My cinnamon coffee cake recipe has a velvety soft, melt-in-your mouth crumb, thanks to an unexpected ingredient. It’s an easy coffee cake recipe with a ribbon of cinnamon sugar in the middle and a buttery, no-fuss streusel topping. Just 30 minutes to prep and makes enough to feed a crowd (if you’re willing to share!). Recipe includes a how-to video tutorial!
I’ve been making this cinnamon coffee cake recipe for nearly a decade now and it remains one of my go-to staples. It has a pillowy-soft crumb, a depth of flavor that keeps you going back for more (without being too sweet) a crumbly, buttery blanket of streusel, and a crowning drizzle of vanilla glaze.
4 Things to Know About This Recipe:
- Uses an unexpected ingredient. I swap some of the butter with a brick of full-fat cream cheese. Thanks to the makeup of cream cheese (fat, protein, and slight acidity) the batter does a better job holding on to moisture and bakes up softer and a tad more dense (in a very good way). The end result is a plush, velvety crumb that stays soft.
- Buttermilk without baking soda (on purpose). While you’ll often see the two ingredients paired together for extra lift, for this specific cinnamon coffee cake I wanted the flavor and thickness of buttermilk without the airiness often added by baking soda. By omitting it, we have a slightly more dense, moist crumb that melts in your mouth but doesn’t fall apart (a technique you’ll also find used in my chocolate chip muffins).
- Bakes in a large pan (13×9), so it’s perfect for serving to a crowd (or freezing some for later).
- No pastry cutter needed. The streusel is fuss-free thanks to melted butter. No extra tools required, you only need a fork!
This cinnamon coffee cake deserves a place alongside other indulgent breakfast staples like scones, French toast casserole, or my easy French toast recipe.
Ingredients
Let’s talk about a few of the key ingredients before we jump into the recipe, including one se.
- Cream cheese. I firmly believe this key ingredient 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! Stick with a brick of cream cheese for this recipe, as the tub-style cream cheese contains added water and stabilizers that are best left out of this recipe. And if you perhaps live in a country where this (brick-style) cream cheese isn’t available, I recommend you try my sour cream coffee cake, instead.
- Sugar. While granulated sugar is a common cinnamon coffee cake go-to, using a blend introduces added moisture and flavor (thanks to the molasses in the brown sugar) without making things too sweet. I love using brown sugar in classic recipes where just granulated is typically used (like my chocolate cake recipe!) because of this.
- 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, from my cinnamon rolls to my chocolate chip cookie recipe.
- 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, you can use my buttermilk substitute instead, but this particular cake is best with real, full-fat buttermilk.
SAM’S TIP: This batter will be thicker than what you’re used to, and that’s intentional. 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.
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 Cinnamon Coffee Cake
Make the Batter & Cinnamon Ripple
- 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 sprinkle the cinnamon sugar layer over the batter.
- 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!).
Make the Streusel & Bake
- 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 cinnamon coffee cake 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, cinnamon coffee cake as I know it should always have a buttery-soft crumb and lots of streusel, and no coffee in the batter, just like today’s recipe.
While I have not personally baked in a bundt pan, readers have reported this cake takes about 55 minutes to bake in a bundt pan. I do also have a classic bundt cake recipe.
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. I also find that’s it’s often a bit more dense (though still soft!). Both are equally delicious and go great with a cup of coffee though!
More Coffee Cake Varieties to Try:
Serve yourself a slice (with or without a cup of coffee on the side!) and let me know what you think!
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! Subscribe to my newsletter to be notified of all the newest recipes, and find my free recipe tutorials on YouTube 💜
Cinnamon Coffee Cake
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter softened
- 8 oz (225 g) cream cheese softened
- 1 cup (200 g) light brown sugar, firmly packed
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups (315 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon table 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,, 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 (315 g) all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, ¾ teaspoon table 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.
I originally published my cinnamon coffee cake recipe on April 10th, 2017. The post has been updated to include more details and information and a video. Recipe remains the same, it was perfect as-is!
Monika
are there are no mistakes in the recipe? there is over 500grams of sugar. that’s an insane amount for me..
Sam Merritt
Hi Monika! It does fill a 13 x 9 pan so it makes a lot of cake. I certainly wouldn’t advise eating it all at once. 🙂
Cr
This recipe is amazing! I have made multiple different coffee cakes recipes and this one is definitely my favorite. I made a double batch and even though I didn’t originally intend to alter the recipe, I ended up altering the second batch simply because I got too lazy to do the cinnamon swirl & strudel topping again, so instead I added blueberries to the dough and put the cinnamon & sugar swirl on top of the dough instead of the strudel. It turned out really good too! The only thing was that it took a lot of dishes.
Sam Merritt
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much! 🙂
Sharon Toji
This coffee cake is requested by a friend of mine several times a year. He takes it to family gatherings, and also to a men’s group he often hosts. He told me once that a couple of the men had asked if I was married, because the cake was so good, they might want to propose! He actually calls it my pecan coffee cake because that is my only addition to the recipe. I add chopped pecans to the streusel covered enough within the streusel so they don’t burn. I usually make a powdered sugar and milk mixture and dribble it over the top in swirls and loops. I have promised him a cake for this upcoming Sunday morning. However, I’ll definitely be making two cakes.
Later that day, since I been a widow now for almost two years, I’m going to visit a new man friend who is currently home bound and I’m bringing a coffee cake to add to our lunch menu. We’ll see if it has a similar effect on him that it does on my friend’s men’s group!
Sam Merritt
I’m so glad it has been such a hit, Sharon! Sounds like it has received some pretty great compliments. 🙂
cindy kasprzyk
This coffee cake was the BOMB!! the texture was fluffy but rich – oh so good!.
Please Sam make a sourdough version of this???? Thank you for all your great recipes!!
Sam Merritt
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much! I actually have been working on a sourdough coffee cake, I just haven’t filmed it yet. 🙂
Coleen
This is by far the best coffee cake recipe and I have made at least 15 coffee cake recipes trying to find the perfect one. The cream cheese I think is the trick and also I like how thick of a coat the crumb streusel leaves. It is amazing every time I make it everybody loves it. Thank you so much for the recipe.
Jennifer L
I made this recipe for the first time for 2025 Easter breakfast at our church. It was a hit. I used a ceramic dish with a bake stone bottom and baked it slightly less than suggested. Wonderful texture/crumb, taste, and the cinnamon streusel topping was to die for.😋
Minerva Mckenzie
Oh my goodness! I’ve tried several other coffee cake recipes before but this one by far wins! I literally just copied into my coveted Recipe Book 🙂 Easy to follow steps and measurements. Cooked in glass dish for 40 min and it was perfect! It IS an expensive cake, though 😉
Thank you for sharing!!!
Jen Vose
How long would I need to bake this in a 9 X 13 glass baking dish?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Jen! It will take a few minutes longer, but we aren’t sure how many. Just keep a close eye on it and use the toothpick test to check it 😊
Jen Vose
Thanks so much, Emily. When I baked it, I actualy found that 40minutes was perfect! I was expecting to need to keep it in longer, so imagine my surprise when it was done after just 40 minutes!! So, for anyone baking in glass 9 X13,for me at least, 40 minutes did the trick. The recipe, by the way, is phenomenal! Everyone at the brunch I atended LOVED it!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Perfect! Thanks for letting us know, Jen 🥰
K
Hi, have you ever tried making this recipe in muffin form (or individualized portions)? If so, any recommendations?
Sam
I actually have a coffee cake muffin recipe. 🙂
Donna
I just made this, I added sliced almonds to the streusel & then added a few more on top. Excellent recipe , I baked it for 38 minutes.
Moist , tender & light. Smells delicious when it comes out of the oven. Would definitely make again.
Brenda
Amazing!
Kell
One of my favorite coffee cakes that I make often! The cream cheese adds a wonderful texture and it has just right amount of crumb topping! LOVE!!
Grace
Amazing!!! So so good. I used half and half instead of buttermilk (I didn’t feel like taking the trip to the store) and they turned out great!
Lyric
I plan on making this in 2 days. Do you think I could use a Bundt pan?
Sam
Hi Lyric! I’m not sure that it will fill the whole bundt pan, but it should work. I’m not sure on a bake time. 🙂
Melissa
BEST recipe ever – have you ever doubled it on a larger pan?
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Melissa! I have not personally tried doubling it, but that sounds like a great idea! 🙂