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.
Michelle says
I enjoyed this recipe Lisa but I will say I did need to make a few adjustments as others stated. The filling & crumb looked off. The filling was way too much flour and the melted butter made the “crumb” a paste. I dumped half of the filling into the “cinnamon crumb” to actually make it into a crumb. Once I did that it turned out excellent. My husband ate the entire 9×13 pan in one night
Chelsea says
Hi Lisa, I’ve enjoyed making this recipe a couple times and sharing it with friends and family! I was wondering, could you assemble the cake completely (including filling and crumb topping) and refrigerate over night for the long ferment? So I could pull it straight out of the fridge and bake right away in the morning?
Lisa Bass says
That should work!
Anonymous says
All wet ingredients really need to be room temp or sugar and coconut oil severely stick to mixer.
Anonymous says
My daughter and I made this and it was a hit!! We love all of your recipes Lisa! So grateful for the step by step instructions. Very detailed.
Thanks!
Lisa Bass says
Glad you both enjoyed it!
Jessica says
Made this for Bible study and it was definitely a hit. This makes a LOT of servings. Even after serving to about 12 women, we had leftovers! Very yummy. I will admit I made the mistake of adding butter to the crumb topping AND the cinnamon filling, but it seems that by doing that I avoided the dryness issue some people have complained about. Loved this recipe. Thank you so much for all the effort you put into your recipes!
Kelli R. says
Loved the taste of this coffee cake! I wondered about the color. Once baked, it has an orange tint?? Tastes great just looks like it should have pumpkin in it, lol.
Lisa Bass says
Just the baking process! I bet it would be tasty with pumpkin in it though.
Aubrey says
Excited to eat this! I do have a question…after I let the batter ferment overnight there were lots of hard chunks, and since I didn’t want to overmix it when I added the rest of the ingredients, I had to cook it like that. I tried to break the biggest ones up by hand. Is this normal? Hoping it will still bake okay.
Lisa Bass says
You can mix it a bit more before letting it ferment. It should be free from clumps.
Carolyn says
The sourdough discard brownies were superb so I thought I’d give this a try. The cinnamon filling came out as powdery flour, a white streak throughout the cake. It could also use more flavour which is surprising considering the amount of cinnamon used.
Lisa Bass says
I’m sorry you had troubles with the recipe! That’s not how it is supposed to turn out.
Holly says
Husband and Bible Study ladies really enjoyed this. I did the long method with 1/2 eincorn and 1/2 SO flour. Thanks!
Lisa Bass says
That is wonderful hear!
Ashleigh M says
Thank you Lisa! I wanted a smaller size so I used a 9in round metal cake pan and halved every ingredient. Baked for 35 min. When it came to the eggs I used 2. I also flavored it with both vanilla and almond extract because I love almond flavored breakfast pastries. In the recipe, I was a little concerned after melting the coconut oil and then I used milk that hadn’t been warmed and the oil solidified again. I just pulled it out of the oven and it looks and smells great! I’m excited to cut into it and try it. I wonder if it matters to melt the coconut oil or to warm all the other liquids to keep a more uniform cake batter. We’ll see!