Cinnamon Coffee Cake Recipe (2024)

Say goodbye to bakery or cafe pastries when you can enjoy thisEasy Cinnamon Coffee Cake recipe at home whenever you like. With regular pantry staples, this moist coffee cake features a tender cake and a crunchy cinnamon sugar layer on top.

We have so many great coffee cake recipes at Good Cheap Eats. Be sure to try Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake and Blueberry Lemon Coffee Cake.

Coffee cake is probably one of my favorite breakfast dishes to prepare. I can feed a crowd in one fell swoop by stirring up a sweet batter and baking it in the oven. While I have some favorite flavors and fruity options, one go-to combination is this Cinnamon Coffee Cake.

Cinnamon is not only on the list of healthy spices, but it’s also an affordable pantry staple to keep on hand.It’s basically always in season! This means you can basically serve a bakery quality coffee cake on even the smallest of budgets.

Why Make This

It’s easy. This Cinnamon Coffee Cake is easy to pull together, makes a great make-ahead baking mix, and freezes beautifully.

It’s delicious. Cinnamon and brown sugar form a crunchy topping that sits and settles into a spiced cake, making a perfect accompaniment to your favorite hot beverages. Bake this Cinnamon Coffee Cake for your next breakfast, brunch, or tea!

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make Cinnamon Coffee Cake:

sugar – You’ll need granulated sugar for the cake layer and light brown sugar for the crunchy topping. Remember you can make brown sugar if you run out.

neutral oil – A neutral baking oil, like avocado, sunflower, or canola is good for the cake batter as it lets more of the spice flavors shine through.

egg – You’ll need one egg for this recipe, but you can also use our flaxseed meal egg substitute if needed. The texture won’t be exactly the same, but it’s a nice alternative when you want to go egg-free.

milk – I use dairy milk, but you can use buttermilk, cream, or a plant-based milk. For a richer coffee cake, mix in a few spoonfuls of sour cream in place of some of the milk. (see variation below)

vanilla extract – This extract adds nice flavor to the cake, but you can also use almond extract if you prefer.

flour – I like to use unbleached, all purpose flour in my baking recipes, but you can also use regular or even whole wheat pastry flour. I’ve not tested this recipe gluten free, but if you do, please let us know in the comments how it goes.

baking powder – This leavening helps the cake be light and fluffy. If you’ve run out, you can substitute ½ teaspoon baking soda and ¾ teaspoon cream of tartar.

spices – I use both ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg. You can also substitute pumpkin pie spice if you like.

salt – Salt adds flavor and helps the texture of the cake. Don’t leave it out.

melted butter – This helps the cinnamon crumb topping come together and helps it be nice and crunchy. You can use a plant-based butter or margarine if you prefer.

Variations

• Sour Cream Coffee Cake – substitute half the milk with sour cream when mixing the cake batter.
• Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake – if you’d prefer a swirl in your crumb cake, then fill the pan with half the batter. Sprinkle half the cinnamon sugar topping over the batter. Repeat the layers and bake.
• Nutty Cinnamon Coffee Cake – add chopped nuts to the brown sugar streusel topping
• Cream Cheese Topping – serve the cake with Sweet Cream Cheese

Step-by-Step Instructions

Here’s how to make Cinnamon Coffee Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 °. Grease a 9×13 baking pan or a 9-inch springform pan.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar and oil. Mix in the egg and vanilla until smooth. Stir in the milk.

Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Blend just until mixed.

Spoon into the prepared pan.

In a small bowl, combine the topping ingredients and sprinkle them over the batter.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Cool on a rack slightly before serving.

To freeze:The cooled cake can be wrapped in double layers of foil or plastic wrap and stored in the freezer, up to 2 months. Thaw, wrapped, at room temperature before serving.

To make as a mix:Take a small bagand a large ziptop bag or container. Label the larger with the wet ingredients to be added later and the baking instructions. Place the dry topping ingredients into the small bag and the dry ingredients for the cake layer into the larger bag. Seal and store together until ready to use.

FAQs

More Great Quick Breads and Muffins

This post was originally published on January 18, 2012. It has been updated for content and clarity.

P.S. The comments from January 2012 do reflect typos that have since been rectified. What a nightmare posting day! However, all was not lost! The resulting second recipe turned out to be delicious, albeit not the coffeecake everyone was expecting. You can find our happy accident Snickerdoodle Bars here.