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
I’ve made this coffee cakes several times and it’s a 10/10 every time. The cake has the perfect texture, yet it isn’t too sweet. Sally’s recipes are always a hit in my house!
Could apple butter be incorporated into this cake?
Hi Brittney, we have not tested a version of this coffee cake with apple butter, but it would take some tweaking of the other ingredients to ensure the batter does not become too wet. If you’re looking for an apple version, here is our apple crumb cake recipe instead.
Good Morning , I received my book I had pre ordered just the other day very exciting, I have a question I love this coffee cake but my mom has been diagnosed pre diabetic I’m trying to change that by her January checkup, I’ve purchased Swerve sugars all 3 kinds can I still enjoy your recipes and substitute the sugars in them with these swerve products for the time being, any tips thank you I’d like to make this today then get into that book I have now of yours !!
Hi Lisa! We’d love to help but we are not trained in baking with sugar substitutes. For best taste and texture (and so you don’t waste your time trying to adapt these recipes since they may not work properly), it may be more useful to find recipes that are specifically formulated for sugar substitutes. Thank you and we hope you enjoy the new cookbook!
It turned out perfect! The cake was airy and light and had just the right touch of sweetness! The cinnamon crumble mixture was amazing, adding a light sugary flavor. All in all, this recipe is a keeper! My recipe for potluck gatherings!
My husband and kids love this. I make this in repeat almost every week.
Made this coffee cake last night for a friend who has a birthday today. It was wonderful and a huge hit at the office! Loved it.
Hi Sally,
I’ve made many of your recipes and this sour cream coffee cake as well… I love your recipes!! I would like to make this cake again, in a bundt pan. Would the amount of ingredients change? and also what about the bake time.
I appreciate any advice on this.
Thank you!
Dahlia S.
Hi Dahlia, there isn’t enough batter as written for a Bundt or tube pan. However, if you try the 9×13-inch pan recipe/ingredient amounts (in the Notes), that would likely be enough. We’re unsure of the best bake time. Let us know if you try it!
Thank you!! I will be sure to let you know.
Dahlia 🙂
It’s such an amazing recipe the cake was so nice and fluffy my only complaint would be that the cake itself was kind of flavorless but that could have been to the fact that I put to little crumble in my middle layer
Delicious ! I followed the recipe except I did reduce the sugar in the batter and used less crumble to reduce my own sugar intake ( nothing to do with original recipe , I’m sure it would have been just as divine ) but it still tasted absolutely delicious ! Easy recipe with great results ! The texture and taste was perfect.
Made this for an end of summer swim breakfast, and everyone loved it. Adding it to my dessert rotation.
Hi
I want these as Muffins?What temperature and How long should i bake it for the muffin size?
Hi Amor, Here’s the muffins version of this recipe.
Still baking put in a rubber loaf pan with parchment paper and at 1 hour still mushy inside so the batter tasted delicious !we will see
I make this in the exact pan that Sally recommends, and it still always takes an hour in my oven . My oven temp is accurate.
Sounded good so I tried it. Came out good.
can you double this recipe?
Thank you
Hi Linda, See the recipe note (under the recipe) for instructions on baking this in a 9×13-inch pan.
I made this coffee cake and followed the recipe exactly and omitted the icing. Delicious! I’ll definitely be making again.
Awesome coffee cake recipe! The cake was light and fluffy, not dense. Thanks for the room temperature guidance. Want to try maple syrup instead of milk in the icing next time. Thank you!
I’m so thankful to have found you! Your recipes are by far the best! Easy to follow and super delicious !!
Thank you
Amazing recipe, I’m not the best baker, but this cake turned out fluffy, moist, delicious. My kids absolutely loved it. We added some cream on top and it went down a treat! Thank you so much for the recipe.
Can I make this into muffins??
Hi Ellie, we actually have a crumb cake muffins recipe that you can use!
I made this once in an 8×8 pan and it was perfect. I’d like to try to make it in a round bundt pan (approx 10 total diameter with about 1 3/4 inch hole). I’m fine to just stay close by and test for doneness, but was wondering if you think there will be enough batter, or should I increase? Thanks!
Hi Melinda, there isn’t enough batter for a standard Bundt or tube pan. However, if you try the 9×13-inch pan recipe/ingredient amounts (in the Notes), that would likely be enough! This Cake Pan Sizes & Conversions post might also be helpful!
super wonderful coffee cake, I will definitely make this again!
As is everything from Sally’s Baking Addiction, this was delish!
No edits, came out perfect.
Best coffee cake I have ever made! My son is getting married tomorrow. He called me to ask if I could make them a coffee cake to take on their honeymoon. I chose your recipe because it sounded so delicious! I did swap the vanilla extract for vanilla paste and it was amazing! I will make this for years to come!
Can one use yogurt in lieu of the sour cream?
Absolutely!
I followed the recipe to the T and I have to say the consistency and flavor is delicious! I baked it in a 9×5 loaf pan and it ended up taking about 45 mins to bake well. The only this is that it didn’t rise well and came out pretty flat – not sure why?
Thanks for this amazing recipe Can’t wait to try it
Thanks for this amazing recipe
10/10! Followed recipe to a T apart from the icing, 2TBS is too much when it’s milk. For heavy cream it would probably be fine! Just would suggest starting with a tiny splash knowing you can always add more. I also used a 9in round pan because it’s what I had and it worked great. And I used a spatula to dollop the batter all around for the second layer, I found it much easier to minimize the need to spread as much as possible.
Whenever I’m looking for a recipe and see SBA I know it’s a reliable source and always YUM (:
Did not rise with the amount of soda and powder listed. I used to make this recipe but adjusted the amounts. I wish I remembered to do that. Im left with a dense sad cake
How much baking powder and soda did you use
I was short 2 tbsp of butter for the cake but made it anyway. Tried to add a little extra fat by using half and half instead of milk, no idea if it did anything. This was so so good though! Tender and moist, we loved it. I will definitely make it again.
Use shortening when you are short on butter. I will even us all shortening when I don’t have any butter. Always come out right for me.