Scrumptious Coffee Cake with a crumbly streusel topping. A moist and flavorful cake made with simple ingredients! Perfect to serve as dessert or to pair with a cup of coffee.

a slice of coffee cake on a white plate with a bite taken out of it and a cup of coffee in the background

Picture this, it’s Sunday morning, you have a hot cup of joe (or tea if that’s how you roll) and you’re missing something, but can’t figure out what it is. It’s this coffee cake. Tender and moist, with swirls of cinnamon sugar throughout and a crumbly streusel topping – it’s the perfect accompaniment to a good cup of coffee.

This coffee cake is incredibly easy to make, requires just a handful of pantry staple ingredients and trust me; it’s a lot cheaper than the over priced slice at Starbucks. This buttery, delectable cake will become a new favourite, if it’s not already. Let’s get to it!

What is coffee cake?

Coffee cake is just a name for any cake that is either flavored with or intended to be eaten alongside a cup of coffee. Coffee cake is moist, tender and is usually topped with some kind of streusel topping and served alongside coffee or tea at breakfast. In short, coffee cake may or may not have coffee in it, but the name comes from the fact that it is served with coffee!

Ingredients

Keep scrolling down to the printable recipe card for FULL ingredient amounts and instructions or click the “Jump to Recipe” button at the top of the page!

Butter – I used unsalted butter, softened.
Sugar – We are using both granulated and brown sugar.
Eggs – Large.
Vanilla Extract – Essential for this coffee cake.
Milk – Any milk will do! Dairy or non-dairy. I used 2%.
Flour – All purpose.
Baking Powder
Salt – To taste

Streusel Topping

Flour – A lil’ bit of all-purpose to help form the streusel.
Sugar – Brown Sugar is the only way to go.
Cinnamon – Ground cinnamon.
Butter – Melted.

How to make coffee cake

Preheat Oven – Preheat the oven to 350F.
Mix Ingredients – Add the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar to a large mixing bowl. Beat until light and fluffy.
Combine Dry and Wet Ingredients – Add the eggs, vanilla, and milk. Continue to beat until everything is well combined. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix just until combined.
Make Streusel Topping – Mix the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon for the streusel topping together in a small bowl.
Assemble – Pour half the batter into a greased 9×13 baking pan. Sprinkle 1/3 of the streusel mixture evenly over the batter, then pour the remaining batter over top. Sprinkle the remaining streusel mixture evenly over the top. Drizzle the melted butter over the topping.
Bake – Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean with no white batter (It may come out with some cinnamon and brown sugar.)

a full slice of freshly made coffee cake on a white plate with a cup of coffee in the background

How to serve

We know this pairs well with coffee, but to make it even more indulgent, why not add a drizzle of caramel sauce on top or a scoop of ice cream on the side! You can choose to enjoy this as a dessert, as a snack, or of course, as a treat with your favourite hot beverage.