
Mary
Wondering if this can be baked as muffins? If so, any changes to the ingredients and/or bake time/temp?
Sam
Hi Mary! I actually have a coffee cake muffin recipe that I would use rather than this. 🙂
Heather
I have been looking all over for a coffee cake recipe that is light and moist but still full of cinnamon sugar bliss. This is THE best recipe I have found and I will absolutely be making this again!