Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Sour Cream Coffee Cake, with a sweet and crunchy streusel topping and a spiced sugar pecan layer in the middle, is the most delicious cinnamon crumb cake recipe you’ll find!

This is the perfect sweet treat to make for entertaining or to bring to a breakfast get-together with friends. The inside of this flavorful cake is super moist! You can make it in an angel food tube pan, a Bundt pan, or a deep 9×13 inch baking dish.

When I was a kid, I never understood why something like a classic crumb cake had the name coffee cake when there was no coffee listed in the ingredients! It was only when I got older and love starting my morning with a hot cup of coffee and a homemade pastry that I finally understood. Coffee cake tastes amazing with a hot cup of coffee!

Why I love this recipe

• Made with simple pantry ingredients
• One of my favorite brunch recipes and perfect for special occasions
• There is a perfect balance of sweetness and spice
• This recipe makes a lot and there’s enough streusel to not fight over a specific piece

What does sour cream do for coffee cake?

Classic sour cream coffee cake is pretty much the best version of the recipe out there. Why? Because sour cream makes it moist and rich.

I recommend using full-fat sour cream instead of reduced-fat sour cream when you make this recipe. Even though there’s butter in the cake, the addition of fat in the sour cream helps to short the gluten strands. This ultimately leads to an incredibly tender cake.

Even though sour cream has a slightly tangy flavor, that part does not come through in the cake.

Ingredients needed to make classic coffee cake

The exact quantities are listed in the recipe card below, but here is a summary.

Pecan filling ingredients

This simple mixture of brown sugar, chopped pecans, and cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice gets mixed together.

Crumb topping ingredients

The streusel mixture that creates those delicious crunchy and moist crumbs on top consists of granulated sugar, salt, all-purpose flour, cinnamon, and butter.

Cake batter ingredients

The cake ingredients include flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, unsalted butter, sugar, room temperature eggs, vanilla extract, and sour cream.

How to make sour cream coffee cake

As with most baking recipes, you’ll need to preheat the oven and grease your pan. This recipe works with a 10-inch tube pan, a large bundt pan, or a deep 9×13-inch casserole dish.

Prepare the streusel topping

You will make the topping by whisking together the sugar, salt, flour, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. The melted butter is added and the mixture is stirred until well combined. You will have various sizes of those cinnamon crumbs.

Mix the batter

To make the cake, whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and white sugar using the paddle attachment on high speed until light and fluffy. Stir in eggs and vanilla on low speed until combined. Scrape sides down as needed. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream. Do not over-mix.

Prepare the cake

Spread 1/3 of the cake batter in the prepared pan. Sprinkle with 1/2 of the filling mixture. Cover with another third of the cake batter, then the remaining filling, and then the remaining batter. Sprinkle the topping mixture over the batter in the pan.

Bake the homemade coffee cake

Set the cake in the preheated oven and bake for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Cut into individual slices and enjoy this sweet cake!

Storage

Any leftover coffee cake can be stored in an airtight container. It’s fine left out at room temperature but will last longer if refrigerated. Individual portions can be cut and wrapped tightly in plastic wrap as well.

Coffee cake also freezes well. Simple store in a freezer bag with any excess air squeezed out.

Cinnamon sugar breakfast treats

If you’re looking for that same great cinnamon sugar flavor, you might want to try these favorite recipes.

• Everyone’s favorite Easy Monkey Bread Recipe – passed down from Granny!
• Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
• Upside Down Cranberry Coffee Cake
• Pumpkin Coffee Cake

This recipe was originally published in November 2017 and has been updated with helpful information, ingredient and process photos, as well as recipe tips. Don’t worry – the recipe hasn’t changed!