This Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake is what dreams are made of! It’s absolutely delectable and one of my favorite cake recipes of all time. It never fails to remind me of my childhood every time I take a bite.
One of the first recipes I ever made myself was a Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake that I found in the Pillsbury Cookbook. My infatuation with this scrumptious cake began when one of my parents’ friends brought her take on it to our house one Christmas and it became her holiday calling card. I would dream about that cake for the next 364 days until she’d come over again. To me, aside from the aesthetic beauty of a cake baked in a fluted bundt pan, the marbling of cinnamon streusel throughout tender sour cream cake is like the perfect couple in love.
When I became an adult, whenever I went to someone’s home, I would bring a Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake of my own. It was one of those foolproof recipes in my repertoire and it always seemed to the recipient like I had made something truly special, even though it was beyond easy to make. If you looking for more simple holiday desserts that will always impress, make these Holiday Chocolate Chip Sprinkle Bars, Cake Mix Sprinkle Cookies or Fruitcake Bars.
Many years passed since I last made this cake, but then one day on the drive to school I was telling Kenya a story about this cake and he asked me if I would make one for him. Always one to oblige, I picked up all the ingredients and together we baked it every step of the way. It wasn’t long before I had people asking me for the recipe. Over the years I’ve made several twists, most notably placing the filling in the center so that every fork full has a luscious bite of caramelized cinnamon walnuts. This cake is a majorly decadent treat, but one that really impresses!
Let me know what you think of this recipe and if you make it by tagging me on social media!
Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup sour cream
Streusel Filling:
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F degrees.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer or with a handheld mixer, cream together the butter and sugar for 4-5 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, making sure to fully incorporate before adding the next one. Add the vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Alternate between adding the flour mixture and the sour cream to the butter/sugar mixture until combined.
- In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, walnuts, cinnamon and melted butter, and stir to combine well.
- Pour half the batter into a greased bundt pan, and smooth down with a spatula as this batter is thick and fluffy.
- Sprinkle the brown sugar mixture all over the batter in the bundt pan and pat it down lightly.
- Pour in the remaining batter and smooth down with a spatula.
- Place the bundt pan in the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven, and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Flip cake out of pan into a cooling rack. If necessary, run a sharp knife carefully around the edges of the pan to loosen the cake to flip.
This was absolutely amazing! Very easy to make and turned out perfectly. Will definitely make again. Thanks for this scrumptious recipe! 🙂
So good! My mom has been sick with Chemo treatments and I’ve been promising to make her something special. She loves cinnamon anything and coffee cake is on the top of the list. She’s in remission now and I’ve been spending everyday helping her. I told her about your recipe and today she surprised me with a new bundt pan for my birthday, hinting me to make it for her haha. It came out so good! I didn’t have any sour cream and walnuts though so I used Greek yogurt and pecans instead. So delicious!
This is the BEST streusel cake ever!!!!! SO easy, so light and fluffy, and such a great cinnamon flavor. My new go-to cake to use as a gift! Thanks for sharing. =)
Yummy! In Texas we would use pecans. Oh, so good.
Yes! You could use sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds or leave the walnuts out all together!
Is it ok to omit the walnuts (allergy reason)?
Thanks sweet Aimee!
Oh so lovely, Catherine. Cake is a Mother’s Day must.
This looks so perfect for Mother’s Day, I think I’ll make myself one! Hope you have a wonderful day with your family! xo
You could try whole wheat flour (using 1/4 cup less). White wheat flour would be even better. This is really one of those decadent coffee cakes.
Is whole wheat flour acceptable? Same amount?
Does another type of pan also work?
How else can I modify to make it remotely healthier?
Not sure my kids will get any if they are not home when I make this…
Organic brown sugar would be amazing! If you try it I would love to see a picture. Just tag me @weelicious!
This cake is good and indulgant bc it has sugar in it. Sugar does much more than just sweeten baked goods. The texture of the cake would also be ruined if you didn’t use sugar…why don’t you just make a salad?
My mom makes one similar to this. So Yummy! What would you replace the sugar with in the cake? I do my best to make things w/o it. i would use organic brown sugar for the filling.
Thanks Heather! It really is one of my biggest cravings!
I’m not sure if there is anything better in this world than a delicious coffee cake!! This one looks SO good! (especially that perfect cinnamon filling!)