classic sour cream coffee cake
Breakfast dreams are made of classic sour cream coffee cake! Golden, buttery, and so delicious, this coffee cake is piled high with buttery streusel topping and drizzled with vanilla glaze.
The Best Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Streusel – Made with melted butter, the brown sugar pecan streusel is simply irresistible! Half the streusel is layered with the cake batter to form a ribbon running throughout the coffee cake. The remaining streusel is sprinkled over the top of the cake batter and bakes up beautifully golden.
Cake – Sour cream, buttermilk, and two large eggs plus one egg yolk ensure a golden and tender crumb for this coffee cake. Full fat Greek yogurt can also be used as an equal swap for the sour cream. Pure vanilla extract adds rich flavor to the buttery cake!
Glaze – A drizzle of vanilla butter glaze makes the perfect finish to this classic brunch recipe.
Coffee Cake Success
Room Temperature Ingredients – Bring all of the cake ingredients (butter, eggs and yolk, sour cream, and buttermilk) to room temperature before beginning to ensure that they mix together uniformly.
Springform Pan – Use a 9-inch springform pan for this recipe. To prepare the pan, spread a thin layer of softened butter across the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Add a small amount of flour to the pan (about a tablespoon) and gently shake the pan to coat the bottom and up the sides evenly with flour. Invert the pan and tap out any excess flour.
Baking Time – Bake coffee cake for 65 minutes to 75 minutes, or until the top is golden and springs back to the touch, and a tester inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs attached. To prevent cake from over-browning, tent with foil after 40 minutes of baking.
Cooling Time – Transfer coffee cake to a wire rack and let cool for 20 minutes before removing the sides from the pan. Cool for at least 1 hour before glazing and serving.
How to Store Coffee Cake – Store the baked coffee cake at room temperature for up to 2 days, or wrap well and refrigerate. Reheat coffee cake in a warm oven (300°F) before serving.
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Classic Sour Cream Coffee Cake
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 65 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- Yield: 1 9-inch coffee cake
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
The BEST classic sour cream coffee cake! Topped with brown sugar pecan streusel and drizzled with vanilla glaze, you’ll love this sour cream coffee cake.
Ingredients
Streusel
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 10 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
Cake
- 2 cups flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 10 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups sour cream, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup low-fat buttermilk, at room temperature
Glaze
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 Tbsp milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan.
- For the streusel, whisk together flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Add melted butter and mix in with a fork until completely incorporated and streusel is crumbly. Stir in pecans. 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 eggs and yolk one at a time and beat well. Combine sour cream and buttermilk in a small bowl. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with sour cream mixture (begin and end with flour mixture).
- Spoon half the batter batter into prepared pan and smooth with an offset spatula. Sprinkle evenly with half of the chilled streusel. Spoon remaining batter evenly over streusel. Gently smooth and tap the pan sharply to reduce air bubbles. Sprinkle evenly with remaining chilled streusel.
- Bake for 40 minutes, then tent with foil to prevent over-browning. Continue baking another 25 to 35 minutes (for a total of 65 to 75 minutes) or until topping is golden, cake springs back to the touch and a tester emerges with a few crumbs attached.
- Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for 20 minutes before removing sides from pan; cool for at least 1 hour before serving.
- For the glaze, whisk together melted butter, salt, vanilla, powdered sugar, and milk in a small bowl. Drizzle glaze over coffee cake and let set before serving.
- Store baked coffee cake at room temperature for up to 2 days, or wrap well and refrigerate. Reheat coffee cake in a warm oven (300°F) before serving.
Notes
Full fat Greek yogurt can also be used as an equal swap for the sour cream.
Keywords: Sour Cream Coffee Cake, Coffee Cake, Streusel, Breakfast, Brunch
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More yummy streusel!! My willpower is having major problems—I want to pull out my mixing bowls and measuring cups 🙂
★★★★★
I made this coffee cake to take into the office, and it got so many raves! This is the perfect sour cream coffee cake!
★★★★★
You should make this cake! really delicious and moist, perfect for breakfast or snack. No bad time to serve this! I will definitely be making this again.
★★★★★
So glad you tried this coffee cake, Ellen! 🙂 Have a great weekend!
This is the absolute best coffee cake I’ve ever made! The streusel topping is so irresistible, and we all love the vanilla glaze. Can’t wait to make another one for my neighbors!
★★★★★
So happy to hear that, Amy! And so kind of you to bake one for your neighbors! 🙂
This is OUTRAGEOUSLY good! Like, the only coffee cake recipe you’ll ever need again. So flavorful, so tender, and could easily feed a large group. Will make again and again!
★★★★★
So happy you tried this recipe, Ari! This is definitely an all-time favorite! 🙂
This sounds very moist. I love coffee cake. Wondering can we make it in a bundt pan for now.
I dont have a 9′ pan and can’t look for one now with virus out there. I just am eager to make and share this.
Hi Sandy, do you have a tube pan? That works too so that the crumb topping stays on the top of the coffee cake (it would be very tricky to get this out of a bundt pan in one piece). In the meantime, you could try my brown butter cinnamon streusel coffee cake that bakes up in an 8-inch square pan:
https://tutti-dolci.com/brown-butter-cinnamon-streusel-coffee-cake/
It was delicious! Moist and just amazing! Although I would half the streusel amount as it’s quite rich. But that just means you have a smaller slice. But damn! Absolutely delicious!
★★★★★
So glad you tried this recipe, Raadhiya! 🙂
My whole family loved this. I will be making it again!
★★★★★
Thank you so much, Ellie! 🙂
Can you use any 9inch pan or does it have to be springform? Also, any substitution for buttermilk?
Hi Mary! I recommend the springform pan so that the topping stays in place and doesn’t fall off as you’re slicing and serving. If you don’t have a springform pan, then I would try this recipe instead (baked in an 8-inch square baking pan): https://tutti-dolci.com/brown-butter-cinnamon-streusel-coffee-cake/
My springform pan is a 10″ pan. Will this work OK? Should I make any adjustments to the recipe?
Hi there! Yes, a 10″ springform pan will work, the coffee cake will just bake up slightly thinner and the baking time may be reduced by approximately 5-10 minutes.
Absolutely delicious! Our family’s go to coffee cake for all occasions!
So happy to hear that, thank you Emily! 🙂
Do you think this would work in a loaf pan?
Hi Jason! This recipe will be too much batter to adapt to a loaf pan. If you’re looking for a coffee cake that you can make without a springform pan, I would try this recipe (baked in an 8-inch square pan): https://tutti-dolci.com/brown-butter-cinnamon-streusel-coffee-cake/
So buttery and moist! My family loved this recipe!
★★★★★
So glad this recipe was a success for you, Heather! 🙂
My husband is so picky with cakes. But he LOVED this cake!! He said it’s one of the best cake recipes I made. This recipe is a KEEPER!
Thanks a lot for sharing it!!
★★★★★
Hi Eman, so glad this coffee cake was such a hit! 🙂
Such a delicious coffee cake! The streusel is divine and the cake is moist and light.
★★★★★
So happy you tried this recipe, Chris! Thanks for your feedback!
Incredible coffee cake, this turned out extremely delicious!
★★★★★
Hi Maddie, so glad this recipe was a success! 🙂
This coffee cake is moist, with a tender yet sturdy crumb. Using both buttermilk and sour cream in the cake is truly inspired — such a nice tang that plays against the sweet. Yum. The streusel is delicious! The recipe makes a generous amount and I left some chunky pieces, which I love. So good! Thank you, thank you.
Pam
★★★★★
Hi Pam, I’m so happy to hear this coffee cake was such a hit! 🙂
Can I use a muffin pan or even a 9×13 pan to make muffins or squares?
Hi Jasmine! I’d try this recipe, created for an 8-inch square baking pan, and can be doubled for a 9×13-inch pan: https://tutti-dolci.com/brown-butter-cinnamon-streusel-coffee-cake/
The best coffee cake ever, the streusel is so delicious!
★★★★★
Thanks so much for your feedback, Julia! 🙂
The most delicious coffee cake ever! A huge hit with my family, they couldn’t get enough of the streusel and vanilla glaze!
★★★★★
Absolutely delicious coffee cake! Substituted Greek yogurt for the sour cream and that worked out perfectly.
★★★★★
Hi Matt, glad to hear this recipe was a hit!
I’ve wanted to make this coffee cake for months after seeing it on the Tutti Dolci IG account; I finally made it during a vacation this week. It was SOOO delicious! I made the cake at ~10,000 ft and did not adjust for elevation other than increasing bake temp 25 degrees. The cake was slightly dense but I don’t know if that was due to elevation or the fact I used some ingredients cold. Was scrumptious nonetheless and I will make again.
★★★★★
Absolutely delicious! I took a picture but can’t seem to post it here. Everyone raved! 🙂 Thank you!
★★★★★
Do I need to let the cake cool before I add the glaze? It might be a stupid question, but I’m not very experienced with making cake. Please help!
Hi Abigail, let the coffee cake cool completely before glazing. 🙂
hello, Can you use full fat buttermilk – I don’t have low fat? thanks
Hi Michelle, yes you can. Happy baking!
I made both this coffee cake and the 8-inch square pan one, they are both really delicious.
This is truly the only coffee cake recipe you need.
I am not a great fan of strudel so I cut it in half and it was just perfect for me and my family!
Also, I used bob’s read mill gluten free 1-1 baking flour (in the blue bag) and I didn’t have any issues at all with the conversion!
★★★★★
That’s wonderful to hear, thank you Martina! 🙂
I’d like to try this tomorrow morning. I longer that it’s a 9-inch layer and not a huge Bundt cake version! Have you tried this with gluten -free flour? I’m trying out gluten free, as I’m having some issues and want to see if it makes a difference for me. Thanks in advance!
Hi Laura, I haven’t tested this recipe with gluten-free flour. However, it should work fine with a 1-to-1 (also labeled as cup for cup or measure for measure) gluten-free baking flour. Hope that helps!
Absolutely divine! Such good flavor! Next time I would just half the streusel amount as I found it a bit rich, and couldn’t eat as much as I’d like (maybe that’s a good thing). Divine!
★★★★★
Thanks so much for your feedback, Raadhiya!