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Home / Main Dishes / Breakfast

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

4.93
/5
1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes
127 Comments
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By: The Chunky Chefpublished: 07/22/2020

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

My favorite Sour Cream Coffee Cake is ultra moist and buttery, with a cinnamon streusel layer in the middle and on top, and drizzled with a sweet glaze. #coffeecake #crumbcake #sourcream #baking #breakfast #dessert #cinnamon #streusel #brunch
My favorite Sour Cream Coffee Cake is ultra moist and buttery, with a cinnamon streusel layer in the middle and on top, and drizzled with a sweet glaze. #coffeecake #crumbcake #sourcream #baking #breakfast #dessert #cinnamon #streusel #brunch
My favorite Sour Cream Coffee Cake is ultra moist and buttery, with a cinnamon streusel layer in the middle and on top, and drizzled with a sweet glaze. #coffeecake #crumbcake #sourcream #baking #breakfast #dessert #cinnamon #streusel #brunch
My favorite Sour Cream Coffee Cake is ultra moist and buttery, with a cinnamon streusel layer in the middle and on top, and drizzled with a sweet glaze. #coffeecake #crumbcake #sourcream #baking #breakfast #dessert #cinnamon #streusel #brunch

 My favorite Sour Cream Coffee Cake is so moist and buttery, with a cinnamon streusel layer in the middle and on top, and drizzled with a sweet glaze!  Perfect for breakfast, brunch, or dessert… grab a fork and enjoy!

We love tasty breakfast recipes like this Sour Cream Coffee Cake!  It’s perfect for holidays or a fun weekend with family.  Other family favorites are my Loaded Overnight Breakfast Casserole and Homemade Breakfast Sausage Patties.   This is one of my Breakfast recipes you’ll want to hold on to!

slice of glazed coffee cake on white plate
Pin this recipe for later!

If there’s a quintessential breakfast/brunch recipe, it’s the humble coffee cake.  A cake with a rich and tender crumb, layered with layers of cinnamon streusel.

Made to be served alongside a fabulous cup of coffee or glass of cold milk, it’s a great way to start off your day!

However, a great coffee cake is part breakfast/brunch, and part dessert, this recipe is perfect for any time of day.

We like to make this coffee cake to have for special occasions, as it’s every bit as decadent as it is delicious!

If you’ve never had coffee cake before, you may be looking through the ingredients and wondering where the coffee is.  Contrary to it’s name, coffee cake doesn’t traditionally have coffee in it!  It gets it’s name because it’s delicious served alongside a cup of coffee.

How to make homemade coffee cake?

This is just an overview; the full ingredients and directions are in the recipe card toward the bottom of this post.

step by step how to make coffee cake - image collage
  1. Preheat oven and prepare baking pan.  I like to use butter, but you can use nonstick spray if you like.
  2. Make the streusel.  Add flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and butter to a small mixing bowl and use either a pastry cutter or your hands to mix until the butter is worked into the other ingredients, resulting in pea-sized clumps.  Refrigerate for now.
  3. Mix dry ingredients.  Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt to a small bowl and whisk.  Set aside.
  4. Start the cake batter by creaming the butter.  Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Then beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla.
  5. Alternate dry ingredients and sour cream.  Add 1/3 of the flour mixture. Beat together. Add in 1/3 of the sour cream. Beat together. Continue these steps two more times until everything is incorporated and blended well. 
assembling and baking coffee cake - image collage
  1. Layer.  Add half the cake batter, topped with half the prepared streusel.  Top with remaining cake batter and remaining streusel on top.
  2. Bake.  Bake for 55 minutes, then cool.
  3. Make glaze.  Whisk together powdered sugar and milk, then drizzle onto cake.  Serve.
removing a piece of coffee cake with a spatula

Variations of this recipe

  • Nuts – for a fun, and delicious crunch, try adding 1 1/4 cups of chopped pecans or walnuts to the streusel layers!
  • Fruit – this cake is amazing with some diced apples in it as well!  I prefer using granny smith apples.
  • Swirl – instead of layering the cake and streusel, you could try swirling it.  Still add half your cake batter and half the streusel to the pan, but then take a butter knife or toothpick and swirl it around.  Top with remaining cake batter and a layer of streusel and bake as directed.
  • More streusel – this recipe uses a moderate amount of streusel, but if you’re like me, you’ll want as much of that deliciousness that you can get!  Feel free to make extra and add more to either, or both, streusel layers.
  • Larger pan – if you’re making this coffee cake for a crowd and would like more than 9 slices, my advice would be to use 2 separate 9×9 pans, rather than trying to fit it all into a 9×13 pan.  I’ve not tested using a 9×13 with a doubled recipe, and I wouldn’t want your pan to overflow.
coffee cake in baking dish

Top Baking Tips for Coffee Cake

  1. Room temperature ingredients. For the best results when baking this coffee cake, your cold ingredients (like butter and eggs) should be at room temperature so they can incorporate fully into the batter.  Except for the butter for the streusel, that should be COLD.
  2. Use real butter. This isn’t the time to use shortening or margarine.  Those perform differently in baking recipes, and this recipe was only tested using real butter.
  3. Use fresh ingredients. Some of these are obvious, like using non-expired eggs, but did you know using older baking soda/baking powder can affect the way your cakes bake?  Over time, leavening agents (which is what baking soda and powder are) lose their efficacy, and won’t give your cakes that beautifully soft texture.
  • To test your baking powder, add a bit to hot water. If it bubbles and fizzes, you’re good to go! However, if your baking powder is older than 6 months, it’s best to just get a new can. The older one can still be used for cleaning purposes!
My favorite Sour Cream Coffee Cake is ultra moist and buttery, with a cinnamon streusel layer in the middle and on top, and drizzled with a sweet glaze. #coffeecake #crumbcake #sourcream #baking #breakfast #dessert #cinnamon #streusel #brunch

Making coffee cake ahead of time

Personally, I think this coffee cake tastes best when made right before serving.  Even though it’s fine to make it a day ahead of time, I just prefer it fresh.

However, you can make your streusel up ahead of time, and measure your dry ingredients ahead of time, cutting down on your prep time considerably.

slice of coffee cake drizzled with glaze

Freezing

If you’re wondering if you can freeze coffee cake, the answer is yes!

To freeze, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and add to a freezer bag or container.  Freeze for up to 3 months.

Thaw in the refrigerator.  You can even freeze individual slices, so when you want a little taste of decadence you don’t have to thaw out a whole cake.  When freezing individual slices, I like to double wrap them in plastic wrap before adding to the freezer bag.  With a slice, the sides of the cake are exposed, so you want to take extra care that it doesn’t get dried out.

Storage

Leftovers should be covered tightly and stored at room temperature for 1-2 days, or refrigerated for up to 1 week.  If storing in the refrigerator, be sure to make sure the cake is covered well, otherwise it could dry out.

forkful of coffee cake

Other Sweet Breakfast Recipes:

stack of sheet pan pancakes with maple syrup
Sheet Pan Pancakes
holding a cinnamon roll with icing
Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
sticky buns
Maple Pecan Sticky Buns
stack of buttermilk pancakes on white plate
Classic Buttermilk Pancakes
pastry cutter

My Favorite Pastry Cutter!

You can make streusel with just two forks, but the easiest way is to use a pastry cutter/pastry blender. This version is great because the blades don’t bend nearly as easily as some other brands I’ve tried.

Get on amazon

Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!

slice of glazed coffee cake on white plate

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

4.93 from 52 votes
Author: The Chunky Chef
Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 55 minutes minutes
Total Time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes
Calories: 723
Servings: 9 servings
(hover over # to adjust)
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My favorite Sour Cream Coffee Cake is so moist and buttery, with a cinnamon streusel layer in the middle and on top, and drizzled with a sweet glaze.

Ingredients

STREUSEL

  • 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter (COLD) cut into small pieces

CAKE

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup sour cream

GLAZE

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 Tbsp whole milk

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9×9 baking pan and set aside.

STREUSEL

  • To a small mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and butter. Using a pastry cutter, fork, or your hands, mix until it forms pea-sized clumps. Refrigerate.

CAKE

  • To a small mixing bowl, add dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt), and whisk to combine. Set aside for now.
  • In large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in one egg at a time. Beat in vanilla extract.
  • Add 1/3 of the flour mixture. Beat together. Add in 1/3 of the sour cream. Beat together. Continue these steps two more times until everything is incorporated and blended well. 
  • Add half the cake batter to prepared pan, spreading evenly. Add half the refrigerated streusel, spreading in an even layer.
  • Top with remaining cake batter, then last half of the streusel on top.
  • Bake for about 55 minutes. The top should be golden brown and when a toothpick is inserted into the center, it should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
  • Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack.

GLAZE

  • While your cake cools, make your glaze by whisking together the milk and sugar. 
  • Drizzle with desired amount of glaze and enjoy.

Want to save this recipe for later? Click the heart in the bottom right corner to save to your own recipe box!

Chef Tips

  1. Recipe has only been tested using full-fat dairy products.
  2. When spreading cake batter over the streusel, I find it easiest to drop by the spoonful, then use an offset spatula to gently spread.

Nutrition Disclaimer

The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.

Did You Make This?Tag @the_chunky_chef on Instagram and hashtag it #thechunkychef so I can see what you made!
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Any nutritional information shared is an estimate, and is automatically calculated through a program.  If calorie count is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer.  Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.

The Chunky Chef is not a nutritionist and doesn’t provide full nutritional information for recipes as there is a potential for error and we wouldn’t want to potentially and/or unknowingly pass along incorrect information.

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Meet The Chunky Chef

Hey there! I'm Amanda. Wife, mother, photography nerd, and bacon lover! I believe that delicious meals should be easy to make. Now that you’re here, stay a bit, browse a few recipes, and let’s get cookin’!

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4.93 from 52 votes

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  1. Sue says

    Posted on 2/20 at 2:49 pm

    I made this but… your directions are all over the place

    Reply
    • The Chunky Chef says

      Posted on 2/20 at 3:35 pm

      Hi Sue, I’m not sure how my directions are “all over the place”, when they’re clearly broken down by parts of the recipe, in easy step by step instructions?

      Reply
  2. Kathleen Colarusso says

    Posted on 1/14 at 6:05 pm

    I make coffeecakes all the time!! I followed this recipe but am upset it is drier than it should be? Did not over bake it, and used Pyrex pan. Baked at 25 degrees lower since it is glass? But it was 13×9 so was done in same amount of time, and dry?

    Reply
    • The Chunky Chef says

      Posted on 1/14 at 9:06 pm

      It’s unfortunate this didn’t work out for you, I’ve never had an issue with dryness. But since this recipe was designed for a 9×9 pan, and you baked in a 9×13, the coffee cake would be thinner (since there’s more volume in the larger pan, more room for it to spread out), so it may have needed less time.

      Reply
  3. Tracy says

    Posted on 1/4 at 11:04 am

    kinda dry and dense. we like strudel, but this had too much. Won’t make again.

    Reply
  4. Mary says

    Posted on 12/16 at 11:21 am

    Best treat for a large crowd coming over for brunch…my mom made this, I make this and daughter-in-laws will learn this recipe…Merry
    Christmas and one request, Physically go see the neighbors or better yet…bring them over for Dinner at your home…Remember>>>
    FAMILY = For Always Make It Like Yours…Cheers from Maine.

    Reply
  5. Pamela says

    Posted on 12/14 at 8:13 am

    What size pan is this recipe for?

    Reply
    • The Chunky Chef says

      Posted on 12/14 at 8:33 pm

      A 9×9″ baking dish, as mentioned in the first step of the instructions 🙂

      Reply
  6. RITA says

    Posted on 11/25 at 4:10 pm

    I made this for Thanksgiving morning and everyone loved it and wanted the recipe. I made as directed except that I put the streusel that goes on the top after the cake cooked about 20 minutes. It turned out perfectly! I can’t tell you how much people loved this as did I. Thanks for this great recipe!

    Reply
  7. Mary says

    Posted on 11/19 at 7:21 am

    Can a bundt pan be used? Woukd it affect baking time?

    Reply
    • The Chunky Chef says

      Posted on 11/20 at 10:21 pm

      I haven’t tested baking this recipe in a bundt pan, so I can’t say how well it would work and what the baking time would be. If you do some experimenting, I’d love to know how it turns out 🙂

      Reply
  8. Kathy says

    Posted on 11/2 at 3:45 pm

    Can I put this together the night before and keep it in the fridge until morning?

    Reply
    • The Chunky Chef says

      Posted on 11/2 at 9:26 pm

      I haven’t tested making this recipe a day ahead, so I can’t say for certain how well that would work, or whether any changes would need to be made. If you do some experimenting, I’d love to know how it turns out 🙂

      Reply
  9. Stephanie Pogue says

    Posted on 9/2 at 4:37 pm

    This turned out AMAZING! I added walnuts to the streusel and made the glaze with a touch of cinnamon and ginger. It was SO good!

    Reply
  10. Delores Gibbons says

    Posted on 7/11 at 3:20 am

    Thank you for sharing your recipe. If I wanted to add apple pieces to the recipe, how would I go about doing this? Thank you.

    Reply
    • The Chunky Chef says

      Posted on 7/11 at 9:14 pm

      You could add them during after combining the flour mixture and sour cream, however, I haven’t tested using apple pieces, so I’m not sure how much that would alter things.

      Reply
  11. Janice says

    Posted on 7/2 at 1:07 pm

    It was delicious!!!
    Thanks for the recipe
    It was so moist and yummy everyone should make this one!

    Reply
  12. Jada Sherman says

    Posted on 6/19 at 7:30 pm

    Love this cinnamon streusel cake. I used the recipe to make muffins and even added a few blueberries in my last panful. Yum

    Reply
  13. Sherri says

    Posted on 5/30 at 7:43 pm

    I am making this now. Added a little cinnamon and nutmeg to the strusel topping. It tasted so yummy. 46 mins left on baking time!

    Reply
  14. R-Elise says

    Posted on 5/30 at 11:34 am

    Love this cake but had to add about 1/3 c milk because the batter was too thick to stir. It might be due to me living at a high altitude.

    Reply
    • The Chunky Chef says

      Posted on 5/30 at 2:43 pm

      Yes, higher altitudes will affect moisture as well as bake times. I’m glad you were able to modify it to your circumstances 🙂

      Reply
  15. Devyn says

    Posted on 5/17 at 4:35 pm

    I honestly expected this to be pretty plain, but the flavor is SO good! Texture is great, everything is great!
    I made it in a 9×13 pan and it was spread a little thin but that just meant more streusel, yummy!

    Reply
  16. Candace says

    Posted on 5/1 at 6:20 pm

    I have a large bit of family coming in in about a month. They will be staying a few different places while in the area & wanted to give each family a basket of muffins. I chose this recipe as 1 of the 3 I’m making & freezing before they arrive. Seems like I could make muffins w/your recipe. What do you think? Maybe save the drizzle for when they are thawed out & ready to give?

    Reply
    • The Chunky Chef says

      Posted on 5/1 at 8:51 pm

      What a sweet gift idea! I haven’t tested turning this cake recipe into muffins, but I think they would turn out well, I just can’t speak to the exact baking time. I definitely agree with saving the drizzle for when they’re ready to give out 🙂

      Reply
  17. Grace says

    Posted on 4/29 at 10:41 pm

    My favourite coffee cake recipe! Made it at least 20 times now. I do find it a bit dry as written so I replace the sour cream with buttermilk for extra moisture. I get many compliments on it. This recipe also makes great cupcakes! I add 1/2 tbs batter into each muffin tin, then 1 tbs struesel, and repeat that. Bake at 350 for 15-20 mins. Thank you for the recipe!

    Reply
  18. Lorie says

    Posted on 3/23 at 12:38 am

    This is an amazing coffee cake, at least that is what I was told. I never got to try it because i made it as
    a gift.

    Reply
  19. Sandy Hovermale says

    Posted on 3/14 at 3:58 am

    What a perfect coffee cake!!!

    Reply
  20. Jeni says

    Posted on 3/7 at 9:55 pm

    This was very tasty, but that made way too much streusel! And I wish I had checked it before 55 minutes; was a little dry and too brown on the bottom.

    Reply
    • The Chunky Chef says

      Posted on 3/8 at 9:12 am

      You can always reduce the amount of streusel to your tastes, we just really love it. Unfortunately all ovens and baking dishes cook slightly differently, so I can’t account for those slight discrepancies and can only report the baking time for myself and my recipe testers 🙂

      Reply
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