Sourdough coffee cake is a deliciously sweet, sourdough, vanilla cake layered with a cinnamon filling and topped with brown sugar crumble. It’s the most scrumptious breakfast treat for the holidays or the weekend.
It’s the week of Christmas and all through the house is lots of Christmas cheer, wrapping that needs to be completed, and the sweet smell of cinnamon.
Holiday traditions are important in our family. I love making Christmas fun and special for the kids.
These are memories I want them to look look back on with great fondness.
My mom always had holiday music softly playing in the background during my Christmases while I was growing up – as well as cookies being rolled out, cut, and decorated by little helping hands.
She always tried to make those little moments special.
Christmas mornings are so wonderful. It’s not just the gifts. It’s spending quality time together to celebrate our Savior, while enjoying some yummy treats like this sourdough coffee cake.
This yummy sourdough coffee cake recipe makes the best Christmas breakfast (sourdough cinnamon rolls and cranberry bread also rank very high).
Tips For Making This Sourdough Coffee Cake
- You can make the quick version the day of, or start the day before to allow it to ferment. Fermentation not only helps break down the grain and reduce phytic acid, but it also adds a deliciously tangy flavor.
- You can make this dairy-free by using coconut oil rather than butter in the crumb topping. Also, swap out the milk for almond or coconut milk. The flavor will be slightly different, but still very yummy.
- You can use all-purpose or einkorn flour. See notes in the recipe card for amounts. I like to use einkorn flour, if the flour isn’t being fermented, for easier digestion. Either flour will work well.
- If you are new to sourdough, make sure to check out how to make a sourdough starter here. It is much easier than you think.
- You can make this sourdough discard coffee cake recipe with active or sourdough discard. Either will work.
FAQ:
What makes a coffee cake a coffee cake?
It is typically a sweetened cake served with coffee. It doesn’t taste like coffee, but there are many varieties of this classic.
What do I do with my leftover sourdough starter?
There are a lot of delicious ways to use up extra starter:
- Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Discard Bread
- Sourdough Chocolate Cakes
- This sourdough discard coffee cake recipe
- For more recipes using sourdough starter discard, make sure to check on this sourdough discard recipe post.
What type of flour can I use to make this recipe?
You can use all-purpose or einkorn flour. Typically, when you are swapping out einkorn for AP flour, you will need slightly more einkorn because it absorbs less liquid than AP, and the dough tends to be stickier.
Why bake with sourdough discard?
It is the perfect way to use up excess starter rather than just throwing it away. It can also add a delicious tangy flavor and make recipes more tender.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here.
Tools you may need:
Stand mixer with paddle attachment or hand mixer
Measuring cups and spoons
Baking dish 9×13 size pan
Cast iron skillet (optional, I use it to melt butter and coconut oil)
How To Make Sourdough Coffee Cake – Quick Version
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Grease a 9×13 baking dish with coconut oil or butter.
Create The Crumb Topping And Cinnamon Filling
Melt butter.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the melted butter with brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour. I like using einkorn flour when I’m not going to ferment it, but regular, all-purpose flour works, as well. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, mix together the cinnamon filling. Set aside.
Make The Cake:
In a stand mixer or large mixing bowl, cream together melted coconut oil, brown sugar, and regular sugar, until well combined.
Add egg, vanilla extract, sourdough starter, water, and milk to the sugar mixture; combine.
In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.
Slowly incorporate the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. I like to turn on my stand mixer to low speed. Then, I add about a third of the dry ingredients at a time until it comes together. It will be like a thick pancake batter.
Place half of the cake mixture into the baking dish. Spread the cinnamon filling over the cake mixture evenly.
Spread the remaining cake batter over the cinnamon filling, then sprinkle the crumb topping on top.
Bake for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (the cinnamon topping will still stick to the toothpick, but the cake should be clean) and the edge of the cake starts to turn golden.
How To Make Long Fermented Sourdough Coffee Cake
The night before or 8-24 hours before baking, combine oil, flour, sourdough starter, and water. Cover with a tight lid or plastic wrap (to prevent a hard crust from forming) and leave at room temperature.
The next day, preheat oven to 350 and grease a baking dish.
Add the remaining cake ingredients. Mix until it just comes together. Be careful not to over mix. Using a stand mixer will make it much easier, I promise.
Prepare the crumb topping and cinnamon filling in separate bowls.
To the baking dish, add half of the fermented cake batter.
Spread the cinnamon filling over the cake batter, add remaining cake mixture, then top with crumb topping.
Bake for 45 minutes.
Allow to cool about 10 minutes before serving.
Storage:
This sourdough coffee cake tastes best when eaten the same day. Store in an air-tight container up to three days.
You can also freeze the cake for up to three months. Cut into individual portions and freeze individually. Thaw and reheat for a few minutes before serving.
If you try this recipe and love it, I would appreciate if you could come back, comment on the post, and give it 5 stars! Thanks.
Find More Delicious Recipes:
- Breakfast Pizza With Sourdough Crust
- Sourdough Biscuits And Gravy From Scratch
- Berry Kefir Smoothie
- Sourdough Pancakes
- Sourdough English Muffins
- No-Knead Sourdough Bread
Sourdough Coffee Cake
Sourdough coffee cake is a deliciously sweet, sourdough, vanilla cake layered with a cinnamon filling and topped with brown sugar crumble.
Ingredients
Cinnamon Filling
- 1/2 cup brown sugar 106 g
- 1 cup einkorn 150g (or 3/4 cup all purpose) 112.5g
- 3 teaspoons cinnamon 8 g
Crumb Topping
- 1/2 cup butter, melted 113 g
- 3/4 cup brown sugar 160g
- 2 tbsp cinnamon 15g
- 1.5 cups einkorn 225 g (or 1 cup AP) 150 g
Cake
- 1 cup melted coconut oil (can sub olive or avocado, even butter) 216 g
- 1 cup sugar 201 g
- 1/2 cup brown sugar 106g
- 3 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla 8g
- 1/2 cup sourdough starter 142 g
- 1 cup milk 236 g
- 1/2 cup water 118g
- 1 teaspoon salt 7g
- 3 tsp baking soda 17g
- 3 1/2 cups flour 525 g
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease a 9×13 baking dish with coconut oil or butter.
Create The Crumb Topping And Cinnamon Filling
- Melt butter.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the melted butter with brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the cinnamon filling. Set aside.
Make The Cake:
- In a stand mixer or large mixing bowl, cream together melted coconut oil, brown sugar, and regular sugar, until well combined.
- Add egg, vanilla extract, sourdough starter, water, and milk to the sugar mixture; combine.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.
- Slowly incorporate the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. I like to turn on my stand mixer to low speed. Then, I add about a third of the dry ingredients at a time until it comes together.
- Place half of the cake mixture into the baking dish. Spread the cinnamon filling over the cake mixture evenly.
- Spread the remaining cake batter over the cinnamon filling, then sprinkle the crumb topping on top.
- Bake for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (the cinnamon topping will still stick to the toothpick, but the cake should be clean) and the edge of the cake starts to turn golden.
Notes
You can make this dairy free by using coconut oil rather than butter in the crumb topping. Also, swap out the milk for almond or coconut milk. The flavor will be slightly different, but still very yummy.
You can use all-purpose or einkorn flour. See notes in the recipe card for amounts. I like to use einkorn flour if the flour isn’t being fermented for easier digestion. Either work well.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 436Total Fat: 21gSaturated Fat: 15gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 51mgSodium: 441mgCarbohydrates: 58gFiber: 2gSugar: 33gProtein: 5g
Marlaina says
I made these for Christmas morning and they tasted AMAZING!! Thank you for sharing this recipe!!
I was curious though, is it supposed to be a very dense cake? Because mine turned out very dense, it was not light and fluffy. Did I do something wrong?
Even with it being dense, the flavor was so delicious!! I will be making this again.
Sheila says
The coffee cakes I have made are somewhat dense (using Bisquick’s recipe). I have also see it that way in a local bakeshop. It is delicious!
Jessa Washington says
Is there an ingredient missing from the cinnamon filling? I might be missing something, but I’m only seeing dry ingredients which is making the “filling” more of a flour mixture. Do I need to add milk or butter to make it a liquid?
Callie says
From what I can tell, the cinnamon filling IS dry. No need to add anything else to it. Now the crumble topping, that’s a different story.
Vanessa says
Aloha!
When fermenting do you leave it on the counter or in the fridge?
Red Fisch says
From what I understand, fermenting requires room temperature. Cold will “rest” the yeast and will not work properly until it gets warm again.
Caitlin says
Actually, I believe fermenting can be either in the fridge or on the counter, the yeast won’t be active in the fridge, but the cultures and bacteria will still be breaking down the flour. Since this recipe doesn’t rely on yeast to rise, it’s not important for the yeast to be active.
Susanne Quinlan says
Is your einkorn flour just regular einkorn berries that you ground yourself or is it all purpose?
Jana says
In the directions you say to melt the butter with brown sugar, cinn, and flour. You don’t have butter listed in the cinn filling ingredients. Are you talking about the butter you have listed in the Crumb Topping ingredients? Thank you for taking the time to clarify😊
Karly says
Hi Lisa, thanks for sharing this recipe! I attempted it this morning as a special weekend treat for my family. I was super nervous to make it because it’s the first recipe I’ve ever attempted with my sourdough starter.
I have some trouble-shooting questions:
What size pan do you recommend? I used a 9×9 glass baking dish and I feel like a much larger pan would be better suited because my dish was full to the brim and my cake wasn’t done in the center even though the top was very brown after cooking at 350° for one hour.
Would cooking for 1.5 hours at 325 have cooked it throughout better?
I wish the crumb step would have been better explained because I whisked mine (I’m a novice baker) and it created more of a paste that sank to the bottom of my cake 🙁
Like one of the other commenters, I was also wondering if there’s a missing ingredient for the middle layer? It felt strange to use a raw flour mixture in the middle. If it is indeed just supposed to be a flour mixture, what is the purpose of the raw flour layer (once again, I’m a novice baker and am trying to better understand the chemistry of baking).
Thanks again!
Kathy says
Karly, these are Al good questions/comments. Did you ever get an answer back?
Anonymous says
Kathy,
I think the first mistake was the size of baking dish you used…
I used a spring form pan. Followed the recipe as written. It was one of the most amazing coffee cakes I’ve ever baked! I’m baking 40 yrs n have made many coffee cakes in my day. By far this is no.1 in my book. Use the right size ban n give it a go again! I believe you will not be sorry…
Sarah Polumsky says
I had all these issues as well. My cake boiled over several times too.
The mixture was not crumbly so I forced it to be. My top was very very brown as well :/
So disappointed as i used a lot of butter and flour for this to be such a flop.
Shelly M says
Kathy. Sorry I forgot to mention I did do the long ferment…..
Shelly M says
This for Karly not Kathy…sorry
Shelly M says
I commented previous to comment posted… N it didn’t post right away. So I’m trying again.. ☺️ i think the problem was size pan you used. I baked in a spring form pan n it was beautiful n amazing…!!? 😋😋 Follow directions as written n you should have the best coffee cake…. I did long ferment though… Key I think.
Sabrina says
I was wondering the same I think the filling recipe is supposed to say topping and the topping recipe to say filling. I’m disappointed I didn’t realize that until I did it but if you look at the photo the paste was definitely supposed to go in the middle.
Lisa says
It may have had that mistake in the past (can’t remember), but if it did it has been fixed and what it says currently is correct. The middle layer is dry. Hopefully it worked out for you.
Rita Gonzalez says
Great recipe.
I made a mistake but it turns good anyway.
My Family church loves it .. thanks again//
one little detail: can you add in the printible recipe the long fermentation instructions, please. thanks again
Leah says
My family loves this coffee cake! The first time I made it, school was canceled because we had gotten a ton of snow. The kids and our lab were outside playing in this long awaited winter wonderland. So I threw this together for when they came inside. I panicked a bit because I ran out of flour before I made the filling & topping. So, I decided bisqick would have to do. It was the only other thing I could think of that might work. So I hoped for the best, and it turned out great!! This recipe is a keeper!
Nichole says
Just made this coffee cake and it occurred to me, as I watch it baking, that the crumb topping and cinnamon filling recipes may be switched. It makes sense to me, now, that the crumb topping should not have butter in it as it will just melt into the cake on top and the cinnamon filling which doesn’t contain butter should be on the top. It was a late epiphany but…there it is! Haven’t tried it yet, but it smells so so good!
Leslie says
Nichole, thank you for this epiphany. This makes total sense and I’m so glad I read all the comments.
Mel says
Making this for a Saturday morning treat! I am long fermenting it and wow is that dough thick! Hope that is how it is supposed to be! Can’t wait to try this tomorrow!
Maggie says
Mine is really thick too, I can’t imagine adding the rest of the ingredients to it. I started mine last night
Stephanie says
If using einkorn in the cake batter do you use 3.5c? It just says flour and does specify between einkorn and AP like the other flour measurements do. And there doesn’t seem to be a consistent conversion of ap|einkorn?
michelle says
Hi 🙂
Is it possible for you to put measurments in grams also?
Here in Australia the cup sizes are different to the US.
Thanks
Michelle Gibson
Danielle says
This looks like the perfect coffee cake recipe, its making me hungry just looking at those beautiful photos! Always appreciate that you offer a quick and long-fermented version to your recipes…I utilize both!
Kate says
Did I over mix it? I did the long ferment this time and the batter bubbled up over the crumb mixture…or maybe the baking soda was too much?
Andrea G says
Delicious! I used a 13×9 and it turned out great. The filling doesn’t really need anything else. It melts into a nice ribbon of cinnamon. This recipe does make a lot of cake – good for sharing. Thanks for posting.
Sarah Polumsky says
After two hours it is finally cooked…
Katie says
Hello! Is this a “discard” recipe or does the starter need to be active and bubbly?
Gabby says
I’m making this is 90 degree southern California weather, for the second time this week! That’s how good this is!
Lisa says
Awesome! Love to hear it!
Cheyenne says
Wonderful, warm cinnamon flavour!
Followed recipe, with the addition of 3 cups fresh, chopped rhubarb to the cake batter and turned amazing!
If you have questions, just re-read the blog post as its all well written there!
Thanks Lisa!
Lisa says
Can I use buttermilk if I font have any starter?
Lisa says
I personally have not tried that!
Sarah says
Hello, I’m wanting to make this today. I’m just having a hard time understanding the instructions. Is it missing the cinnamon filling instructions? I’ve read it a few times. I see it says to mix melted butter, sugar, flower, and cinnamon I’m assuming that that’s the crum topping? But I’m not seeing instructions for the cinnamon filling?
Thank you for your help!
Shera says
Sarah, the cinnamon filling has no butter. It is listed as 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 cup einkorn (or 3/4 cup AP flour), and 3 teaspoons cinnamon. Just mix those together and follow directions as to when the recipe tells you to add it. I’ve made this before and it turned out great! The butter is listed for the crumb topping…and if you use it in place of coconut oil for the cake.
Candice says
Wow, this is an awesome cake. After 18 hrs of long ferment in 60* room, I had a hard blob with oil around the edges, I will use my stand mixer next time to ease the rest of ingredients in, adding the milk slow helped. I well buttered 9×13, put my flour bi-product of bran/germ on butter and sprinkled salt, this was not a regret as I love that salty, grainy, bottom. I also added an extra egg, 4 total, beating them first, folding them into my well mixed batter, at the end with the baking soda. Lisa, you have managed to fix the worst problem that I’ve had with coffee cake, there is never flavor in the middle, your filling mix, although a dry layer, worked so very nice. This recipe takes attention as I had to dump my batter out of dish to add the forgotten filling, also forgot the butter in the topping, I thought it looked a little funny, when it came out of oven the edges were perfectly crispy and the top dusty instead of crumbly, decided to melt the butter and drizzle over the top, crisscrossing the top and around the whole edge, My hubby is in love with this cake, I love you for your inventive home and recipes, keep em’ coming Lisa.
Schoen says
I just made the quick version of this and it was amazing! Directions were easy to follow. This did make a large amount.
Ed says
OMG! I am new to baking from scratch. I made this as my first project after the bread (also excellent). Everyone raved about it! My coworkers keep asking me when I’m going to bring more in.
Lisa says
So glad you and your coworkers enjoyed it! Thank you for the review!
Tammy Masters says
I have made it twice. It is my husbands favorite. He is not easy to please. I do have to say that the second time it came out better than the first. Both were gone before I knew it. I did the quick version and I am going to try the longer version next time.
Lisa says
Thank you so much! I’m glad everyone enjoyed it.
Denise says
So easy and delicious. Love all your recipes.
Lisa says
Wonderful!
Jen says
This is the second time making this recipe and the first time it turned out perfect! This time I came into the kitchen after 20 mins because I smelled something burning and the cake had bubbled up through the crumb topping and over the sides all over the bottom of the oven. The only thing I did different was ferment it longer because my step daughter had the kitchen occupied baking a cake earlier. With that being said I think there is a limit to how long it can ferment or if you do ferment longer than 12 hours the baking soda might not be necessary. It’s the only thing I changed from the first time so that has to be it. I now have it on a baking sheet and covered the rack with foil with fingers crossed it still turns out ok. Just wanted to give others a heads up to protect your oven just in case this happens. Oh well it was need of a cleaning anyway so I guess this was my sign!
Jennifer says
Hi Lisa! Will freshly ground flour work in this recipe if I don’t have any Einkorn?
Thanks! Can’t wait to try it!
Danica Mila says
When I lived in the States, I thought Entemanns had the best coffee cake. No longer. This is the best coffee cake ever. Thank you for this recipe. There is no such thing as coffee cake in Chile and I have tried many different recipes. This is a keeper.
Lisa says
Glad you enjoyed it! Have a great day!
Kenlyn says
I am currently baking this & hope it turns out. My guys LOVE coffee cake! I like to use grams when baking & I was a bit confused by the cinnamon in the filling & the crumb topping. The gram amounts seem a bit off to me. Filling is 3 TEAspoons (8 grams) & the topping is 2 TABLEspoons (5 grams)?! Also, the baking soda in the cake 3 teaspoons (32g?!) I did not do 32 grams, I just did 3 teaspoons. Lisa, can you please clarify these gram amounts. Thank you! It smells delicious so I hope me adjusting those things did not ruin it. Thank you so much for such an informative website with sourdough! I love it!
Lisa says
Thank you for pointing that out. I think the one was missing for one of the numbers. They have been adjusted.
Klarise says
I did not have all I needed so I opted things but it turned out pretty good! I had to do 1 1/4 cup WW and the rest AP for the vanilla cake batter. I did the long ferment with discard, I only had about 100 grams of starter so I added an additional 1/4 cup of water to my batter. Next time I will sift and whisk the two flour types before adding wets but it was still great, has a marble look from the AP globs that didn’t mix with the whole wheat lol. To my surprise the dough was fluffy and just about doubled by morning! I added everything else to the mixer and prepped the rest. In the filling I added 1/2 teaspoon fresh espresso ground coffee and an addition 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. For the crumble I did a cold butter method but cutting in cold butter with a pastry blender until it resembled kinetic sand, then I formed clumps for crumble by squeezing and sprinkling over the top of the batter. Next time I’ll weigh my batter in half’s before pouring because I did not reserve enough for the top cake layer but it was still delicious, just not as pretty as yours!!! Thanks again for such a fabulous recipe!
Lisa says
Adding ground coffee sounds delicious. So glad you enjoyed it.
Klarise says
I forgot to mention I added chopped walnuts to the filling layer! It was literally so amazing I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it!
Mia says
Hi, I just made the initial mix last night to long ferment. It is very dry, not at all wet- it doesn’t clump together. Is this right? How does it ferment when it is so dry? Thank you!
Lisa says
It is not super wet, but it still should ferment. I personally add the eggs the night before as well. I know many people are uncomfortable with this, but it works great for me, and makes it to where the overnight ferment has a lot more liquid to work with.
Marianne Wilke says
I made this! I hate to say it, but I twinked the receipe. I am going to try the original later, so I can leave a more accurate review. In my version, I cut the sugar back, and added stevia. I didn’t have any brown sugar, so I added what I had – black strap molasses.
This took awhile to make (for me). There are several steps. When I was mixing the cake part, my melted coconut oil started getting hard, but it mixed in ok.
Even with all the changes, this turned out terrific. I plan on making the long fermented version next time. The next pot-luck I go to, I’ll make the original with exact measurements.
Last of all, I want to say thank you for providing the metric measurements. I really enjoy metric better, as it seems more accurate and easier to measure.
Lisa says
So glad you enjoyed it! Molasses sounds delicious. Glad you are enjoying the metric units. We are working on adding them to all the baking recipes.
Barb says
Hi! Would I be able to put it in the fridge overnight after step 6 and bake it right out of the fridge the next morning?
Lisa says
I have not personally tried the fridge overnight after step 6, but I would think it would work just fine.
Kara says
This is delicious! I used dairy free butter & unsweetened vanilla almond milk & it turned out delicious. It makes so much too! I’m hoping to share some with our new neighbors 🙂 it was the first recipe I’ve used with my active starter!
Lisa says
Love it! thanks for sharing those adjustments!
Kim says
In this recipe you say 1/2 cup of starter is 142 g, but your beginner sourdough bread recipe says 1/2 of starter is 100 grams. That’s quite a difference. Which is correct? I use a scale because I don’t like the messiness and inaccuracies of volume measures.
Lisa says
The beginners sourdough recipe is active sourdough starter where as the coffee cake is discard. Plus the bread recipe was created from volume where as the coffee cake was converted if that makes sense.
Becky says
Absolutely delicious! I tried a half portion of this for me and my husband in an 8″x6″ and it worked great! Will definitely be revisiting, thank you Lisa.
Lisa says
So glad you enjoyed the recipe, Becky! Have a great day!
Jenessa Bruce says
Hi! I just mixed this up for the first time (started the long ferment part last night). I don’t have a 9×13 pan so I split it between two 9×9/8×8 square dishes. I want to bake one today and save the other to bake fresh tomorrow morning. Has anyone done that? Can the completely put together cake be stored covered in the refrigerator for one day before baking?
Thank you!!
Donna says
I will be making this with potato flake starter. Do I need to make any changes to the amount of flour or liquid ingredients since this starter is not as thick as other starters?
Lisa says
I would think it would make it too liquidy. Maybe you could add a little flour to the starter component to give it a thicker consistency.
Jim Crowell says
Hello, I have a question about your Einkorn flour statement. The statement I’m referring to”You can use all-purpose or einkorn flour. See notes in the recipe card for amounts. I like to use einkorn flour, if the flour isn’t being fermented, for easier digestion”.
My interpretation is that Einkorn Flour shouldn’t be used in this recipe if the einkorn flour is being fermented, ie. if using sourdough starter. Is that correct?
I bake with and grow organic einkorn flour and use it extensively in most sourdough breads and other baked goods. It seems to add additional sourness to sourdough bread loaves. It is even part of the flour mixture in my sourdough starter. Should I not be using Einkorn flour if allowing it to ferment in your opinion. Regardless I will try to make your sourdough coffee cake, it looks delicious.
Lisa says
You can use it even if it is being fermented. I make sourdough bread with it all the time. But einkorn flour doesn’t really need to be fermented since it is an heirloom wheat that is already easier to digest and has less phytic acid. That is amazing that you grow you own. So when I’m in a hurry and don’t have time to ferment I will more than likely grab einkorn flour.