This moist Sour Cream Coffee Cake only takes 15 minutes to prep and is sweet and delicious with the crunchy cinnamon pecan streusel. Enjoy it for brunch, with coffee, or dessert.
If you love sweet brunch recipes try our Sheet Pan Pancakes, French Toast Casserole, Homemade Scones, or Hawaiian French Toast Casserole.
Simple, delicious Coffee Cake.
Simple, delicious Coffee Cake.I am going to say it – this is the BEST Coffee Cake recipe! The cake is soft and moist, and not only does it have a crunchy cinnamon pecan streusel on top, but we even layer it in the middle of the cake! Serve it with a cup of hot tea of coffee, or a side of fruit, for the perfect easy weekend brunch! We serve coffee cake most often at brunch, holidays and special occasions.
How to make Coffee Cake:
Make Batter: Cream together sugar and butter then mix in egg, sour cream, milk, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix just until combined.
Layer: Combine all of the ingredients for the pecan topping in a bowl. Grease an 8×8 square baking dish then pour in half of the cake batter. Sprinkle half of the pecan topping over the batter then repeat with the rest of the cake batter and sprinkle the rest of the pecan topping on top.
Bake: Preheat to 350°F then bake for 40-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Check it halfway through and lay a piece of aluminum foil loosely on top if it's getting too brown. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before enjoying.
Make Ahead And Freezing Instructions:
To Make Ahead: Coffee cake is best served the same day, but you can make it in the morning or even the night before. Store covered at room temperature for 1-2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
To Freeze: Allow coffee cake to cool completely, cover tightly and freeze for up to 3 months. Allow to come to room temperature before serving.
More Sweet Brunch Recipes:
- Blueberry Coffee Cake
- Apple Coffee Cake
- Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Donuts
- Cinnamon Rolls
- Blueberry Muffins
- Blintzes
- Snickerdoodle Muffins
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Recipe
Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 2 Tablespoons milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Topping:
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3 Tablespoons butter
- 1 cup chopped pecans , finely chopped
Instructions
- Lightly grease an 8×8 inch baking pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Crumble topping: Combine flour, brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Add butter and cut in with forks or a pastry blender until there are no large pieces. Stir in nuts.
- Batter: In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add egg and mix. Add sour cream, milk, and vanilla then mix. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to wet mixture then mix just until combined.
- Assemble: Spoon half of the batter into your prepared pan and smooth into an even bottom layer. Sprinkle half of the topping mixture over the top. Spoon remaining batter on top then smooth into an even layer. Sprinkle remaining topping mixture over the top.
- Bake in preheated oven for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, or with few crumbs. Check it half way through baking and cover with a piece of aluminum foil if browning too much.
- Cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
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I originally shared this recipe December 2016. Updated March 2020 and November 2024.
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WOW!!! This coffee cake is out of this world!
I doubled the recipe and baked in a 9×9 pan. It did take a tad longer to bake (about an hour in all). I saw lots of comments saying this coffee cake was too dense, but I did not seem to have this problem. A trick I found to work well to avoid this issue is beating the butter and sugar for upwards fo 5 minutes to really incorporate some air.
Also, the sour cream keeps it so moist and adds a delicious tang to a sweet dessert!
Highly Recommend 🙂
I only had a quarter cup Greek yogurt, so I used it instead of the sour cream. I added a couple of tbsp of milk, as the recipe says half cup sour cream, so my dough was a bit too stiff. I did not have pecans, but I had walnuts, so I broke them up and used them instead of pecans. The result: (ta da!) the cake came out lovely, nobody noticed it had to be different.
I have never left a review in all my years of enjoying receipes online, but this is a MUST MAKE!!! I’ve reied so many coffee cakes that are too dense or too crumbly..this is so light and fluffy…ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!!!! I will be making this once a week going forward…then I need some light and fit recipes after all the weight I’m going to gain haha.
So easy but so delicoius
Googeled looking for using my last 1/2 cup of sour cream. This recipe just looked right. Was it ever! Easy to put together, fabulous taste, and a definite add to my recipes.
Husband loved it
This cake was amazing and so easy! Thanks Lauren! I will definitely be making it again real soon!
Always looking for delicious easy recipes..thanx
I did not have the right pan so made them into muffins and they were FANTASTIC!!! Excellent recipe 🙂
We were disappointed because it was dry, and I baked it only 35 minutes. In thinking it over, I realized there was no butter in the struesel topping. I poured some melted butter over it and it was much better. My suggestion is to add 4-6 Tbsp. butter to the strusel topping. Some of this should melt into the cake, making it moister. I will do this if I bake it again.
I started making this before reading the recipe and then I got so confused… I was looking at it like how is this going to be enough batter. Tried to push through and yeah no just not enough batter for an 8×8 pan. Also the topping doesn’t have any butter in it and the whole thing is just kind of sad. Should have known better
This is the best recipe.
Easy recipe to follow, turned out moist and delicious.