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.
Sour Cream Coffee Cake Video
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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18 comments
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! 🙂
Hey! I tried this and it was amazing the first time! But for some reason the next 2 times I did it the cake overfilled the pan and took FOREVER to cook fully. What could I be doing wrong?
Hi Angie! Did you use a 9-inch springform pan? And did you use the same pan from test 1 to test 2-3? I would also check to make sure that you’re using all-purpose flour (not self-rising), and that you’re not overbeating the batter (which can incorporate too much air).
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/