Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Sour Cream Coffee Cake is what all your breakfast dreams are made of. This soft and moist cake has a cinnamon swirl and is topped with a thick streusel crumble topping. Step-by-step photos show you how to bake this delicious coffee cake recipe.

Growing up my parents always took us to the coffee shop and out treat for being good kids was a big piece of coffee cake to share. We LOVED it. It's been years since I had that coffee cake but the memories of that cake inspired this one.

Sour cream creates such a soft, tender, and moist crumb. My nephew said this sour cream coffee cake was FIRE, he's 5 years old.

He is not wrong, it is absolutely delicious!!

Ingredients

This ingredient list may seem long, but I promise it is worth it! You're going to be making three components; the cake, the swirl, and the crumble streusel topping.

• Light Brown Sugar. We'll use this for both the streusel and the cinnamon swirl. You could use dark brown sugar too.
• Ground Cinnamon. This ingredient we will also use this for both the streusel and the cinnamon swirl.
• All-Purpose Flour. Also known as plain flour, this is used for the crumble topping and the cake.
• Butter. For the streusel topping, you can use melted butter but for the cake, we need to cream the butter and sugar so you'll need room temperature butter.
• Chemical leavening agents. We use both baking soda and baking powder. Too much baking powder can make recipes have a metallic taste.
• Salt. Don't skip it!!
• Vegetable Oil. For the cake base we cream the butter and sugar but adding a bit of oil helps ensure a super moist cake.
• Sugar. You'll just need good old granulated sugar also known as caster sugar.
• Eggs. You'll need large ones. Make sure they are at room temperature so they will evenly combine with the rest of the cake ingredients.
• Pure Vanilla Extract. Use the real stuff for great flavor.
• Sour Cream. The star of the cake. This helps provide such a delicious, delicate, tender crumb. Make sure you let it sit out for about an hour or so to come to room temperature. I know this sounds tedious but it really does make a difference when the ingredients combine.

I love baking with sour cream check out my sour cream pound cake and chocolate sour cream cake!

For ingredient quantities please reference the recipe card below. On the recipe card there is a button for US or M (Metric) measurements.

Instructions

One of the important things for any baking recipe is to make sure your oven is properly preheated. For this recipe, you need to preheat your oven to 350F/180C. Next, is prepping our pan, after all, you need the cake to come out of the pan! Line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment so that the parchment paper overhangs on the sides, this will help you pull the baked cake out of the pan later. Grease the parchment with non-stick baking spray and set aside.

In a small bowl whisk together the brown sugar and cinnamon until evenly combined, set aside while you make the next two components.

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon.

Pour in the melted butter and use a spatula to mix it all together to moisten everything.

This process will take a couple of minutes, you want a wet sand texture, thick clumps are good. Set this aside while you prepare the cake.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a large bowl with a handheld electric whisk beat the sugar, oil, and butter together for 2-3 minutes, scrape down the bowl after the first minute then continue mixing.

You want a light and fluffy mixture.

Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition and make sure the egg is fully combined, there should be no trace of egg yolk.

Add the vanilla in with the last egg.

Make sure you scrape the bottom of the bowl so everything is combined.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Gently fold in ⅓ of the dry ingredients until just almost combined, then gently fold in ½ of the sour cream until just combined, then repeat with ⅓ of the dry, the rest of the sour cream, and finish with the remaining flour. Do not over mix, this is crucial when making a cake, you do not want to overdevelop the gluten. Over mixing the gluten (flour) will create a tough cake.

Pour ½ of the batter into the prepared pan then sprinkle all of the cinnamon swirl mixture on top in an even layer.

Scoop spoonfuls of the remaining batter on top of the cinnamon swirl layer and use an angled spatula to spread the cake batter into an even layer, if some of the cinnamon swirls on top it is okay.

Sprinkle all of the crumble on top into an even layer. Bake for 40-50 minutes, since the cake is covered in a crumble it is best to check by using a toothpick test, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake, moist crumbs are okay but if there is any wet batter the cake will need to cook longer. You could also use a cake tester.

Let the cake cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before using the parchment overhang to gently and quickly remove it from the pan.

This cake is best served the day it is made but leftovers will last in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Or freeze leftovers- directions below!

I mean look at that cinnamon middle layer, moist cake, and thick crumble! How can you not swoon!! Next time try my cinnamon roll monkey bread.

How to freeze and thaw

Let the sour cream coffee cake cool completely, I prefer to slice the cake into squares or pieces and wrap individually.

I like to tightly wrap each piece in plastic wrap, twice, then store the wrapped pieces in a freezer safe bag or air-tight container. Just to ensure no freezer bite happens.

When you want to enjoy a slice of the coffee cake just take it out of the freezer and let it sit at room temperature for about an hour or so, more time if the pieces are larger.

I also find when freezing most things that I like to keep them frozen for only about a month or so, after that the freezer taste comes through.

More brunch recipes

These brown shugary Apple Monkey Bread Muffins are extra special.

Who doesn't want chocolate for breakfast? You'll love these Chocolate Chip Pancakes.

A perfect breakfast treat or any time of the day snack! Banana Bread is a family favorite.

Brown Butter Cinnamon Rolls, trust me brown butter makes everything better.

And you have to check out my friend Ari's post on How to make an EPIC Bagel Board!

★★★★★ Please let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a star rating and comment below!

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