Coffee Cake is a classic and scrumptious breakfast or snack cake made with a tender vanilla cake and a brown sugar and cinnamon topping.
It’s an easy recipe that’s ready in less than an hour with just 10 minutes of prep! Serve it with Homemade Whipped Cream, vanilla ice cream, or Irish Coffee.
People usually wonder why coffee cake doesn’t actually have any coffee in it. In some regions, like the UK, it’s a sponge cake flavored with coffee. But here in the US, it is generally a sweet cake that is served with coffee or tea.
What Is Coffee Cake?
Coffee Cake comes in many different forms. Make a classically flavored cake like this one or indulge in a Blueberry Coffee Cake or Cherry Cheesecake Coffee Cake. However, the base will almost always be the same: flour, sugar, butter, eggs, and milk. There may be different add-ins or it may have a simple sugar topping like this recipe does or a high crumble topping.
What I love about this recipe, the best coffee cake recipe, is that it’s very hands off. It takes about 10 minutes to prep the batter and there’s no need to let the butter soften or milk come to room temperature either!
How To Make Coffee Cake
It looks fancy, but coffee cake is really easy to make. As with any recipe, begin by preheating the oven and greasing the pan. Then gather the ingredients and start mixing!
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients and cut in butter until crumbly.
- Add in the wet ingredients and transfer into the prepared pan.
- Make topping and sprinkle over top the batter. Use a butter knife to swirl the topping into the batter.
- Bake until a toothpick comes clean from the center of the cake.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for about 15 minutes before slicing and serving. How simple is that?
This coffee cake recipe is best within 2 to 3 days stored at room temperature in an air-tight container. But you can also store it in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or freeze it.
Does It Freeze Well?
Yes, it does! Once baked, allow the cake to cool to room temperature before wrapping in plastic wrap and placing inside an air-tight container. I love these 2-gallon freezer bags for storing larger baked goods in the freezer. When you’re ready to enjoy your cake, simply remove from the freezer and allow to thaw at room temperature for several hours.
More Breakfast Baked Goods We Love!
- Boston Cream Donuts – you’ll LOVE this donut hack!
- Blueberry French Toast Bake – great to feed a crowd
- Easy Banana Bread Recipe – made with mayonnaise!
- Sausage Breakfast Casserole – perfect for prepping overnight!
- Favorite Breakfast Cookies – great for busy mornings
Cinnamon Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ cup unsalted butter cubed
- 1 large egg beaten
- ¾ cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts optional
Glaze
- 1 tablespoon water
- 6 tablespoons powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F and grease an 8x8" square baking pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.
- Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour mixture until a coarse crumb forms.
- Add in the egg, milk, and vanilla and mix with a rubber spatula just until combined. The batter will be lumpy. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan.
- In a small bowl, mix together the cinnamon and brown sugar, then sprinkle it over the top of the batter in the pan. Use a butter knife to cut lines through the batter. Sprinkle the top with the chopped walnuts, if desired.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, then allow the cake to cool in the pan for 15 minutes on a cooling rack.
- Whisk together the water and powdered sugar to make the glaze and drizzle over the top of the cake before slicing and serving.
Notes
- Walnut may be omitted or swapped for chopped pecans instead.
- Granulated sugar may be used in the topping instead of light brown sugar if you don't have any on hand.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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Yummm!! Easy, fast & delicious! I added a splash of cinnamon vanilla coffee creamer with the milk and added a dash of each cinnamon and allspice to the dry cake ingredients, it was delightful. The glaze really sets it off. I added a teeny splash of vanilla to the glaze. I made this half an hour ago, and it’s already half gone!
I’ve been making this for a little while and we’ve loved it every time. Today we had some extra raspberries so I folded them in at the end…so good!
Oh yum, that sounds so delicious. Thanks for sharing, Ashley!
hi can I use margarine instead?
Hi Joyce, we haven’t tried this recipe with margarine but others readers have had good results. We would love to hear how it turns out for you!
Could this work as a muffin?
Very simple and tastes much better the next morning. Next time I’ll be more aggressive with the knife cutting into the batter to move the topping into the cake. I also used half pumpkin pie spice as I ran out of cinnamon and it was nice. Very good recipe, it’s a keeper!
Great, simple recipe and easily modified if you want to include blueberries, peaches or, in my case, rhubarb! Made a topping eliminating nuts: granulated sugar, cinnamon and Grape Nuts cereal.
How long do you cook it for if using a 9×9 square pan 20 minutes?
I would check it at 20 minutes and see if a toothpick comes out clean. You could add a couple more minutes if needed.
I would let it bake an extra 10 to 15 minutes, if you add fruit. I lowered the oven temp to 350 since I added 3/4 cup diced rhubarb
Yum!!! Easy recipe with delicious taste! I used pecans, since that’s what was in the pantry, and it turned out great! Will make again. Send the link to my daughters.
Hi, would I be able to use a bundt pan for this recipe? Thanks :)
I’ve only made the recipe as written Lucy, so not sure how it would work in a bundt pan. Let us know if you try it!
Easiest and best coffee cake recipe! I took the advice from other comments and added some butter to the brown sugar topping. Turned out wonderfully. I’ve made it twice in the past week for my family and it has disappeared with in 24 hours each time. Thank you!
Hey! Sorry if this has been asked before but can this be made in circular cake pans? An 8in preferably!
I haven’t tried this in a round cake pan but I would suggest a 9″. An 8×8 cake pan has a larger volume than an 8″ round pan.
Made these coffee cake put a thin layer of apples on the bottom before adding batter also sprinkled apples with cinnamon and sugar . I also added 1 and 1/2 cup blueberries. Delicious and pretty .
Hi! Im a new baker and was wondering what it means to use a butter knife to cut lines through the batter? Why is this necessary?
Swirling the knife through the batter will help distribute the toppings and lets them sink into the batter a bit making a more tasty mouthful when eating it, hope this helped!
It’s just means to take the tip of your butter knife and whirl it around the batter so that the cake batter and the cinnamon topping can be slightly mixed while creating a pretty design!
Can I use a 9 by 9 square dish or an 8 inch round cake pan?
This can be made in a 9×9 pan, you might need to reduce cook time slightly (check it sooner) and it will be a bit thinner. Enjoy!
Would the 8-inch round work (just checking)?
I haven’t tried it, you’ll want to ensure you don’t fill the pan more than 2/3 full. If you have extra batter you can put it in cupcake tins. Let us know how it works out.
Very easy and delicious
Super easy, quick recipe … cake is moist and spongy … really lovely texture! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for sharing your feedback, Bonnie!
Easy, uses items already in pantry, and very satisfying.
One of the best ever coffee cake recipe i have ever tried so far. Thanks for sharing this recipe with all of us.
I’ve made this coffee cake 3 times in 2 weeks. It’s perfect! I had never heard of reverse creaming, but it makes all the difference. I did find that I had to cook it about 5 minutes longer than the instructed time. Followed the recipe exactly with no substitutions. Will definitely make this again and again. Thank you for the great recipe!