I genuinely cannot wait for you to make this homemade coffee cake! It’s so good! The sour cream batter is super simple to make. Then we swirl in the most deliciously flavorful brown sugar streusel made with lots of cinnamon. When testing this recipe, I had a hard time stopping myself from eating all the streusel (it’s so much more flavorful than your traditional streusel). For more recipes like this one, I love this lemon blueberry cake, our popular carrot cake, and this incredible apple almond coffee cake.
Key Ingredients
Butter and Sour Cream: Butter keeps our coffee cake moist and flavorful. For even more moisture and flavor, we add sour cream. Thanks to sour cream’s higher fat content, our coffee cake stays light, airy, and moist. It also adds a subtle tang to the cake, which works beautifully with the brown sugar streusel. While I love sour cream for this coffee cake, you can substitute it with plain yogurt without any changes. Eggs: These add structure to the cake, and the fat from the yolks adds to its tenderness. I use 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk and do not recommend substituting them with egg replacers. Flour, Baking Powder, and Baking Soda: I use all-purpose flour, although I imagine your favorite gluten-free blend will work in this recipe. The baking powder and baking soda help the cake brown and rise. Sugar: I use granulated and brown sugar in this cake and think you should, too. The combination improves the texture and flavor. Then, I use 100% brown sugar for the streusel to taste rich and caramel-like. Vanilla and Almond Extract: The flavor of this coffee cake is much better when you combine vanilla extract with a little almond extract in butter cakes. Your cake will taste like it came from a fancy bakery. You won’t tell if almond extract is there, but the cake will taste amazing. Spices: We use a lot of cinnamon in this recipe and don’t apologize for it (just like when making homemade cinnamon rolls). In addition to the cinnamon, I love a little nutmeg and salt. Molasses: This is my secret for the best cinnamon streusel! Molasses makes it much richer and more flavorful than if you make it without. I only use a tablespoon, so I understand not wanting to buy a new jar just for this recipe (it still tastes great without it), but if you have some on hand, use it! It makes it taste so good! Walnuts (optional): With all the richness from the butter and the streusel, I love adding some texture. Walnuts are great, but other nuts, like sliced almonds or pecans, would be great. Maple Butter Glaze (optional): The cake is perfectly delicious without anything, but if you want to take it to the next level, make our maple glaze with powdered sugar, maple syrup, butter, and milk. It’s amazing!
How to Make Cinnamon Coffee Cake
While the ingredient list seems long, I promise this cake recipe is easy to make! You’ll start with the cake batter. I use a hand mixer to beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then I add the eggs, vanilla, and almond extract. Mix that with your dry ingredients, and you’ve got your batter. Before baking, we want to add our streusel to the cake. So mix all the streusel ingredients (it only takes a spoon), then spread half the coffee cake batter in your baking pan, add a bunch of crumbles of the streusel over the batter, and then spoon on the remaining batter. Add some more streusel, and you will be ready to bake. Finally, as your cake cools, you can make the maple drizzle (optional, but so good). When the cake is thoroughly cooled, drizzle it all over, cut yourself a slice, and enjoy! 2 large eggs, at room temperature 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature 2 ¼ cups (290g) all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt 3/4 cup (150g) brown sugar 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract 3/4 teaspoon almond extract 1 ¼ cups (280g or 10 oz) sour cream 1 tablespoon molasses 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg 1/3 cup (65g) brown sugar 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar 1 1/3 cups (170g) all-purpose flour 2/3 cup (70g) walnuts, chopped, optional 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup 1/2 cup (55g) powdered sugar 1 tablespoon milk Pinch fine sea salt 2Sift or whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. 3In a large bowl, beat 12 tablespoons of room-temperature butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar with an electric mixer on high speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. (Alternatively, add butter and sugars to the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on medium speed until fluffy.) 4Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then add the egg yolk, vanilla, and almond extract. 5With the mixer on low speed, add one-third of the flour mixture to the batter. When it’s mostly combined, add another third and mix until almost no flour remains. Add the sour cream and mix just until smooth, then finish by adding the remaining flour to the batter and beat until just combined. Finish stirring with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely blended. 2Spoon dollops of the remaining batter on top of the streusel and then spread into an even layer. It’s okay if some of the streusel from below gets mixed into the top layer of batter. 3Finish with the remaining streusel on top. It might look like there isn’t enough batter, but don’t worry, the cake rises quite a bit, while some of the streusel will fall into the cake. 4Bake the coffee cake until it starts pulling away from the pan’s sides and is springy. A cake tester or toothpick inserted into the middle should come out mostly clean, 40 to 50 minutes. 5Cool the cake in the baking pan for 10 minutes, then transfer it to a wire rack and cool it completely. 2Drizzle the maple butter frosting over the cake, then set aside for 5 minutes or until it hardens slightly. Cut the cake into 12 large slices or 24 smaller slices, and then serve.
