Classic Sour Cream Coffee Cake

  • Level: Easy
  • Yield: 8
  • Total: 2 hr 50 min (includes additional cooling time)
  • Active: 30 min
This traditional coffee cake with a cinnamon crumb topping will make every break time terrific.
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Ingredients

Crumb Topping:

3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 pinch fine salt

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

Cake:

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon fine salt

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream

Directions

  1. Combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl and mix to combine. Add the butter and mix thoroughly with your fingers or a fork until all of the butter has been evenly distributed and incorporated into the flour. Form into small to medium clumps with your fingers.

For the cake: 

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8-inch square cake pan.
  2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.
  3. Beat the butter and granulated sugar together in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the sour cream, beginning and ending with the flour, beating until just incorporated.
  4. Spoon the cake batter (it will be very thick) into the prepared pan and smooth with an offset spatula. Sprinkle on the crumb topping.
  5. Bake until the cake and topping are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let cool in the pan 20 minutes, then invert onto a plate and re-invert onto a rack to cool completely. 

Cook’s Note

When measuring flour, we spoon it into a dry measuring cup and level off the excess. (Scooping directly from the bag compacts the flour, resulting in dry baked goods.)

Let's Get Cooking!

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Anonymous

Definitely too much batter for 8x8 pan. At 50 min, edges over baked but center still slightly gooey.

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