Cinnamon Coffee Cake

There’s something undeniably comforting about the aroma of freshly baked goods wafting through your kitchen. This certainly helps explain why starting your morning with a wonderfully moist cinnamon coffee cake can instantly elevate your day.

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This may be the one of the best coffee cake recipes I have made. The first most reason being it’s deliciousness; a moist vanilla cake layered with two ribbons of cinnamon swirl and topped with a decadent pecan streusel topping. The second reason being its versatility; you can serve this classic coffee cake alongside your morning coffee, after dinner, or even on special occasions like Christmas morning or Easter brunch. Who doesn’t like an excuse to eat cake in the morning?

Why you will love this cinnamon coffee cake

• Two ribbons of buttery cinnamon streusel pack in that classic coffee cake flavor and add visual appeal
• The addition of sour cream provides a moist and tender crumb
• The pecan streusel topping has a delightfully crumbly, crumb-like texture that contrasts well with the softness of the cake
• Slices can be frozen and reheated whenever you get the craving, filling your home with the aroma of cinnamon sugar goodness
• Serve with a steaming cup of your favorite brew, it’s a match made in heaven

Required Ingredients

Streusel

• all-purpose flour – forms the base of the streusel topping. Could be replaced with cake flour I’m sure, but I tested this recipe with all-purpose.
• granulated sugar – adds sweetness and helps the streusel topping to crisp up after baking
• dark brown sugar – provides moisture and a rich molasses flavor
• cinnamon – the quintessential spice in this coffee cake
• pecans – add crunch and an earthy, robust nutty flavor – if nut allergies are an issue, leave them out
• cold salted butter – as the streusel bakes, the cold butter melts and coats the dry ingredients, forming small clumps and creating the delightful crumbly texture

Cake

• sour cream – helps to make the cake extremely moist and the extra fat adds richness to the cake. The acidity helps to break the gluten strands making a more tender crumb.
• eggs – help bind the ingredients together providing structure for the cake
• vanilla extract – provides the vanilla flavor of the cake. I always like to use a good real extract and shy away from artificial flavorings.
• all-purpose flour – gives the cake good structure.
• granulated sugar – adds sweetness
• baking powder – leavening agent, helps the cake rise
• baking soda – leavening agent, helps the cake rise
• salted butter – adds flavor, moisture, and helps tenderize the cake.

Let’s Get Baking the Coffee Cake

The cinnamon streusel ribbons throughout the cake and the streusel pecan topping is what make this coffee cake the bomb. That’s why we begin this cake by making the cinnamon streusel. First, combine the flour, white sugar, and a portion of the brown sugar. Mix together, then remove a portion to a food processor with the cold butter and the pecans. After pulsing to a coarse meal, this will become the streusel topping.

Next, the other portion of flour, white sugar and brown sugar will have 1/4 cup more brown sugar mixed in and this will become the streusel filling.

I use the reverse creaming method by adding the butter and part of the sour cream to the dry ingredients until a thick dough comes together. Now add the rest of the wet ingredients to achieve a thick batter. This method ensures a silky cake with a tight crumb.

Pour a third of the batter in to a greased and floured 9×13 pan. 1/2 of the streusel filling is sprinkled on, then another 1/3 of batter is poured on, followed by the other 1/2 of streusel filling.

Pour the last 1/3 of the batter on and cover the entire cake with the cinnamon streusel pecan topping.

Bake the cinnamon streusel coffee cake at 350F for 60-65 minutes. Place on a cooling rack and cool completely before slicing and serving with a cup of freshly brewed coffee or a steaming mug of tea

Notes

1. Unsalted butter can be used in place of salted butter, but be sure to add 3/4 teaspoon of salt to the dry ingredients in the cake. You don’t need to add any to the streusel.
2. If you are in a rush you can skip making two layers of cinnamon streusel and just use half the batter as your first layer, then add 1 cup of cinnamon streusel filling followed by the other half of the batter and the normal amount of cinnamon streusel topping. Although this will work, the cake won’t be quite as pretty or as “cinnamony sweet”.
3. Feel free to skip the pecans if you don’t like nuts or add another nut of your choice like almonds.
4. You can also add chocolate chips if you want to add a chocolate flair to this cake.  Just sprinkle ½ cup of semisweet chocolate chips on each of the two bottom layers before adding the cinnamon streusel.
5. Different cake pans will require different baking times.  I used a ceramic pan in this recipe, but if you use a glass or metal pan it will probably require less baking time and you may want to test for doneness around 50 minutes.
6. I have also baked this in a tube pan following the same instructions with great success

FAQs

1. What’s the best way to store coffee cake? This cake will stay fresh on your counter in an airtight container for 3 days. Place the air tight container in the fridge and it will last 5-6 days, and you can even freeze the slices for up to 3 months. Room temperature squares can be reheated in the microwave for 15 seconds to bring back that warm cinnamon goodness.
2. Can I swap out the sour cream?  The sour cream works wonders in this recipe providing moisture and fat which brings in richness. But you can swap it out for plain Greek yogurt if you have it on hand, it will provide the moisture, but the fat content is less and therefore the final product won’t be quite as rich.
3. Can I use light brown sugar instead of dark? Yes, you can, but I do like the color and the depth of flavor of the dark brown sugar.

Handy Kitchen Tools

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• Mixing bowls
• Hand Mixer
• 9×13 ceramic dish
• Measuring cups
• Measuring spoons
• Oven Mitts