Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake

Recipe by PJ Hamel
672 Reviews 4.3 out of 5 stars

This Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake is bound to be everyone's favorite breakfast comfort food. Soft and moist, with plenty of buttery crumbs and a generous stripe of rich brown sugar filling, it will be the first item to disappear from your morning table. If you're looking for a coffee cake with less filling, one where the golden cake itself is the main attraction, reduce the amount of brown sugar in the filling to 1/3 cup (71g), keeping the remaining ingredients the same. To each their own; for us, more crumbs please! 

Prep
30 mins
Bake
50 mins to 1 hr
Total
1 hr 30 mins
Yield
one 9" x 13" or two 9" round coffee cakes
Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake
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Instructions

Prevent your screen from going dark as you follow along.

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan, or two 9" round pans.

  2. To make the topping: In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, salt, flour, and cinnamon. Add the melted butter, stirring until well combined. Set the topping aside.

  3. To make the filling: In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa powder. (The cocoa powder is used strictly for color, not flavor; leave it out if you like.) Set it aside.

  4. To make the coffee cake batter: In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter, salt, sugars, baking powder, and vanilla until well combined and smooth.

  5. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

  6. In a separate bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the sour cream or yogurt and milk untill well combined; some lumps are OK. 

  7. Add the flour to the butter mixture alternately with the milk/sour cream mixture, beating gently to combine.

  8. Pour/spread half the batter (a scant 3 cups or about 790g) into the prepared pan(s), spreading all the way to the edges. If you're using two 9" round pans, spread 1 1/3 cups (about 395g) batter in each pan.

  9. Sprinkle the filling evenly over the top of the batter.

  10. Spread the remaining batter atop the filling. Use a table knife or small offset spatula to gently swirl the filling into the batter, as though you were making a marble cake. Don't combine filling and batter thoroughly; just swirl the filling through the batter.

  11. Sprinkle the topping over the batter in the pan.

  12. Bake the coffee cake until it's a dark golden brown around the edges; medium-golden with no light patches showing on top, and a toothpick or thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes for the 9" x 13" pan, 50 to 55 minutes for the 9" round pans. When pressed gently in the middle, the coffee cake should spring back.

  13. Remove the coffee cake from the oven and allow it to cool for 20 minutes before cutting and serving. Serve the coffee cake right from the pan.

  14. Storage information: Store leftover Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake, well wrapped, at room temperature for several days; freeze for longer storage.

Tips from our Bakers

  • Dress up the Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake with a simple glaze, if you like: Whisk together 1/2 cup (57g) confectioners' sugar and 1 tablespoon (14g) milk; drizzle glaze over the cooled coffee cake.

  • Since butter and sour cream are both key ingredients in this coffee cake, we encourage you to use the best quality you can get. We highly recommend Cabot, a superb Vermont brand available nationally.

  • Want to prepare this Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake the night before, then bake in the morning? It's easy; simply cover the unbaked cake with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. Next morning, bake the cake as directed. Start testing for doneness at the end of the suggested baking time; you'll probably have to add 5 minutes or so to the total time, to account for the batter being chilled.

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