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
Ingredients
Cinnamon Filling
- 1/2 cup brown sugar 106 g
- 1 cup all-purpose flour 140 g
- 3 teaspoons cinnamon 8 g
Crumb Topping
- 1/2 cup butter melted (113 g)
- 3/4 cup brown sugar 160 g
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon 15 g
- 1 cup all-purpose flour 140 g
Cake
- 1 cup melted coconut oil 216 g
- 1 cup sugar 201 g
- 1/2 cup brown sugar 106 g
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 8 g
- 1/2 cup sourdough starter active or discard (113 g)
- 1 cup milk 236 g
- 1/2 cup water 118 g
- 1 teaspoon salt 7g
- 3 teaspoons baking soda 17 g
- 3 cups all-purpose flour 420 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.
- For the cake, you can substitute olive or avocado, even butter for the coconut oil.
- See post for the long fermented directions.
Diana says
Can I substitute spelt flour for all purpose, thanks
Diana says
This recipe was a failure, I followed instructions, middle filling did not cook , baking soda definitely reacted with sourdough, as many comments here suggest. Waste of ingredients. Please test your recipes before posting on your blog. If there are many people complaining about the same thing, then figure it out or take it down. I tried your English muffins as well, and that was a failure couldn’t work the dough had to add flour , a lot more, I’m in the process let’s see if it will roll out for me. I’m so disappointed, your chocolate chip cookies are very good, so I took the chance and did the coffee cake and english muffins, both failed. I noticed people had problems with the english muffins as well. I understand it’s sourdough and your kitchen and starter and dough and environment is different than someone else, it doesn’t seem right to post recipes that fail most people, post recipes that will be successful for people that are more fool proof.
Ashley says
So I had high hopes for this recipe, followed exact instructions, and the middle just seems to not get fully cooked. Even put foil on top so it wouldn’t burn, but it’s struggling! Maybe try a bigger sized pan
Patti Brockschmidt says
Made it last night! Turned out wonderfully! Yum!
Lisa Bass says
So glad you enjoyed it!
Brenda Deleeuw says
Hey Lisa,
Is there a possibility that this recipe needs some adjusting? I followed this recipe closely and it made a mess. Overflowed the pan completely. The ratios seem steep to me, 5 total cups of flower in a 9×13 is quite unusual. and then top it off with 3 tsp of baking soda (I only did 2 and still had trouble!) It was so disappointing to me to have $15 worth of ingredients spilling all over the inside of my oven 🙁
Sounds like I’m not the only one who had this problem either!
Mark says
Kids say this is the best coffee cake they’ve ever had! As other reviewers stated, the middle of the cake did not cook completely at 45 minutes. Then I remembered directions said “about” 45 minutes. So I let it cook 5 more minutes. Whoa! It finished cooking!!! Edges were golden brown as stated in directions! Let it rest for as long as my kids could wait…about 10 minutes…served and it was fantastic!
Lisa Bass says
Wow that is a compliment! So glad you enjoyed it. Every oven is different, even the type of baking pan can make a difference. Glad you stuck with it.
Brittney H. says
I clicked on a link for coffee cake using discard but see that this recipe calls for active starter. Is there a different recipe using discard or can it be subbed in this recipe ? Thanks!
Lisa Bass says
You can use discard because it has baking powder as an ingredient to get a good rise.
Janelle says
Made this last night and it’s a hit! So delicious! Recipe worked perfectly well! Will definitely be making this again!
Lisa Bass says
That is wonderful to hear!
Ella says
This looks amazing. Making for company this weekend.
Anonymous says
Just made this cake…the middle crumb layer called for 1cup flour which I thought was a bit much but followed recipe…the flour was very powdery…next time I will add 1/4 cup flour…overall taste is very good…thank uou!
Lisa Bass says
Thanks for the feedback!
Beth says
I made the cake twice and it was so delicious.
Thank you for tried and true recipes.
Lisa Bass says
Glad you enjoyed it!
Nancy says
My sister has a gluten intolerance. Being this doesn’t have a bulk ferment would it be safe to say that I’d need to replace the AP flour with a GF alternative? Have you tried this? Would it work?
Lisa Bass says
Yes, that would be a safe bet!