Sour cream coffee cake is moist and wonderfully flavorful. This coffee cake is topped with a delicious crumb topping and uses simple ingredients. One of the easiest (and most delicious) cake recipes!
It’s perfect for breakfast, brunch or with a cup of coffee. Fold in whatever type of fruit you prefer or leave it out for this moist coffee cake. Makes three (9×5-inch) loaves, ready in 60-minutes and a reader favorite!
I really wish you could smell and taste this delicious coffee cake right now! Oh, it smells amazing!
This recipe makes three loaves of loaf coffee cakes. They’re freezer friendly and absolutely delicious. Soft crumbs, moist and the perfect easy dessert for any occasion.
Why this recipe works
- Made with simple ingredients – This recipe uses ingredients readily available at most grocery stores.
- Prep ahead of time – It’s the type of cake that’s better the second day. Perfect cake recipe for any breakfast, brunch or potluck.
- Ease – Simple steps ensure the perfectly baked cake each and every time. Made in one bowl with either an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer. Fold in whatever type of fruit you prefer. Use wild blueberries or chopped apples when they are in season.
- Flavor – Full-fat sour cream, blueberries and a delicious crumb topping give this cake plenty of incredible flavor!
- Easy dessert – Ready in about 60-minutes, it’s the perfect holiday dessert recipe.
What you’ll need
- Butter – With all of our baking recipes, we always use unsalted butter so you can control the amount of salt in your recipes.
- Sugar – Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy for this cake.
- Eggs – Always let them warm up to room temperature for any baking recipe.
- Flour – Use all-purpose or cake flour for this cake recipe. Sift it to make sure your there are no lumps in your batter. (Use a flour sifter or a metal strainer and tap it against your hand over a bowl.)
Fold in whatever type of fruit you prefer to the batter of this easy coffee cake. Cut up two apples (Macoun, Granny Smith, or Macintosh) into small pieces and toss with a little cinnamon (maybe 1 teaspoon) and add to your cake batter.
You’ll need a few loaf pans. Order them here if you need. (These are my favorite that are made by USA pans)
These paper loaf pan liners are amazing! No need for spraying cooking spray on your pans. Just plop them into your loaf pans and you’ll easily remove the coffee cakes, banana bread, pumpkin bread and any yeast bread you bake.
How to make Sour Cream Coffee Cake
- Cream together butter & sugar- Cream together the sugar and butter. Be sure and scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula.
- Add vanilla, eggs, and sour cream- Add the vanilla, eggs, and sour cream.
- Incorporate the dry ingredients- Add half of the flour and combine. Add the remaining flour and baking powder and mix until combined.
- Divide batter into loaf pans- Divide the batter evenly between three (9×5-inch) lined loaf pans.
- Add crumb topping – Sprinkle crumb topping evenly over unbaked coffee cakes.
- Bake – Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 55-60 minutes. Use a toothpick when inserted comes out mostly clean, with only a few moist crumbs the cake is done.
- Remove cakes from baking pans – Let the cakes cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Remove from baking pans and let cool on a baking rack.
How to make crumb topping
Simply add the ingredients to a bowl and press together with your fingers to combine. Add the desired amount of cinnamon to your liking.
How to keep Coffee Cake moist
- My secret ingredient to keeping coffee cake moist and super fresh is dough conditioner. Professional bakers, such as my mom add this to all of their baking recipes. Add 1 teaspoon of dough conditioner to 1 cup of flour.
- Don’t over mix the cake batter. Overmixing cake batter can cause cakes to be tough.
- Add room temperature eggs one at a time and only until combined.
- Use full-fat sour cream or buttermilk and fresh ingredients.
- Don’t overbake the coffee cake! Check if your cake is done with a toothpick when inserted comes out mostly clean, with a few moist crumbs.
Recipe FAQs
Coffee cake is a moist cake that is topped with a cinnamon crumb topping and often served for breakfast or brunch along with coffee.
More Baking recipes
- Lemon Pound Cake
- Lemon Loaf Cake
- Banana Bread
- Strawberry Shortcake
- Red Velvet Marble Cake
- Blueberry Muffins
- Banana Muffins
- Chewy Brownies
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Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Sour Cream Coffee Cake
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter softened
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 ¼ cups full-fat sour cream
- 4 cups all-purpose or cake flour sifted
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
Crumb topping
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
Crumb Topping
- In a bowl, combine the ingredients with your fingers. Adjust the cinnamon to your liking.
Sour Cream Coffee Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line three loaf pans with baking papers. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl of a stand mixer or use an electric hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar.
- Add the salt, eggs, vanilla, and sour cream and combine. Occasionally scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
- Add the half of the flour and combine. Scrape the bowl again with a rubber spatula. Add the remaining flour and baking powder and mix until combined.
- Fold in the blueberries.
- Divide the batter evenly between the three (9×5-inch) loaf pans. Sprinkle the streusel topping evenly on the top of each unbaked coffee cake. (keep any leftover crumb topping in a freezer safe zip-style bag)
- Place the loaf pans on a half sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 60-65 minutes. Cakes are done when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool for 20 minutes before slicing.
Video
Recipe Notes
You do not need to add fruit if you do not wish. Fold in whatever type of fruit you prefer or leave it out. Add a bit more cinnamon to the recipe to make a darker crumb topping.
Nutrition
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Elizabeth says
I live at 7000 feet elevation, is there anything you think I should do to adjust the recipe for that?
Jessica Robinson says
Hey Elizabeth,
I have a food blogger friend who lives at 6,000 feet. She said she does my yellow cake recipe as written and it comes out perfect. Sometimes you need to add an extra egg or 1/4 cup additional flour. But she said the coffee cake should be good to go as written.
Jasmin says
just wondering if this can be done as muffins? They look amazing
Jessica Robinson says
Jasmin,
It absolutely can be made into muffins. I would recommend keeping an eye on them for baking time. Likely about 35 minutes for baking time. Check with a toothpick to be certain. You’ll want a few crumbs, but not cake batter.
Gail Douglass says
what is the dough conditioner you mentioned? I didn’t see a receipe for it in the article. Your blueberry bread looks heavenly! can’t wait to make it
Jessica Robinson says
Dough conditioner is linked in the blog post. It’s a product used commercially in bakeries to keep baked goods staying fresh longer.
Cheryl says
Is it possible to make this in a 9×9 or 9×13 pan? I don’t have the 3 loaf pans.
Jessica Robinson says
Hey Cheryl,
Yes! Absolutely can be made in a 9×13-inch pan. About the same baking time.
You’ll want to rotate it half way or three quarters the way through the baking process so it bakes evenly. You’ll want some crumbs on the toothpick. It will continue to bake & set a bit as it cools.
Kylie says
If you use cake flour, do you need to omit the baking powder?
Jessica Robinson says
You would not omit any ingredients while using cake flour.
Brenda Morales says
Amazing recipe … got all the raves it deserves !
Olga says
Is there any way I can cut back on the sugar? And how much? I have someone in the household that loves sweets but have to be careful. I would rather make homemade sweets than buy them in the store with all that junk that gets out into them.