Easy Coffee Cake

This Easy Coffee Cake is moist and delicious and topped with a thick brown sugar crumble that will melt in your mouth. In less than one hour, you can be enjoying a warm slice of heaven.

Coffee cakes are one of the best kind of cakes because they can be eaten at any time of day. Serve it for breakfast or serve it for dessert; either way it's delicious and everyone will love it.

Over the years I have made many different kinds of coffee cakes, but I always come back to a simple sour cream coffee cake. Most of the time I do layers of the cake and crumble, so there is swirl in the center. 

To make this coffee cake recipe even easier, I decided to spread all of the batter in the pan and bake all of the crumble on top. You are going to love the thick buttery topping on this easy coffee cake. It will melt in your mouth.

If you are looking for a delicious treat to make for brunch, baby showers, or holiday breakfast, try this breakfast cake. It always gets two thumbs up from everyone who tries it.

Does coffee cake have coffee in it?

Most coffee cakes have zero coffee added to them. These breakfast cakes were called "coffee" cakes because they were always being served with a hot cup of coffee.

Ingredients Needed

This easy coffee cake recipe comes together quickly with simple pantry ingredients that you probably already have on hand.

For the Brown Sugar Crumble

• Brown Sugar - Sweetens the crumble topping.
• Salt - Balances out the sweetness from all the sugar.
• Cinnamon - Adds a great flavor.
• Flour - Adds structure to the crumbs, so they hold their shape as they bake.
• Butter - Gives the streusel topping a rich buttery flavor.

For the Cake

• Granulated Sugar - Adds a sweetness to the cake. It also keeps baked goods soft and moist.
• Butter - Adds flavor as it creams with the sugar.
• Sour Cream - Gives the cake a dense moist texture and tender crumb.
• Vanilla Extract - Adds flavor.
• Large Eggs - Binds the ingredients together.
• Salt - Balances out the sweet flavor from all the sugar.
• Baking Powder - Provides the lift as the cake bakes.
• Flour - Adds structure to the cake ingredients. Read our tutorial to learn how to measure flour correctly.

How to make Easy Coffee Cake 

This crumble topped coffee cake is very simple. It's easy to make the batter and crumbs and spread it in a pan in under 15 minutes. Once it bakes you will have the most delicious coffee cake waiting for you to dig in. The only question is to glaze or not to glaze?

Step One: Make Crumble Topping

1. Stir together brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and flour in a small bowl.
2. Add softened butter and mix until it is crumbly.
3. Use your hands to clump large crumbs together.
4. Set the crumbs aside.

Step Two: Make Batter

1. Mix the sugar and butter in a large bowl until light and creamy.
2. Add the sour cream, eggs, and vanilla and mix again.
3. Beat in the dry ingredients until the batter forms.

Step Three: Bake and Cool.

1. Spread the batter in a greased 9x13 pan.
2. Use your hands to crumble the streusel topping pieces evenly over the top of the batter.
3. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean.
4. Remove and let the coffee cake cool.
5. Drizzle a sweet powdered sugar glaze over the cake before serving.

Recipe Tips & Variations

• Adding sour cream makes this cake very moist and delicious. You can also use plain Greek yogurt.
• The crumb topping is very easy to make. Use your hands to clump the mixture together into large pieces.
• Once this cake is cut, make sure to cover it tightly to keep it from drying out.
• Add ½ cup of your favorite finely chopped nuts to the crumble topping.
• Want to serve this during the fall months?  Use pumpkin pie spice instead of the cinnamon.

How to Store Coffee Cake

Coffee cakes tend to get better and better each day. Keep the tightly covered cake on the counter for 3-4 days. It will also keep in the refrigerator for 4-7 days if you keep it tightly covered.

This easy coffee cake also freezes very well. Wrap the cooled cake tightly in plastic wrap and foil and freeze for 2-3 months. Before serving, defrost the cake on the counter until it reaches room temperature.

Reheat slices of this cake in the microwave for 10-20 seconds.