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.
I followed the recipe precisely, and the cake turned out stiff. Also, it turned out enormous, and I had to bake it for over an hour! I feel like wasting ingredients, and now I am left with an enormous cake, and it is even embarrassing to share with others… You should update the recipe…
Huge cake!! I made it in Bundt pan. I wouldn’t do that again. Not sure why it was said that it would make less than 12 muffins?? It took much longer than 20 minutes for it to come together. It was not a simple recipe. Haven’t tried it yet but it’s been an hour and fifteen minutes in Bundt pan and not done yet-almost overflowing.
As others have mentioned, it does require a much longer cooking time. It also takes ages to make. However it is delicious and my girlfriend loves it. I would reccomend this recipe with some adjustments
This turned out very bland. Wasn’t happy with it sorry.
Sorry to hear that, Lisa!
The time or the oven temperature needs to be updated bc I followed the recipe to the T and it’s been in the oven for over and hour and still not done.the time needs to more than doubled if cooking at 350 degrees. I’m hoping since I up’d the oven temp it will finally bake.
I
This cake was delicious! I couldn’t stop eating it!! It took well over the cooking time listed to cook all the way through in the middle. I threw some foil over it the last 10 minutes to keep it from browning too much on the top and that did the trick.