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Breakfast dreams are made of classic sour cream coffee cake! Golden, buttery, and so delicious, this homemade coffee cake is piled high with cinnamon streusel topping and drizzled with vanilla glaze. Made with sour cream (for richness) and buttermilk (for tang and a tender crumb), each bite is perfectly moist. Recipe makes one 9-inch coffee cake.

Classic Sour Cream Coffee Cake
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If you’re hosting weekend brunch or simply baking for a crowd, this is the coffee cake for you. It’s made up of 3 delicious parts (the streusel, the cake, and the vanilla glaze) and a reader-favorite recipe! Full photo guidance provided below.

  • 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.
  • Coffee Cake – Sour cream, buttermilk, and an extra egg yolk ensure a golden and tender crumb. If you don’t have sour cream on hand, you can also use full fat Greek yogurt as an equal swap. Pure vanilla extract adds rich flavor to the buttery cake!
  • Glaze – A drizzle of sweet vanilla glaze dresses up this classic brunch recipe.

Craving more coffee cake? You may also love my sour cream coffee cake muffins!

Classic Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Success Tips

  • Use room temperature ingredients: Bring cake ingredients (butter, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, and buttermilk) to room temperature before beginning to ensure that they mix together uniformly.
  • Baking pan: You’ll need a 9-inch springform pan for this recipe. This is my preferred pan to use for coffee cake because it’s easy to slice and cleanly remove wedges from the pan and the thick streusel topping remains in place.
  • 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 (about 1 tablespoon) and gently shake the pan to coat the bottom and sides evenly. Invert the pan and tap out any excess flour.
  • Mix the batter just until combined: Made in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, the sour cream batter comes together smoothly and is the perfect base for buttery streusel. Expect a thick batter, similar to my New York style crumb cake.

How to Make Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Make streusel topping: Combine all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk together to combine.

Add melted butter to the bowl and mix in with a fork until completely incorporated and streusel is crumbly.

Add finely chopped pecans (or chopped walnuts) and stir to combine. Chill pecan streusel in the freezer until needed.

Make coffee cake: Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. 

Beat butter, sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. 

Add eggs and egg yolk one at a time and beat well to combine.

Combine sour cream and buttermilk in a small bowl. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with sour cream mixture (begin and end with flour mixture).

Assemble coffee cake: Spoon half the batter into prepared baking pan and smooth with an offset spatula. Tap pan sharply to remove air bubbles. Sprinkle the batter with half of the chilled streusel.

Top streusel layer with remaining batter. Smooth coffee cake batter with a spatula and tap pan sharply.

Sprinkle the top evenly with remaining chilled streusel. Bake coffee cake for 65 to 75 minutes, or until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs attached.

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.

Storage and Freezing Tips

Store the baked coffee cake at room temperature for up to 2 days, or wrap well with plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate up to 4 days. Reheat coffee cake in a warm oven (300-325°F) before serving.

To freeze leftover coffee cake, wrap each slice tightly in plastic wrap and pop into a freezer bag for up to 2 months. When you’re ready to enjoy, reheat in a warm oven (325°F) for 15 minutes or until heated through before serving.

Classic Sour Cream Coffee Cake

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Classic Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Ultra Moist Sour Cream Coffee Cake

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 23 reviews
  • Author: Laura Kasavan
  • 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
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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 for breakfast or brunch. Recipe makes one 9-inch coffee cake.


Ingredients

Streusel

  • 1 1/4 cups (175 g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
  • 1 cup (185 g) lightly packed light brown sugar
  • 2 tsp (4 g) cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp (3 g) salt
  • 10 Tbsp (140 g) unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup (60 g) pecans, finely chopped

Cake

  • 2 cups (280 g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp (7 g) baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp (3 g) baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp (3 g) salt
  • 10 Tbsp (140 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
  • 2 tsp (8 g) vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs (100 g), at room temperature
  • 1 large egg yolk (17 g), at room temperature
  • 1 1/4 cups (300 g) sour cream, at room temperature
  • 1/3 cup (80 g) low-fat buttermilk, at room temperature

Vanilla Glaze

  • 1 Tbsp (14 g) unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp (4 g) vanilla extract
  • 1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar
  • 2 Tbsp (30 g) milk

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F and butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan.
  2. Make 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 topping in the freezer until ready to use.
  3. Make coffee 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).
  4. Spoon half the batter into prepared pan and smooth with an offset spatula. Sprinkle evenly with half of the chilled streusel. Spoon remaining batter evenly over streusel layer. Gently smooth and tap the pan sharply to reduce air bubbles. Sprinkle evenly with remaining chilled streusel.
  5. Bake coffee cake for 40 minutes, then tent loosely 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. Coffee cake is done baking when the internal temperature reaches 210°F.
  6. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for 20 minutes before removing sides from pan; cool for at least 1 hour before serving.
  7. Make 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.
  8. Store baked coffee cake at room temperature for up to 2 days, or wrap well and refrigerate up to 4 days. Reheat coffee cake in a warm oven (300°F) before serving.

Notes

Streusel: This recipe makes a generous amount of streusel topping. If you like a coffee cake with less streusel, or have any leftover streusel, transfer to a freezer bag and freeze up to 2 months. Use the leftover streusel to top muffins or a quick bread.

Sour cream: Full fat Greek yogurt can also be used as an equal swap for the sour cream.

Freeze coffee cake: Wrap each slice tightly in plastic wrap and pop into a freezer bag for up to 2 months. When you’re ready to enjoy, reheat in a warm oven (325°F) for 15 minutes or until heated through before serving.

Meet Laura

Hi, I'm Laura and I'm so happy you're here! Welcome to Tutti Dolci Baking Recipes, a baking blog celebrating all things sweet! I share approachable baking recipes and elevated classic desserts for every home baker. My goal is to inspire you to bake from scratch with kitchen-tested recipes you can count on.

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63 Comments

  1. Well, this was delicious! I just decided not to worry about how much butter I was using (gah). I did think there was sooooo much streusel; next time I will make 1/2-2/3 recipe of that.

  2. Soft, moist, and so delicious! I shared my cake with a few people and they said it was the best coffee cake they ever tasted. I even froze some of it and it’s still perfect! Thank you for sharing!

    1. Hi Chris, you can add a layer of fresh blueberries underneath the streusel topping. The added moisture will likely extend the baking time by at least 5 minutes. I also have a blueberry crumb cake recipe that you may like, with a swirl of blueberry preserves topped with fresh blueberries: https://tutti-dolci.com/blueberry-crumb-cake/

  3. My family loved it! I baked it for one hour and it came out perfect! I will keep trying more of your recipes, Thank you!!

  4. Excellent coffee cake! Baked one last weekend and am making again for Easter brunch. Highly recommend!

  5. Made this amazing coffee cake today and it is to die for! I haven’t even glazed it because we couldn’t wait to try it. So delicious!!

    1. Hi Helen, so glad you tried this coffee cake! Absolutely – I like to cut it into slices, wrap each slice in plastic wrap, and pop into a freezer bag for up to 2 months. When you’re ready to enjoy, reheat in a warm oven (325 degrees) before serving.