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Golden, fluffy, and oh so buttery, this brown butter cinnamon streusel coffee cake is perfection. Featuring a brown butter cinnamon streusel ribbon and topping, this coffee cake is a dream for weekend brunch (and happens to be the perfect anytime snack with your favorite coffee!).
Served up warm and dusted with powdered sugar, you’ll love how effortlessly this recipe comes together.
If you like, make the brown butter streusel a day in advance (store tightly covered in the refrigerator overnight), and you’ll be one step ahead on baking day.
Craving more coffee cake? Try my popular sour cream coffee cake next!
More breakfast recipes you’ll love:
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Brown Butter Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 9 servings
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
Brown butter cinnamon streusel coffee cake featuring a brown butter cinnamon streusel ribbon and topping is the best coffee cake recipe!
Ingredients
Streusel
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp ice water
Cake
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 2/3 cup plain fat-free Greek yogurt, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup low-fat buttermilk, at room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and spray an 8-inch square baking pan with nonstick spray; dust lightly with flour.
- For the streusel, cook butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly until it foams, turns clear, and then turns a medium brown, about 5 minutes. Pour browned butter into a glass measuring cup and let cool for 5 minutes.
- Whisk together flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Add cooled butter and mix in with a fork until completely incorporated. Add ice water and mix in until streusel is crumbly. Chill until ready to use.
- For the cake, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat butter, sugar, and vanilla in a large mixer bowl at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg and yolk one at a time and beat well. Combine yogurt and buttermilk in a small bowl. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with yogurt mixture (begin and end with flour mixture).
- Spoon half the batter into prepared pan, and smooth with an offset spatula. Tap sharply to reduce air bubbles. Sprinkle 1/2 cup chilled streusel over the cake batter. Spoon remaining cake batter over the streusel, gently smoothing with offset spatula into an even layer. Tap pan sharply, and sprinkle with remaining streusel.
- Bake for 40 to 44 minutes, until coffee cake is golden, springs back to the touch, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for at least 1 hour before serving.
Notes
Streusel: The brown butter streusel can be made a day in advance and stored tightly covered in the refrigerator overnight.
This coffee cake is heavenly delicious!
The only problem I had was the layer of cake under the lower layer of streusel didn’t cook enough to eat. I cooked the cake in the 9″ springform pan for almost 90 minutes (covered at 40 mins per instructions). I have a thermometer in the oven and it stayed at 350 degrees.
Any thoughts?
I will make it again, but probably use a regular cake pan.
It’s an absolutely perfect crumb and streusel for coffee cake!
Hi Martha, thanks so much for your feedback. Are you at high altitude by chance? I mention that first, since it can significantly extend bake times. If not, then have you had any other recent issues with recipes and bake times? You mention that you have an oven thermometer, which is great. If this is the only recent recipe that didn’t bake as expected, then I would think it’s likely the springform pan causing the issue. Generally for this much batter in a regular square pan, the bake time will be about 45 minutes (or until the internal temperature of the center reaches 205°F). I hope this helps and please let me know if you have any other thoughts.
I’m in the middle of NC so altitude shouldn’t be an issue. I hadn’t thought about the pan being an issue. I’ve had it for years so perhaps that’s it.
Thank you for your response. Going shopping for new pan!
Hello and thank you so much for this recipe; I have to ask is there any reason the yoghurt and buttermilk are non fat? What if I sub then for full fat yoghurt and buttermilk, if that’s all I have in the fridge at the moment.
Hi Tobi, you can sub in full fat dairy. Happy baking! 🙂