Simple and classic, this buttery cinnamon crumb coffee cake is anything but plain! Sour cream ensures a moist, light (not overly dense) breakfast cake, and there’s double the brown sugar cinnamon crumb streusel. Enjoy a thick ribbon of streusel inside and plenty of crumbs on top, both made from the same mixture.
I originally published this recipe in 2015 and have since added new photos and a few more success tips. I’ve also made two small changes to the recipe, which are reflected in the printable recipe below.
Cake for breakfast… well, don’t mind if I do! I’ve published quite a few coffee cake recipes over the years, and this is my go-to, absolute favorite sour cream version.
I’ve made so many variations of this one over the years, including doubling the crumb so there’s more swirl INSIDE and ON TOP of the cake. That’s the version you’ll find in the printable recipe below. (Because what’s the point of crumb cake if it’s all cake and no crumb?! Double the crumb = double the fun!)
One reader, Crystal, commented: “This is delicious! The crumb is surprisingly light and tender… This is my first foray into coffee cake, and I don’t think I need to look any further. ★★★★★”
Another reader, Stacey, commented: “My family loved this recipe! I’ve made MANY sour cream coffee cake recipes over the years. This is by far THE BEST!! ★★★★★”
You Will Love This Cinnamon Crumb Coffee Cake
This cinnamon crumb coffee cake is the original and “plain” version of my raspberry almond crumb cake, cranberry Christmas cake, and blackberry cream cheese crumb cake.
Compared to my New York-style crumb cake recipe, it’s smaller and softer—with a lighter, more cake-like crumb. It also has a delicious cinnamon swirl inside and vanilla icing on top, similar to cinnamon swirl quick bread, cinnamon swirl banana bread, and crumb cake muffins. The best part? Make just 1 cinnamon crumb mixture and use that for the filling AND topping.
- Texture: Tender, fluffy cake paired with a soft crumb topping. Each slice boasts a cinnamon-y ribbon running through the middle.
- Flavor: Classic coffee cake flavors of butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
- Ease: Prepare 1 mixture for both the cinnamon swirl and the crumb topping.
This coffee cake is delightful alongside a cup of coffee or tea (or a mimosa!). Make it for a birthday breakfast, a coffee catch-up with a friend, or a morning meeting—really any time you want to make the morning a little special. It’s always a favorite among these Easter brunch recipes, too!
Key Ingredients (Especially Sour Cream!)
- Brown Sugar: Moist brown sugar is the key to a crumb topping that’s soft, not crunchy.
- Flour: All-purpose flour is sturdy enough to support the heavy crumb layer. I was tempted to use cake flour in the recipe to achieve an ultra-soft crumb, but found that all-purpose gave a more ideal texture for a breakfast cake.
- Cinnamon: We can’t have cinnamon crumb cake without it!
- Butter: You need cold butter for the streusel and room temperature butter for the cake. Cream the softened butter with sugar, which produces a wonderfully cakey texture. If you’re a beginner baker, this tutorial on how to cream butter and sugar will be helpful.
- Baking Powder + Baking Soda: These leaveners help the cake rise.
- Salt: Flavor enhancer.
- Granulated Sugar: We’ll cream the butter + sugar together for the base of the cake batter.
- Eggs: Bind ingredients together, and make the cake tender and rich.
- Vanilla Extract: If you have homemade vanilla extract, use it!
- Sour Cream: The magic moist maker! Just like in this white cake, sour cream makes the cake incredibly moist and lush.
- Milk: Just a little to thin out the batter so you can spread it in the pan.
Make the Cinnamon Crumb Mixture First
To keep things simple, there’s only 1 cinnamon crumb mixture. Layer 1 cup (practically half) in the center of the coffee cake and sprinkle the rest on top. You need brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and cold, cubed butter. The butter must be chilled. Why the emphasis on cold? The streusel mixture needs to maintain some of its structure in the oven or else both layers will sink to the bottom.
Use a pastry cutter to cut the cold butter into the other ingredients. You could also use 2 forks, or a food processor. Look how crumbly it gets:
Expect a Thick Coffee Cake Batter
Refrigerate the crumb mixture as you make the cake batter. The batter is rich and thick, and you need to divide it in half so you can layer in some of the cinnamon crumbs. The old version of the recipe created such a thick, heavy batter that it was difficult to divide and spread into the pan. By adding a little milk (just 2 Tablespoons!), the batter is much easier to divide and spread.
You need an 8-inch square pan for this recipe. See below for other size variations. Line it with lightly greased parchment paper so you can easily remove the cake from the pan as a whole, or just directly grease the pan. (Either way works.) Eyeball half of the cake batter and smooth it into the bottom of the greased pan. It does NOT have to be exact, nor perfect. Layer 1 cup (about half) of the cinnamon crumbs on top:
Now spread the remaining batter on top. This can be tricky since you’re spreading thick batter on an unstable crumb foundation. Just do your best. Top with remaining crumbs:
Bake, and then top with vanilla icing. The icing is optional, but always a fabulous (and pretty) finishing touch. You could even turn it into a delicious orange icing by replacing the milk with orange juice.
Cinnamon Crumb Coffee Cake Success Tips
- Pay attention to ingredient temperature. The butter in the crumb mixture should be cold, and the butter, eggs, and sour cream in the cake batter should be room temperature.
- Do your best to spread the thick batter. The top layer can be hard to spread on top of the cinnamon crumb layer, but it doesn’t have to be perfect. Don’t overthink it.
- Use a metal pan or a glass pan. If using ceramic, the coffee cake may take longer to bake. If using extra dark metal, the cake may take less time.
FAQ: Why Is This Called Coffee Cake?
I get this question a lot. 🙂 There is no coffee IN this cake! “Coffee cake” gets its name not because of the ingredients in the cake, but because it’s a breakfast cake to be enjoyed WITH coffee.
Variations & Different Pan Sizes
- Add some extras! Try it as cranberry Christmas cake (with pecans) or raspberry almond crumb cake; or mix and match your favorite add-ins and flavors. Chocolate chips are always a good idea. (Fold 1 cup/180g into the cake batter.)
- Add a cream cheese layer, like in this blackberry cream cheese version.
- Bake in a 9×5-inch loaf pan—no changes to the ingredients; bake time is about 40 minutes.
- Bake it in a 9-inch round cake pan—no changes to the ingredients and bake time.
- Bake in a 9×13-inch pan—see recipe Notes for exact instructions/ingredient amounts. My team and I tested a few versions of this larger size, so use the precise amounts in the Notes below. This is a wonderful size if you’re feeding a crowd:
Sour Cream Coffee Cake (with Crumb Topping)
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
- Yield: serves 9-12
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Every baker should have a classic, old-fashioned and buttery coffee cake recipe in their back pocket and this one is my gold standard, baseline recipe. You’re welcome to borrow it! An 8-inch square pan is required, but see the recipe Notes for other sizes.
Ingredients
Cinnamon Crumb Mixture
- 2/3 cup (135g) packed dark or light brown sugar
- 3/4 cup (95g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
Cake
- 1 and 1/3 cups (166g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (120g) full-fat sour cream, at room temperature*
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) milk (any kind, dairy or nondairy, is fine)
Vanilla Icing (Optional)
- 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) heavy cream or milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line an 8-inch square pan (9-inch square is too big, see Notes for other pan sizes) with lightly greased parchment paper or directly grease the pan. I usually use this square pan or this square pan.
- Make the cinnamon crumb mixture: Combine the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl. Cut in the chilled butter with a pastry cutter or two forks (or use a food processor or your hands) until the mixture is in pea-sized crumbs. Some larger crumbs are OK. You’ll have a little over 2 cups of crumb. Refrigerate until step 5.
- Make the cake: Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside. In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a silicone spatula as needed. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) Add the eggs and vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until combined. Beat in the sour cream. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a silicone spatula and beat again as needed to combine. Mixture will be lumpy.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, and beat on low speed until just combined. Finally, beat in the milk. Do not overmix this batter. The batter will be thick. You’ll have about 2 and 1/2 cups of batter.
- Carefully spread about half of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle 1 cup (about half) of the crumb mixture evenly on top. Carefully spread the remaining batter on top (every last drop of it!). This can be a little tricky since you’re spreading thick batter on top of crumbs, but do your best. I usually use a spoon or small offset spatula. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture evenly on top.
- Bake for around 35–40 minutes or until the cake is baked through. To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, it is done. Allow cake to cool in the pan set on a wire rack for 15 minutes.
- Make the icing: Whisk all of the icing ingredients together. Drizzle over warm cake.
- Lift the cake from the pan using the overhang parchment paper around the sides and slice into squares. Or, if you didn’t use parchment, slice directly in the pan. Serve cake warm or at room temperature.
- Cover leftovers tightly and store at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: The cake can be baked and covered tightly at room temperature overnight. Make the glaze the next morning and drizzle over cake before serving. Cake, with or without icing, can be frozen up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 8-inch Square Baking Pan (such as this one or this one) | Glass Mixing Bowls | Pastry Cutter | Whisk | Silicone Spatula | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Small Offset Spatula | Cooling Rack
- Sour Cream: Sour cream creates a bakery-style tender and thick crumb. Do not skip it. If needed, you can substitute full-fat or low-fat (not nonfat) Greek yogurt.
- Loaf Pan: If you’d like to bake this coffee cake in a 9×5-inch loaf pan, adjust the bake time to about 40 minutes.
- 9-inch Round Pan: This recipe is too small for a 9-inch square pan; however, it fits wonderfully in a 9-inch round cake pan. Same instructions and bake time.
- 9×13-inch Pan: If you want to make this cake in a 9×13-inch pan, you need to just about 1.5x the recipe. My team and I tested the exact amounts and here is what you’ll need. The instructions are exactly the same, just use the following amounts. Crumb: 1 cup (200g) packed dark or light brown sugar, 1 and 1/4 cups (156g) all-purpose flour, 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 10 Tablespoons (1 stick + 2 Tbsp or 145g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed. Cake: 2 and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 3/4 cup (1.5 sticks or 170g) unsalted butter, 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar, 3 large eggs, 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract, 1 cup (240g) sour cream, 1/4 cup (60ml) milk. The icing recipe makes a lot, so it’s plenty for the larger cake. Bake time is closer to 45 minutes. Makes 24 servings.
- Update in 2022: After making this recipe for 7 years straight, I’ve made 2 small updates to produce an even better sour cream coffee cake. The recipe above has more crumb filling/topping than the 2015 version and it also includes a touch of milk to smooth out the batter. If you wish to make the old version, skip the milk and halve the amounts for the crumb filling/topping.
- Why is this called coffee cake and there is no coffee in the cake? “Coffee cake” gets its name not because of the ingredients in the cake, but because it’s a breakfast cake to be enjoyed WITH coffee.
Reader Comments and Reviews
can I add apples to this recipe
Hi Mary, apples can be quite wet and would take some testing to incorporate into this recipe. Instead, we’d try this apple crumb cake recipe. Hope you enjoy it!
This simple didn’t work. Too much sugar, too much butter, and too much crumble
I converted this recipe to make for 700 people. It’s perfect and an absolute favorite at camp. We made this once per week for 12 weeks and it never fails. I reduced the crumb by 1/3 and omitted the drizzle. Currently making a 2x batch for the house and my wife to take to work 🙂
Hi. Instead of sour cream can i use plain yogurt.
Hi Karpagam, yes, you can use full fat yogurt here instead.
Perfect coffee cake. The ribbon in the middle sort of melts together, and the top crumble is crunchy and buttery sweet. I skipped the glaze because of the simple goodness. I used a metal 8 x 8 with parchment and baked for 39 min. An offset spatula made the top layer of batter easy to spread. So good.
The 2022 update is for the 8×8 size or 9×13? Thanks!
Hi Nora, both sizes as written reflect the new updates. Enjoy!
I have a question. Would oat flour work as replacement for regular flour? Should I tweak it in any way?
Hi Mat, we don’t recommend oat flour here. It has very different baking properties than all-purpose flour and isn’t necessarily a 1:1 swap. It would take quite a bit of recipe testing to properly incorporate. Best to stick with all-purpose flour here!
Best Coffee cake!! Mine was perfectly dense and moist and the flavor is soo delicious. Ours took a little longer than suggested and I just mixed everything with my hands and it turned out good 🙂
I forgot the milk in the batter! will it still turn out ok??
Hi Kate, the cake may taste a bit dry without the milk.
Hi again! Is there a way to turn these into muffins? I’m especially interested in jumbo size. Thanks!
Hi Amy, You can certainly make this as muffins—you can layer the batter and crumbs into muffin liners. We’re unsure of the exact bake time, but you can follow the baking time from these jumbo blueberry muffins as a guide. Enjoy!
I love coffee cake ! I forgot to add the eggs to the first batch hopefully it will turn out. It’s rising super high in the oven so fingers crossed. It smells amazing. Looks just like Starbucks! Lol
First time making this and it was a hit! My son ate three pieces!
This is an amazing and delicious recipe. I decided to make late night. Great dessert and it will be an even better breakfast tomorrow. Thank you for posting all of the tips.
The recipe looks great. Would it be ok to bake it in a 8″sq metal or glass pyrex pan WITHOUT the parchment paper? Would it stick unreasonably? I intend to make the pan part of the gift of cake.
Hi Sissy, you can directly grease the pan without using parchment paper. Hope it’s a hit!
I really enjoyed this coffee cake! I am a novice baker though and have a few questions for you as I try to understand how different doughs “work”.
1. How much should one expect this cake dough to rise after it’s baked? My final cake was about 1.75″ to a little under 2″ high. (I unfortunately hadn’t measured the height before putting in the oven.)
2. How moist should this cake be? Mine was *very* moist. If I wanted to have a less moist and light/airier crumb, how should I adjust the recipe? Or would one of your other coffee cake recipes produce a crumb closer to that?
3. Thank you for providing the adjustments for various baking sizes. Would this recipe work just as well in muffin form (just keeping track of decreased baking times) or would the ingredient amounts need to be tweaked? Thanks again!
Hi ZEO, were happy to help. We haven’t measured the exact height of the cake, but you might expect it to rise a bit higher than that. Was the batter overmixed by chance? That can lead cakes to be squat and dense, which may be contributing to the “very moist” texture you experienced. The cake should be moist, but not to the point that it’s overly dense. It’s also possible that the cake was just slightly underbaked, so a few additional minutes in the oven should help for next time. You can certainly make this as muffins—you can layer the batter and crumbs into muffin liners. We’re unsure of the exact bake time, but around 20-22 minutes would be great at the same oven temperature. Hope this helps!
Would this recipe work in 4” round mini cake pans or would it be too thick?
Hi Jane, we haven’t tested this recipe in that particular size pan. There is too much batter as is for one, but you can divide it up among a few pans. Be sure to only fill half way and keep a close eye on it, since the bake time will be much shorter.
This is perfect, I love the texture and flavor, and everyone enjoyed this cake! I did add a tsp of cinnamon to the batter, I do this for many baked goods, we like cinnamon here. This is a keeper!!
This was by far the best coffee cake I have ever baked! Thanks!
I made this for my family and they really loved it! ( I used ~30g less sugar though and subbed greek yogurt for sour cream) I want to make it again but I’m curious if I can sub out portion of the sugar with honey and what the conversion would be?
Hi JesAnne, I’m so glad that you enjoyed this cake. I’m sure you can swap in some honey, but I haven’t tested it to be certain of the best amount. I would just start with a little bit at a time, each time you try the cake. Let me know what you test!
I want to make a couple of these cakes in aluminum pans as gifts for the holidays. Do I need to make any alterations for temperature or timing since the pans are very lightweight?
Hi Blaire, same temperature, but the timing may vary slightly. Keep a close eye on them and use a toothpick to test for doneness.
This was so easy and absolutely delicious. I used about 1/3 of the drizzle. It was sweet enough without it.
This recipe was exactly what I was looking for! Years ago, when I was first getting into baking, I found a sour cream coffee cake recipe on AllRecipes that became my go-to contribution whenever I was going somewhere. At some point, the recipe got taken down, and I’ve been looking for one like it. This isn’t just close – it’s so much better. I don’t know why I didn’t come here first; Sally has yet to fail me!
My family loved this recipe! I’ve made MANY sour cream coffee cake recipes over the years. This is by far THE BEST!!
I have made this at least 5 times and it comes out perfect each and every time. I just have to get the right amount of batter for the first layer perfected. Sometimes its too much on the bottom and not enough for the top layer. Other than that the taste is perfection. Follow this recipe to the tee and you won’t be disappointed. (use a pastry blender not a food processor for the butter addition to the topping, blender/food processor makes the butter pieces too small) My son in law ate practically half the cake!
Another great recipe – thank you! I tried a different recipe from another well-known baker and did a taste test. Your recipe was much simpler and produce a moist crumb. Only change I would make in the future is sprinkling less streusel on top so the cake is not so sweet. But it was delicious!
me family loves this recipe so much! Its my go-to when I don’t know what to make.
This recipe definitely tastes like a bakery or coffee shop coffee cake! I think it would taste fantastic with some nuts mixed into the cinnamon swirl. I might cut a little of the sugar out the next time I make it but it was fantastic as is!
I would like to make the sour cream coffee cake in a bunt pan. Do I double the recy?
Hi Hope, if you try the 9×13-inch pan recipe/ingredient amounts (in the Notes), that would likely be enough for a Bundt pan. We’re unsure of the best bake time.
It smells wonderful and mixing each part was a breeze; I added the batter to muffin pans to make it easier, only adding two scoops to each cup. When I pulled them out of the oven after they were done (toothpick method), the crumble was all melted on top.
Not sure how this is the recipe’s fault. Of course the crumble would melt doing it like that; you reduced the surface area excessively. I just don’t understand why people change recipes and then act like the poor results aren’t their fault.
The cake itself was very moist and really just perfect! I proactively added extra cinnamon to the mixture than was called for, and was still disappointed in the lack of flavor. The cake was so good, though, that I’ll definitely keep using this recipe and just tweak the flavor more. I, also, like the fact that the topping and cinnamon layer in the cake are the same. I didn’t see another recipe like that. This is so much simpler when I’m in a hurry and uses less dishes:)
I never log in to leave a comment. This is soooooo SO good. Adding a smidge of almond to the icing and baked in a glass 8.5 in pie plate bc it was what I had. 10 stars wasn’t an option so I gave it 5.