Extra Crumb Cinnamon Struesel Sour Cream Coffee Cake…this recipe is a mouthful. A mouthful meaning it takes a really long time to say, and that you will keep your mouth full as soon as this gets out of the oven. Trust me.
So, I have been trying to eat healthier lately. The problem is, I love baking. I love baked goods. I love sugar. I love bakeries. I love…well, you get the point. For me, there’s nothing better than a nice chunk of cake, cup of coffee, and reading a book. Perfection.
Let’s just say, my diets never usually last that long.
I will have some future healthy desserts coming up soon.
This isn’t one of them.
But it is absolutely delicious! This recipe is adapted from Joy the Baker Cookbook: 100 Simple and Comforting Recipes. It’s a keeper!
Extra Crumb Cinnamon Struesel Sour Cream Coffee Cake
(Adapted from Joy the Baker Cookbook)
Makes 1 very large 13×9 coffee cake
Extra Crumb Cinnamon Struesel Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Ingredients
CINNAMON STRUESEL TOPPING:
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp. cinnamon
- 6 tbsp. butter melted
BROWN SUGAR FILLING:
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp. cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
- 3 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 tsp. salt
CAKE:
- 1 1/2 sticks butter softened
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour sifted
- 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- 3/4 cup sour cream I use Greek yogurt sometimes
- 1 1/2 cups milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and place a rack in the upper third of the oven. Line a 13×9 pan with parchment paper, spray with nonstick spray, or grease with butter or coconut oil.
- For Cinnamon Struesel Topping- In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour and cinnamon. Stir in the butter until evenly coated and set aside.
- For Brown Sugar Filling- In a small bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cocoa powder and salt. Set aside.
- For Cake- Using an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugars until very well combined, about 4 minutes.
- Beat in the vanilla.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 1 minute after adding each one. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In another small bowl, whisk together the milk and sour cream (or yogurt) until well combined. No need to whisk out all the lumps.
- With the mixer on low speed, add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the batter.
- As it’s mixing, add 1/2 of the milk mixture.
- Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture.
- Add the rest of the milk mixture.
- Add the remaining 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix until well combined, scraping down the sides of your bowl.
- Spread half of your batter in the bottom of your prepared pan, making sure to spread it to the edges.
- Sprinkle your brown sugar filling on top of the batter.
- Dollop the rest of your cake batter on top of your filling, using a spatula to spread the batter across the pan.
- Using a butter knife, gently swirl the filling into the batter.
- Sprinkle all of the topping on your cake.
- Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool before serving. Cake will last at room temperature for about 5 days. Enjoy!
Love cakes and this one looks so good! Thanks
Thank YOU, Maria! 🙂
Bekka, is it better to add butter on top of the struseel or just make a glaze to keep it from bei g so dry?
I made this for the first time and this is what I did. I melted the butter and poured it over the batter then put the topping on top of that. I will see how it turns out.
THANK you for such a WONDERFUL recipe!! I did in fact use sour cream and in fact went along and used sour milk. I had no brown sugar so just used confectioner’s for the cake and used half of the filling but went all the way with the streusel… OMG, its AMAZING!!! It’s sort of like the coffee cake I died for in middle school and had never found anything that would resemble it! Thank you so much for this… will definitely snoop around your site to see what other deliciousness goodies you have around 🙂
So happy you enjoyed this coffee cake, Carol! 🙂 Love all the tweaks you made. You are very welcome, and thank YOU for visiting my site!
This was an excellent recipe & my cake is a hit in my home!! But I have a question about the cocoa powder used for the filling. Was it suppose to be unsweetened cocoa powder? That’s what I ended up using because that was all I had. Thank you!!
Hi Tiffany! Thanks so much for coming by my blog! So glad you enjoyed this recipe. Yep, I meant unsweetened cocoa powder. I should probably mention that in the recipe–I’ll change it right away. Thanks again! Have a great day. 🙂
I love that this is a big batch cake. Will definitely feed a crowd! With a family of 4 it’s tough to make my baking last throughout the week. I changed it just a little. In the brown sugar filling I added a little strong brew coffee and whisked together till I got a thick liquid paste. Runny enough to spoon over the cake but still very thick. I learned that coco and coffee go together like basil and tomatoes. Thanks for sharing. I think this one is a new family fave!
THANK YOU, Diane! Am so very happy to hear you and your family enjoyed this one. The coffee in the filling is an AWESOME idea- love your creativity. Thanks so much for coming by my blog and for the feedback, I appreciate it. 🙂
Oh my gosh! I get married in 3 weeks and I wanted something that I can make ahead (on Thursday before the wedding, obviously :P) and give to the wedding party for breakfast (especially the bridesmaids at the salon!, we’re all going to be starving lol) and I am beyond excited to try this recipe for them!(: it was the most reprinted and favorited recipe on Pinterest!(: thank you so very much for sharing it!!(:
Hi Laura! First of all, congratulations on your upcoming wedding! That is so awesome. Secondly, thanks so much for visiting my blog and choosing my recipe to make! That makes me so happy to hear it, you don’t even know. I really, really hope you enjoy the recipe and that your wedding day is perfect! Congrats again! Thanks so much. 🙂
How long do you bake if using a bundt pan?
Hi Kathy! I’ve never made it in a bundt pan before, but I’m guessing the cooking time would be similar. If I were you, I’d start with 45 minutes and then keep checking every five minutes or so until your toothpick comes out clean. Hope this helps! 🙂
Bekah,
We’re looking forward to trying the cake this weekend. Sticks of butter…are these 1/4c or 1/2 cup sticks?
Hi Bob. That would be a 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) for one stick of butter. Happy to hear you want to try – hope you enjoy! Thanks so much for visiting my blog. 🙂
What should i put on top of the struseel to not make it so dry while its baking? Butter or just wait until its done for a drizzle of icing?
Hi Cornella. I didn’t find it dry when I made it, but I’ve had a lot of feedback that it was. I would try adding some butter to the struesel AND putting an icing on top. Both should help. Thanks for trying!
I often will wait until half way through the baking time to place my streusel or crumb topping on; this way it is still soft and doesn’t get hard or dry by the time the cake is done. It works for cakes and fruit pies alike! Try it…
Awesome tip, ReNay! 🙂
Hi ☺Just made this cake an it was amazing!!Thanks for the recipe.The only problem I encountered was was my struesel topping ended up a bit dry.I just whipped up some carmel sauce and drizzled it over top and it was great but could I put more butter in it?Thanks again.
Hi Tanya! Yay!! So happy you enjoyed this recipe. Thanks for letting me know about the dryness – I’m going to be doing some recipe testing and I’ll reevaluate the butter when I do. I don’t think it would hurt at all to add more butter! 😉 And I’m pretty sure that’ll solve the dryness, if you want to try. Thanks again for coming by!! I appreciate the feedback. 🙂
I just made this and it was SO GOOD! I also noticed that the crumble top was a little dry though, even with two extra tablespoons of butter. I added a crisscrossed sugar glaze (1.5c confectioner’s sugar, 3 scant tbsp milk, 1/2 tsp vanilla) over the top and it was DECADENT! Thank you so much.
Yay! So happy you liked it!! Thanks for telling me. 🙂 You know, I’ve gotten a few people who have said the crumble was too dry. I think I’ll do some more testing on this recipe and see if adding even more butter will help – if it does I will definitely add it to the recipe. A glaze is a fantastic idea! Thanks again for letting me know and for visiting my site!
can this be frozen and rewarmed? Thanks!
read some of the comments swap white sugar for light brown sugar and decrease flour for crumb top…this will help with dryness.
Yep, it can definitely be frozen Heather! To reheat, thaw overnight on the counter or place in a preheated oven to 300 degrees and heat until warmed through. Hope this helps. And thanks for the advice! I will be doing some recipe testing to see what works. Thanks for coming by my blog – hope you enjoy the recipe! 🙂
WoW! Served this for my card group and it was a hit! Didn’t have time to let it cool and it was amazing warm!
Thanx for sharing this delish recipe.
Yay!! I’m so happy to hear you and your group enjoyed this coffee cake. Thanks so much for leaving this lovely feedback! Made my day. Thanks again for visiting my blog. 🙂
I probably dirtied every bowl in my kitchen making this, but soo worth it. It’s veey rich and was a big hit at my work. Thanks for the recipe!
Lol, thank you so much! So happy you enjoyed it. 🙂
AHHMAZING!!!! I made this tonight and followed the recipe exactly. I must have a cold oven though because it took 1 hour and 25 minutes for my toothpick to come out clean. Worth the wait, though! Definitely making this again. (Also, the “will last 5 days” comment made me chuckle — it won’t last that long in my house; it’s too good!)
This comment just made my day, Sarah! I’m thrilled you enjoyed the recipe. I actually think I have a warmer oven so sometimes I don’t get the timing accurate…sorry about that! Anyways, thanks so much for taking the time to leave this lovely review!! ❤️
My crumb topping didn’t stick! It was just sandy and sat on top.I even used a whole stick of butter instead of 6 tbsp. to hold it together!
I’m sorry to hear that, Anna. 🙁
I baked this a day before I’m going to serve it. Do I need to refrigerate it, or should I leave it out? Oh, and it smells like heaven!
Hi, Elise! Very cool. Nope, no need to refrigerate. I would just cover with seran/cling wrap or foil to stay moist, but it’s totally fine at room temp. Hope you enjoy, and thanks so much for trying the recipe! 🙂
Let me start by saying that this recipe is delicious… That being said, the crumb topping needs more butter and less flour and the bake time is about 1 hour and 15 minutes if you bake it in a standard 9 x 13 glass dish. But it incredible, especially when served warm with royal icing! Definitely a keeper recipe!
Thanks, Kay!
hi, If i want to make this recipe in a 9×9 pan, how do you think I should alter the measurements? thank you!
Hi Cameron,
If you’re going to be using a 9 x 9, I would suggest halving the recipe since it’s a pretty tall coffee cake. Just make sure you half everything! It should turn out fine. 🙂 I might watch the cooking time as well.
Thank YOU! Hope it turns out well. Merry Christmas!
Thank you for posting this recipe…it looks DELICIOUS. Perfect for a good Christmas treat in the morning. Can I put it all together the day before and bake it the following morning?
Hi Michelle! Absolutely, I don’t see why not. If you make the dough you can assemble, cover with plastic wrap, and leave overnight in the fridge. It should be perfect for baking in the morning.
Thank YOU for visiting my blog. Merry Christmas! ❤
This looks delicious! Can’t wait to try it! I was wondering if you have any suggestions for baking it in loaf pans?
Oh my goodness, I am so sorry for not replying to this sooner Kara! While I’ve never personally made this recipe in loaf pans, I would keep everything the same (layering, temperature, etc.) but definitely would change the baking time. I would start with 30 minutes and then check on it with 5 minute increments afterwards, just to make sure it doesn’t get too dry.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
I love coffee cake and when I saw this online, I thought I’d try it. It turned out HORRIBLE!!! I was so upset. There must be something wrong with the recipe that you posted. Did the recipe belong to someone else and you posted it in your own way or did you create it? I’m 51yrs old and I’ve been baking since I was a little girl. I’ve only had 2 cakes ever turn out bad in my entire life. This one and a “Sparkling Cranberry Cake” recipe that I had found this past Christmas on another “Blog”. Funny how they both turned out about the same texture. Cake did not rise properly and had a fruit cake like consistency. Did anyone else have this problem? I’m more upset that I wasted so much time, dirtied so many dishes and used so many ingredients on something that turned out completely Inedible. I will NEVER waste my time or money on ingredients for another recipe from someone’s blog. I feel like I should be reimbursed for this. I also don’t think people should post comments on a Picture of food, without actually cooking or baking the item first. Of course the pic looks good, duh. I want to see reviews of the recipe and how it turned out. Not their opinion on a picture of food. Geesh. (I’m actually a really sweet person and never say anything mean or rude to anyone and usually let everything slide and just say, oh well. But after the second time, I felt that I just had to say something so that someone else didn’t waste their time and money as I did.)
I’m right there with Katie. This cake recipe was a total disaster. SO much ingredients wasted. The “crumb” topping was a powder, not a crumb topping at all. The cake was so gigantic, and the crumb topping so heavy, that the cake simply could not rise and took forever to cook all the way through. I cooked it for a half an hour LONGER than suggested and I ended up with a dense, rubbery, mess of a cake. I followed the recipe perfectly and it simply does not produce a cake that looks like the photo. This feels like deception and, like Katie, I have an enormous cake that must be dumped and I am out the time, the energy, and the money.
You didn’t respond to Katie’s point. There is nothing inherently wrong with blogging, but it is deceptive when you post recipes without trying them first. You’re deceiving your followers. Go ahead and bake this cake and you will see that it does not produce anything close to what is depicted in that photo.
Don’t blame Katie for the problematic cake. You posted the bum recipe and acted like it was amazing.
It was amazing lol. If people don’t know how to follow a recipe why is it a bloggers fault?! Lol How do you think she got this picture? From following a recipe. But if you and a few others can’t follow a recipe, why is it someone else’s fault?!
This comment was downright mean. FYI, I’ve been using this recipe for almost a decade! I use it for muffins and donuts too because it is so good and has the best texture and flavor. If you’ve been baking so long, perhaps your ego is preventing you from recognizing you may have made a mistake? Or perhaps you’re at the age where you’re starting to forget things, and your working memory is impacted, so you can’t remember you must’ve left out an ingredient or two. Please do not bash the creator of this amazing recipe when you didn’t make the recipe correctly, coming from someone who uses this as a staple in the kitchen, and I bake and sell my goods too. There is nothing wrong with the recipe.
Honest, just wanted to pop in and say I really appreciate your comment! Thank you.
(I love that you use this recipe for muffins and donuts too, that’s so cool!)
Delicious! Didn’t make it will the filling because I don’t like too sweet of desserts and it still turned out amazing. So moist and delicious!
Hi Maddie! Thank you so much, I so appreciate the feedback. What a great idea! Though I’m a big fan of sugar, my parents prefer less-sweet desserts, so I will have to try that sometime for this recipe. 🙂 Have a great day!
Made it for church and it came out great!! Received many compliments and requests to share the recipe! Thanks you for the recipe!
Hey Kelley! Yay, I am so happy you enjoyed this recipe! Thank YOU for reading and sharing your feedback. 🙂
*gulp*
This looks… AMAZING.
*saving this for future baking*
<3__<3
Yay, Zoey! Glad you think so. Hope that when/if you make this, it comes out fantastically!
Thanks for the lovely comment. 🙂
I have this cake in the oven so can’t comment on the finished product yet but I wondered why it’s called a coffee cake when there’s no coffee in the ingredients…or is it meant to be served with coffee ( sorry I’m in the UK so maybe I’ve misunderstood!) and the streusel topping in the picture looks like it’s made with brown sugar but it doesn’t actually say that in the recipe…should it be white or brown sugar?
I am REALLY sorry I am just now replying to your comment! I just saw it. Coffee cake in the US just means a cake that is served with coffee, it doesn’t have coffee in it. I had no idea it wasn’t a thing in the UK too! I love learning things like this. 🙂
I made the topping with white sugar, but *a lot* of commenters have suggested brown sugar instead. It’s up to you! I know a lot of people also suggested adding more butter since they thought the topping too crumbly, but I haven’t tried it yet. It was a crowd-pleaser whenever I’ve made it!
Thank you SO much for trying! I really hope you enjoyed it!
I haven’t tried your recipe yet but I certainly will! It looks delicious. I love reading about you and your interests…being Christian (me too), reading (I never go anywhere without my IPad) and looking up recipes. I look forward to reading more of your blog!
Hi Barbara! Thank you so much–your comment made my day! I’m the same way with my kindle. Before I got it, I used to carry tote bags/purses with all my books. Now I have less back problems. 😉 I love that we have similar interests and it’s really nice to “meet” you! Thanks so much for stopping by my blog.
Thank you for a delicious cake recipe. I will be making it again. However, the streusel topping needed twice the amount of butter you called for. I realized that before I put it on the cake – I should have modified it at that time, but I trusted and much of it was like powder. Otherwise, a fabulous recipe.
Thank you for the feedback, Karen! I truly appreciate it. 🙂
Loved this coffe cake! Was delicious ! I just put 1 cup sugar in strusel and 1 cup in cake mixture. It was plenty sweet enough. I used half sour cream and half Greek yogurt. Turned out great! Had to have a piece while still warm.
Hey Sue! Yay, thanks so much for leaving this lovely comment! I’m so happy you enjoyed it. The modifications you made sound like good ideas and I’ll have to try it next time I make this coffee cake. Thanks again and have a lovely day!
Cake was awesome, I do believe the strusel need more moisture. Will be making it again.
Hi Verna! I’m so happy you liked it! Thanks so much for the feedback, I really appreciate it. Have a wonderful day!
I am making this right now at 11:45 p.m. I did not have enough sour cream so I added some lemon yogurt to sour cream to make the correct amount. I am excited to see how it turns out. It sure looks super yummy.
I was looking for a streusel to put on top of a store bought cake mix from Trader Joe’s, so I only made the streusel, not the entire cake. I agree with Verna – the streusel needs more moisture, or less flour? The topping came out very dry and fine, not crumby (no pun intended) like I usually aim for.
I mean…I only made the streusel from this recipe, not the cake. I used the Trader Joe’s cake mix for the cake portion.
This was one of the best coffee cakes I have ever made, and I’ve tried a lot :-). The topping comes out just as it’s pictured, more of a cinnamon sugar texture. My teenagers devoured this cake in a couple hours. Thanks!
Yay! I’m so glad you and your family enjoyed this, Megan. Thanks so much for leaving this comment!
How much milk does the recipe call for? Thanks!
Hey MaLyn, it 1½ cups milk. Thank you!
I made this coffee cake yesterday for Christmas morning and was glad I read the reviews. I adjusted the topping to include 1 C flour, 3/4 C brown sugar and 1/2 C white sugar and a whole 8 tbsp butter. I followed the rest of the recipe exactly and it was PHENOMENAL! So moist, topping perfectly moist, it was a huge hit and enough to share with my family and my in laws family. I will be making this again FOR SURE.
This is late, but thanks for sharing Jennifer! 🙂
I’m going to make your recipe for coffee cake. If I’m using a ceramic dish do I still need the parchment paper? Will it taste right without cocoa powder?
no matter what I bake in the way of a cake, brownies, etc., I always use parchment in the form of a cross so I can just lift out w-out breaking apart. This is always a safeguard for me.
First of all, I just finished reading the comments after making this recipe for the first time several weeks ago and all I can say is wow. This recipe is absolutely amazing! My friends and family asked for it again as the last piece was gobbled. Looking forward to making it again and most likely adjust the crumb topping ever so slightly so it’s not so grainy. Secondly I must say that some of the negative comments are unfortunate and not just negative but unkind and attacking as well. I have several favorite food blogs and appreciate all bloggers for what they do and give us some fun reading, pictures, tips and sometimes videos along with their free publications. Keep on blogging Bekah, looking forward to making some of your other divine looking recipes!
Diane, thank you for sharing your experience! I appreciate the kind comment. 🙂
Holy cow! This is an absolute winner of a cake! And it turned out just as pictured. I think some people don’t know how to bake and that’s why there are some negative comments. Don’t blame the blogger, blame yourself.