With 5 minutes of prep, this crowd favorite homemade Coffee Cake is a delicious go-to for any breakfast, brunch, or celebration!
Along with our One Hour Cinnamon Rolls and Cinnamon Roll Cake, this Coffee Cake is always on our holiday must-make list. Be sure to try our Coffee Cake Muffins too! Can you tell we love our cinnamon cakes?!
Easy Coffee Cake
One of my FAVORITE things to make for a breakfast get-together is Coffee Cake! This next recipe is quick and it is so buttery and cinnamon-y that everyone loves it.
My mom first made it for me when I left for a summer camp as a teenager and I remember thinking, “I need to have this recipe in my life!” It is packed with flavor!
I’ve tried a few coffee cake recipes before, but this is by far the best Coffee Cake recipe. It’s simple and has become a staple for many holiday morning celebrations. This Easy Coffee Cake is moist, soft, warm and full of cinnamon and sugar goodness.
Why is it called coffee cake?
This type of cake has been around for centuries with each country having their own variation.
The American versions have a delicious streusel topping and seem to have mainly originated from Germany. No matter the recipe what they all had in common was being served alongside warm cup of coffee. Hence the name Coffee Cake!
Coffee Cake vs Crumb Cake: These cakes are very similar and are often served in the morning or as a snack alongside a cup of coffee. The batter of both cakes are the same, the difference lies in the cinnamon sugar topping. Coffee cake is topped with a thin streusel layer. Crumb cake has a much thicker and chunkier crumb topping.
How to Make Coffee Cake
As we mentioned, this coffee cake recipe is very simple. It takes us about 10 minutes to make before throwing it in the oven. After 30 minutes or so, you end up with the most delicious coffee cake you’ll ever try. 😉
WET INGREDIENTS. In a large mixing bowl, combine oil, large eggs, vanilla and milk together.
DRY INGREDIENTS. In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, baking powder and salt.
Combine egg mixture with flour mixture. Pour half the batter into a lightly greased 9×13 pan.
CRUMB TOPPING. In a medium bowl, prepare streusel by combining brown sugar and cinnamon.
Sprinkle half of streusel on top of the batter. Top with remaining half of the batter and then sprinkle the remaining streusel on top.
Drizzle with melted butter (you can do less and use ⅓ cup butter or up to ½ cup butter melted).
BAKE + SERVE. Bake, covered with foil at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Take off foil and bake an additional 10 minutes.
Serving suggestions
This cake is often served with a cup of coffee or tea, but it’s great with other warm drinks as well:
- Double Chocolate Hot Cocoa
- Apple Cider
- Mexican Hot Chocolate
- White Chocolate Peppermint Hot Cocoa
- Caramel Apple Cider
- Wassail
You can also serve it with some of our favorite savory breakfast casseroles like: Biscuit Egg Casserole, Potato Egg Casserole or Eggs and Potatoes.
Recipe tips
Dense batter: Don’t be alarmed when your batter seems thicker than you’re expecting. Using a spoon or spatula to mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients can help with the density. If you’re really worried you can add an extra egg or a little bit more milk to thin it out and make it easier to pour.
Muffin method: This cake utilized the muffin method. This just means that the wet ingredients are mixed in one bowl and then you whisk the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. The purpose for this is to thoroughly mix the baking soda and salt with the flour so that when it is added to the wet ingredients you can rest assured that everything is equally distributed and you won’t overmix the batter.
Variations:
- Adding fruit can be a delicious variation. Try blueberries, sliced peaches or sliced apples. The liquid from the fruit may cause the cake to be baked longer.
- Use applesauce or coconut oil instead of vegetable oil
- Add sliced almonds or chopped pecans or walnuts to the top of the cake to give it a delightful crunch
- Drizzle a glaze over the top: Make a glaze by mixing ½ c confectioners sugar with 1 tablespoon milk. Mix until smooth and drizzle over cooled cake.
- Lining the pan with parchment paper can help remove the cake more easily.
Storing tips
Here are our top tips for storing coffee cake:
- STORE in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
- STORE in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
- FREEZE. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
We like our coffee cake warm. To reheat: Warm in microwave for 10 second increments until warm. To heat in the oven remove any plastic wrap, then wrap in aluminum foil. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and heat for 6-8 minutes or until warm.
If you’re looking for a quick and easy treat you can make for a breakfast get together, shower or meeting, then you should try this cake. It always gets two big thumbs up from anyone who tries it. 😀
For more coffee cake recipes, check out:
Coffee Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- ⅓ – 1/2 cup butter melted
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl. combine oil, eggs, vanilla and milk together.
- In a medium bowl, blend together sugar, flour, baking powder and salt.
- Combine egg mixture with flour mixture. Pour half the batter into a lightly greased 9×13 pan.
- In a medium bowl, prepare streusel by combining brown sugar and cinnamon.
- Sprinkle half of streusel on top of the batter. Top with remaining batter and then sprinkle the remaining streusel on top.
- Drizzle with melted butter (you can do less and use ⅓ cup butter or up to ½ cup butter melted).
- Bake, covered with foil at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Take off foil and bake an additional 10 minutes.
I made this recipe for Easter brunch. Everyone loved it!
On the negative side, I had 2 issues. 1. There wasn’t quite enough dough for 2 layers. 2. Bake time was way longer than stated in the recipe. It took almost 30 minutes longer.
Thanks so much for the feedback and for giving the recipe a try!
This recipe was so delicious that my son-in-law requested a copy. His response,” This was best coffee cake I have ever ate!”
Aw, that makes us so happy to hear! Thanks for sharing!
I love this recipe. I used olive oil instead of vegetable oil, and used half spelt flour and half white flour and it turned out perfectly! Thank you!!
You’re welcome! Thanks for sharing what you did. So glad to hear that you enjoyed the recipe!
Amazing! So easy to pull together, my 6-year-old and I made it and it was one of the best coffeecakes I’ve ever made (including my great aunt’s time-tested recipe!) Will definitely be keeping this in my recioe box! I baked a total of about 48 mins and didn’t cover the pan at all, awesome crunch on top amd moist crumb!!
I made this coffee cake and it was a big hit! Super easy to put together and enjoy! I’d like to try different fruits in it the next time. Just wondering if I could use canned fruit?? I will experiment with canned and fresh. This recipe is a keeper for sure!
You could definitely give it a try! I’m so glad you enjoyed the coffee cake!
Where’s the reviews to read on the easy coffee cake? Thanks
Michel…..I made the ‘easy coffee cake’ and it is great!
The comments/reviews are at the bottom of the post. 🙂
The amount of butter you call for is WAY to much. Was very disappointed in the way it turned out.
Thanks for the feedback and giving the recipe a try!
This coffee cake was amazing! It was easy to make and tasted fantastic. The cake was light and the streusel provided a sweet crunch. It disappeared quickly!