Nothing brings cozy fall vibes like a piece of coffee cake with extra cinnamon streusel! This rich, buttery, sweet goodness just begs to be eaten while admiring all the wonderful fall colors.
Want all the coffee cake ideas? Try my: Cinnamon Pecan, Good Morning Crumb, and Cinnamon Swirl Monkey Bread cake varieties!
We’ve been doing a lot of long weekend trips this summer out and around Utah. There’s just sooooooo much gorgeousness to explore in my own home state, I can’t believe we’ve never done this before.
But even when we’re staying in a different place, I still try to keep a sense of normalcy to our routines. An easy way to do that is to keep our slow mornings, letting everyone sleep in (as much as little ones will) and waking up to all the breakfast smells like this delightful coffee cake! No one can have a grumpy morning when they’ve got this coffee cake to start their day!
Why This Recipe Works
Here’s a few reasons why this coffee cake just works so well for any occasion!
Make anywhere — Yes, I even make this recipe on vacation! You don’t need to take your whole pantry with you; you can make the streusel and glaze ahead of time, pack the dry ingredients together, pack up the other measured-out ingredients, and simply put it all together in the morning.
Not only seasonal — This isn’t one of those recipes that can only be eating in the fall – it’s great any time of year! (I just happen to think coffee cake recipes as soon as the weather gets crisp.)
Perfect for potlucks — Or brunches, lunches, dessert, snacks…you name it, this coffee cake bakes up easily, and is portable and stable enough to take to whatever event you’re attending.
Customizable — Swap sour cream for Greek yogurt, add pecan pieces or coconut flakes to the topping, toss some apples or leftover berries, get creative with however you’d like to bake this easy coffee cake.
Here’s How you Make it
First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and grease a 9 x 13″ baking pan, then follow the rest of the directions to make this coffee cake recipe in order:
Making the cake
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. (not pictured)
- Cut the chilled butter cubes into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. (photos 5-6)
- Cover and chill the streusel until it’s ready to use. (not pictured)
- Get out a large bowl and add to it the butter and sugar, creaming together until light and fluffy. (photo 1)
- Mix in the eggs, vanilla, and sour cream. (photo 8)
- In another bowl, whisk together the 3 ⅔ cup of flour, salt, and baking powder. (photo 7)
- Add half of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until combined. Then add half of the milk, then the rest of the flour, then the rest of the milk, mixing just enough to incorporate between each add. (photos 2-3)
- Spread the cake batter into the prepared pan. (photo 4)
- Sprinkle the streusel mixture over the cake batter. (not pictured)
- Put the coffee cake into the oven for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (not pictured)
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool a bit. (not pictured)
Making the glaze
- Whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla for the glaze.
2. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled (but still warm) coffee cake and serve.
Ideas for Customizing This Recipe
- One amazing way to customize this coffee cake recipe with streusel is to add apples to it. Simply peel and dice two medium apples (any kind you like), then toss them in 2 tablespoons of flour to coat while you mix the batter as directed. Then add the apples into the batter right before baking. Yum!
- I also like to add nuts to my streusel. Chopped pecans or walnuts make a great, nutty topping. About a ¼ of a cup is plenty. Sprinkle over streusel before baking.
How to Make Coffee Cake Muffins
If you’d prefer to make this easy coffee cake as muffins, that’s a great idea! This recipe is easy to adapt for muffin making. First, mix all ingredients as directed. Then, grease or line a 12-cup muffin tin and preheat the oven to 350.
Add the ingredients as listed, cake then strudel, dividing evenly among muffin cups (you may not use all 12). Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of one muffin comes out clean. Let them cool slightly before glazing and serving.
Expert Tips
- If you choose to make the glaze ahead of time for traveling purposes (near or far), store the glaze in the fridge till you’re ready to use it. Then, microwave it in 10-second intervals (stirring in between) until it’s warmed up enough to pour over the still-warm cake.
- This coffee cake will keep, covered, at room temperature for about 2 days. After that, pop it in the fridge where it will keep for up to 5 days.
More Recipes Like This
- Cinnamon Pecan Coffee Cake
- Cake Mix Sour Cream Coffee Cake
- Carrot Cake Muffins
- Cream Cheese Lemon Crumb Cake
Cinnamon Coffee Cake
Ingredients
For the Streusel
- 1 ½ cups flour
- 1 cup brown sugar - packed
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ¾ cup chilled butter - diced into small cubes
For the Cake
- 1 cup butter - at room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- ⅔ cup brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- ¾ cup sour cream - or plain greek yogurt
- 3 ⅔ cup flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ¼ cup milk
- 2 medium apples - peeled and diced, optional
- 2 tablespoons flour - optional, for apples
For the Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13 inch baking pan and set aside.
Prepare the Streusel
- In a medium bowl whisk together flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
- Cut chilled butter cubes into the flour mixture until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Cover and chill until ready to use.
Prepare the Cake
- If using the apples: toss diced apples with 2 tablespoons flour to coat and set aside.
- In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugars and light and fluffy.
- Mix in the eggs, vanilla and sour cream.
- Whisk together the 3 2/3 cup flour, salt, and baking powder.
- Add half of flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Mix in half of milk, then remaining flour mixture, followed by remaining milk (being careful not to over-mix at any point).
- If using apples: gently stir apples into cake batter.
- Carefully spread the cake batter into the prepared pan.
- Sprinkle streusel mixture over the cake batter.
- Bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool until just warm.
- Whisk together powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla for the glaze. Drizzle over cooled coffee cake and serve.
Notes
- If you choose to make the glaze ahead of time for traveling purposes (near or far), store the glaze in the fridge till you’re ready to use it. Then, microwave it in 10-second intervals (stirring in between) until it’s warmed up enough to pour over the still-warm cake.
- If you want to add nuts to the topping, I would recommend no more than ¼ cup of chopped pecans, almonds, or walnuts mixed into the streusel before baking.
- If you’d prefer to make cinnamon coffee cake muffins, mix all ingredients as directed. Grease or line a 12-cup muffin tin and preheat the oven to 350. Add ingredients as listed, cake then strudel, dividing evenly among muffin cups (you may not use all 12). Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of one muffin comes out clean. Let cool slightly before glazing and serving.
This was a lot of work but well with it! I baked in a glass pan and it took an extra 25 mins to bake.
I had a few questions about the directions. One part says “cut chilled butter cubes into the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.” I’m thinking I should have stirred the cut cubes in? Another part says “cream the butter and sugars and light and fluffy.” I’m guessing it means until light and fluffy? Now I’ve cooked it 10 mins over the time so far and it’s still not done. I’ll try 25 total mins over after reading the previous comments but the outside is cooked and the inside is totally raw and soupy still
This coffee cake turned out delicious! I halved the recipe and it turned out just fine. I’d maybe add more apples the next time I make it, but that’s just a personal preference. It did take longer to baked than the specified time, probably 15-20 minutes at least, but it was worth it! However, after it had cooled it was a bit dry, so I might try using a slightly bigger pan next time and see if that helps (I used an 8×8 for half the recipe) or even make it into muffins. Thanks for a great recipe!!
This recipe is good, but it really needs a revisit badly!
The first thing I’ll say is I had 2 very small apples and so I added them in, well the batter completely filled my entire 9×13 pan, and I couldn’t fit all the strusle. I decided to trust it (big mistake). After 30 minutes it was spilling out, making a Smokey mess in my kitchen. I got it out and had to spoon out quite a bit of the batter, nearly 1/3. It’s now been in the oven for almost an hour and it’s reading 160F (200 is when breads and cakes are perfectly cooked), I just bumped up the temperature because I’m tired of waiting.
Why did I still vote it 3 stars? Because I have a counter top mini oven and I put the 1/3 I scooped out in there and it’s delicious.
This recipe either needs a Bundt pan, to be split in 1/2, or to go into a spring form pan so it can rise and cook for a long time without spilling over!
Could you add the version of this recipe with the apples again? Please and thank you
This recipe has apples as an option so I’m not sure which recipe you mean?