Fluffy, soft and perfectly cinnamony—this cinnamon coffee cake is to die for. If you like the one from Starbucks, you'll definitely love this. It's packed with flavour and it's super easy to make as well!
I've had many requests for this recipe ever since I posted my Starbucks Lemon Loaf Recipe, and I am for the people so I have delivered. I hope you guys love this cake as much as you did the lemon loaf.If you like this coffee cake recipe, you'll also LOVE this Chai spiced coffee cake.
For more copycat recipes, try out this Starbucks blueberry muffin recipe, Lemon loaf cake and this Olympic chocolate muffin recipe!
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What is Cinnamon Coffee Cake?
Cinnamon coffee cake is a super soft and tender cake. However, the cinnamon streusel layer is the star of the show. Layered in the cake, it's a burst of cinnamon, butter and sugar that flavours and adds a level of oomph to the cake. On top, it's crispy—providing a different texture to the soft cake. It's really popular at Starbucks and used to be one of my favourites to get from there. Of course, before I started making it myself.
Does it have coffee in it??
Nope! Contrary to popular belief, the cake contains no coffee. It's simply meant to be served with a cup of coffee. Or tea. Whichever you prefer. I personally love it with a glass of cold milk!
If you like the Starbucks version but don't want your money to go to an unethical company, this is the perfect coffee cake recipe for you. If you haven't had their version, great! Try this one instead and be proud of yourself for baking this at home.
Ingredients for this Cinnamon Coffee Cake
- All-purpose flour
- Sugar
- Baking powder + Baking soda
- Salt
- Butter
- Neutral oil
- Full fat sour cream
- Eggs
- Milk
- Ground Cinnamon
- Vanilla
See recipe card below for quantities!
Instructions
To make the streusel:
- In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar, salt and brown sugar.
- Add in the cold butter. Use your fingers to combine everything, breaking the butter and mixing it in until it forms a crumbly texture. Set aside.
Make the cake:
- Preheat your oven to 325℉ and line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the butter and oil, mixing until the texture resembles damp sand.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together sour cream, eggs, milk, and vanilla. Add this to the dry ingredients and mix until smooth.
- Evenly spread half the batter into the prepared pan, sprinkle with ⅔ of the streusel mixture.
- Carefully layer the remaining batter on top. Even it out, add the rest of the streusel, and bake for 65-75 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool, slice, and enjoy!
Hint: The batter will be hard to spread since it's pretty thick. Especially so for the second layer on the streusel. I like to add it in dallops or scoops and smooth it out with a wet spatula.
Useful tips to make this cake
- Secure the parchment paper: Either with binder clips or by buttering the pan a bit before so the parchment sticks to the pan. When you spread the batter, it will slip around so you want to minimize this as much as possible.
- Cold butter for streusel: Use cold butter when mixing the streusel to get that crumbly, crunchy texture.
- Tent with foil: If the top is browning too quickly before the cake is fully baked, lightly cover the pan with aluminum foil to prevent over-browning.
- Spreading the Batter: When putting the batter in the pan after sprinkling the streusel, add the batter in dollops covering the streusel mixture. This makes it easier to spread it evenly without it lifting; which it tends to do as it sticks to the streusel (see image below for example)
FAQ
Yes, but the baking time will vary. A 9x9 pan will make a thinner cake and may bake faster. Always check for doneness with a toothpick
- 9x13 pan: I would double the recipe as it's double the size of an 8x8 pan
- Loaf pan: It's much deeper so I would divide the recipe in half OR divide the batter between two loaf pans. If you make it all in one pan, lower the temperature and increase the baking time. It might be dense and I'm worried it won't bake through fully.
You can use plain yogurt or buttermilk instead of sour cream, which will give a similar moisture and tang to the cake. However, the texture may be a bit drier due to the less fat content compared to the sour cream.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Cinnamon Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1¾ cup - all-purpose flour (241g)
- 1¼ cup - granulated sugar (250g)
- 1¼ teaspoon - baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon - baking soda
- ½ teaspoon - salt
- ¼ cup - butter, softened (56g)
- 1 cup - sour cream (244g)
- 2 - large eggs
- 2 tablespoon - whole milk (32g)
- ⅓ cup - oil (78mL)
- 1 teaspoon - vanilla extract
Streusel
- 6 tablespoon - brown sugar 75g
- ¾ cup - all-purpose flour 103g
- 6 tablespoon - cold butter cubed (84g)
- ¼ teaspoon - salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon - ground cinnamon
Instructions
Make the Streusel
- In a medium sized bowl, combine all the streusel ingredients except for the butter. Then add in the butter and use your fingers to mix it in by breaking it. It should be a crumbly texture. Set aside.6 tablespoon - brown sugar, ¾ cup - all-purpose flour, 6 tablespoon - cold butter, ¼ teaspoon - salt, 1 ½ teaspoon - ground cinnamon
Make the cake
- Preheat the oven to 325℉. Line a 8x8 baking pan with parchment and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.1¾ cup - all-purpose flour, 1¼ cup - granulated sugar, 1¼ teaspoon - baking powder, ¼ teaspoon - baking soda, ½ teaspoon - salt
- Add in the butter and oil to the flour mixture. Beat together until it resembles wet sand.¼ cup - butter, softened, ⅓ cup - oil
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, eggs, vanilla and milk until well combined.1 cup - sour cream, 2 - large eggs, 1 teaspoon - vanilla extract, 2 tablespoon - whole milk
- Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and beat together until it's smooth. If there appear to be lumps, smooth them out with a spatula.
- Pour in half the batter into the prepared baking pan. Evenly sprinkle a little more than half of the streusel mixture onto the batter.
- Now spoon the leftover batter all over the streusel mixture. Slowly and carefully, using an offset spatula, spread the batter to even it out. This might be a bit difficult because it sticks to the streusel mixture and wants to lift off. Try your best to even it out.
- Sprinkle the rest of the streusel on the evened out batter and bake for about 65-75 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out fairly clean. Just a few crumbs on it.
- Take out and let cool completely.
- Slice into 9 equal pieces and enjoy!
Namrata Patel says
Butter iz softened or melted?
Nabeah Wahab says
The butter is softened!
James Saudargas says
I love the recipe! The taste and texture are just awesome. The first time I made it, I didn't put enough batter in for the bottom layer. As a result, the top batter layer raised to much and over flowed the strudel on top. It had no effect on the taste, but it wasn't exactly the look alike cake. No one was disappointed though. It actually made less of a mess.
Lauren says
Great easy recipe (I will say I didn’t exactly follow the instructions wet and dry order..) it’s a great easy recipe and delicious. This is a great lazy bake when you want something sweet but you don’t feel like putting a huge amount of effort
Amanda says
Youcsay 8x8 pan but what depth? I've just made this and judging by your pan mine is not high enough.
Nabeah Wahab says
It's about 2.25" depth!
Yashna Alam says
Can you make it without cinnamon
Sarah Hammoud says
Can we replace the sour cream with something else? Yoghurt for ex? Btw love ur page and work ♥️
Nabeah Wahab says
Hi! You can use the same amount of yogurt. The sour cream makes it more richer because of the fat in it but it can be subbed with yogurt!
And thank you so much! It means so much to me
Jolanta Jakubiec says
Thank you for the recipie.I will make it soon.Not only for me but for my friend too.
Zartasha says
I made the cake and it turned out amazing. Perfect sweetness and so soft!
Would try substituting with yogurt next time though (that's always on hand )
Monroe Harris says
It was easy to make and taste amazing. I will definitely make it again.
Monroe Harris says
It was easy to make and taste amazing. I will definitely make it again. It was so fluffy and the topping on it was so delicious. I would definitely recommend. 5 stars
Huzaifah Sheikh says
Yesterday I tried cinamon coffee cake recipe and it turns out absolutely divine,it was sooooo much fluffy. TBH you are going to make Starbucks out of the business. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Can I put this cake in room temperature?
Huzaifah Sheikh says
On*
Kiera L Flores says
This is exactly like starbucks coffee cake. Its so fluffy, soft and delicious! I did sub the vanilla for almond extract and it turned out wonderful! Thanks for such a great recipe!
Farzanah says
Shukran for sharing this.
Will a loaf pan work for this too?
Nabeah Wahab says
You'll need to divide the recipe in half or use two loaf pans or it will oveeflow!
Claire says
How do I store these properly?
Jackie says
Hi can I make this in a 9x13? Would I double or triple? Bake time? Thank you
Samar says
I used the batter to make cupcakes and used the streusel as a topping and they came out soooo good!!
Lynn says
I made this for my family and we all ate it in one day!! The cake was so fluffy and good! Thanks so much for the recipe 🙂
Ida Zakaria says
Hi, could i substitute sourcream for yoghurt/ greek yoghurt or buttermilk?
Fatima Bulbulia says
Delicious
Nismah says
Tried this recipe and can not begin to describe how scrumptious it tasted!!! Can’t wait to try more recipes of yours!
Hafsa says
Aao,
My strousel consistency turned out to be more dough type and not powdery♀️
Nabeah Wahab says
Hi Hafsa,
I'm sorry the crumble didn't turn out right! Was your butter too soft? or did you perhaps mix it too much, overworking it?
Khadija says
Hi,
I tried this cake and i swear it got finished the same day!!! I just couldn’t stop eating and my kids loved it!! You’re such a hard worker! Keep it up! May Allah give you happiness and strength!
Samantha Albert says
This has to be the best coffee cake I’ve ever had it’s so incredibly moist and the flavor are so well balanced!
Eunice Eubanks says
Delicious!!! Looking forward to having in the morning with my coffee!!! I so appreciated the ingredients and amounts listed again with each step!!!
Anila says
Is there a gluten free version of this recipe please? What flour alternative could I use and how much?
Ann says
hey how long can we store this for? a week? or two weeks?
Anne says
Hi
Just love your recipe
Can the yogurt be replaced with buttermilk?
Andrewl Bailey says
A beautiful cake. Loved by all my family
Ashley says
If I want to double the recipe, what size pan would you suggest? Thanks!
Nabeah Wahab says
Hi Ashley, sorry for the late reply! I recommend using a 9x13 pan!
Y says
I tried this recipe a while ago in a Bundt pan and it was immaculate, except I swapped the sour cream with yogurt. I've bookmarked this waiting for a chance to make it again haha
Moriah says
I haven’t made it, but I know it’s gonna be good!