This is my FAVORITE recipe for Sour Cream Coffee Cake! My main complaint with Coffee Cake is that there is usually too much cake, not enough streusel. This recipe gives you the max amount of streusel without ruining the light fluffiness of the cake! A vanilla drizzle finishes it off for the perfect cake-for-breakfast situation.
Prep time: PT20M
Cook time: PT45M
Total time: PT65M
Rating
4.64 stars (141 reviews)
Keywords
coffee cake, sour cream, streusel
Ingredients
3 cups all purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 cup butter (2 sticks, melted)
2 & 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 & 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup butter (1 and 1/2 sticks, softened but still cool )
1/2 cup sour cream
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup butter (half stick, very soft)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup milk (more to taste)
2 cups powdered sugar
Categories
Dessert
Cuisine
American
Steps
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch cake pan* with nonstick spray or rub with butter.
Make the streusel: In a large bowl, whisk together 3 cup flour, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons cinnamon.
Melt 1 cup butter in a small bowl in the microwave. Pour into the larger bowl and stir the butter into the flour. You should end up with a bowl of what looks like wet sand, with lots of big chunks. Don't try to smooth it out. See photo.
For the cake: In a large bowl or stand mixer, whisk together 2 and 1/4 cups flour, 1 and 1/4 cups sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 3/4 teaspoon baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt.
Chop 3/4 cup softened butter into chunks. You want the butter to sit out of the fridge for several minutes so that it's not rock-hard, but don't let it soften so much that it's completely creamy.
Add the chopped butter and 1/2 cup sour cream to the flour mixture. Use the paddle attachment (or electric beaters) to blend the butter in. Eventually the butter will moisten the flour and it will all come together in a ball. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl as necessary. Don't over mix, just beat until all the butter is incorporated.
In another large bowl, whisk together 4 eggs, 1 cup sour cream, and 1 tablespoon vanilla. Beat well until the eggs are well blended.
Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture in 3 additions, beating for about 20 seconds after each one. Once all the egg mixture is added, beat for another 1 minute until the batter is light and fluffy.
Spread 2 cups of batter into the bottom of your prepared cake pan. Sprinkle 1 cup of streusel evenly over the top, breaking up any too-large pieces with your hands.
Spread another 2 cups batter on top and spread it around as best you can.
Add another 1 cup streusel on top.
Add the rest of the batter and spread evenly.
Evenly spread another 2 cups of streusel on top of the cake. Do NOT add all the remaining streusel! There will be some left over. Spread the remaining streusel on a baking sheet to dry out a little bit.
Bake the cake at 350 for 25 minutes.
Do this next part fast. Remove the cake from the oven and shut the oven door. Use your hands to sprinkle all the remaining streusel on top of the cake, focusing on any areas where the cake batter has puffed up from the center. Move quickly! Get the cake back in the oven as soon as you can, and keep the oven door shut as much as possible.
Bake for another 20-25 minutes.* The total bake time for the cake should be about 45-50 minutes, depending on your oven and whether you use a glass or metal pan. Test the cake with a toothpick. It is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with no wet batter on it. The cake should not wobble around at all when you shake the pan.
Let the cake cool on a wire rack for at least 15-20 minutes for cutting into it.
Make the icing: In a medium bowl, beat 1/4 cup butter until smooth. (I actually did it by hand with a whisk. You can do this if your butter is ultra soft.)
Add 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 cup milk, and 2 cups powdered sugar. Beat with a mixer or by hand until very smooth.
Drizzle the icing over the cake. You can either drizzle it over the whole cake or drizzle each individual serving. I like to drizzle about half the icing over the whole cake, and then save the rest for drizzling over each serving.
The cake is best served warm! Zap individual servings in the microwave for 10-20 seconds if you are serving after the cake has cooled.
This cake will keep well covered on the counter for 2-3 days. After that, put it in the fridge.
Nutitrion
Serving Size: 1 slice
Calories: 553 kcal
Carbohydrates: 68 g
Protein: 6 g
Fat: 29 g
Saturated Fat: 18 g
Trans Fat: 1 g
Cholesterol: 114 mg
Sodium: 700 mg
Sugar: 35 g
Unsaturated Fat: 9 g
Reviews
Michael MILLIGAN (Sponsors' Corner- Port Jervis, NY on 2026-04-23 (5 stars): This is my Sober House's favorite Coffee Cake. My House Manager absolutely loves this Cake. He likes it so much, he complains, I made it once in five years and he has been hearing about it ever since. I actually made it like a dozen times. He can go suck an Egg. Lol. I try to mix it up with Sour Cream Pound Cake, NY Style Crumb Cake, and assorted Pies. I encourage the guys to eat lots of Sugar as it takes the edge off Urges from Alcohol and Drug Addiction in Recovery. Sour Cream is my secret weapon in making cakes it makes them richer and monster. Thanks Food Charlatan for a Wonderful Recipe.
Cheryl on 2026-04-18 (2 stars): I made this based on Pancake Princess' review. IMO, there's too much streusel to cake ratio and the streusel that's put on top after it bakes for 25 minutes doesn't meld with the cake batter and ended up just falling off when the cake was cut. That top layer of streusel wasn't very crisp either because it wasn't in the oven long enough. Overall, a huge disappointment and waste of a lot of butter and sugar. I think the cake part of the recipe was delicious and I would make this again with modifications. I'd probably cut the streusel by 1/3 and use all the streusel from the beginning of the bake time.
Pam on 2025-12-25 (5 stars): I just made this for Christmas morning and it was amazing! I added chopped walnuts to the streusel and it added just the right amount of crunch and texture. The cake was moist and delicious! I have a question about the layers though. Is it possible to do 2 large layers instead of several small?
Lindsay Q on 2025-12-02 (5 stars): Omg soooo good. Highly recommend & will definitely make again. Thank you for this recipe! I made this for Thanksgiving and accidentally overbaked it (there was a wiggle in the middle still and 5 mins later it was overbaked and then really overbaked as it cooled--first-time user error!) I had a small piece before anyone else, realized my error and drizzled some milk over the entire cake in the pan. It completely brought back the moisture and the cake was so dense and perfect! Can't wait to experiement with other mix-ins as suggested in the blog post. Everyone loved it (and again and again for breakfast leftovers)
Amy Moe on 2025-11-09 (5 stars): Love this recipe! The best coffee cake I’ve ever made,Thank you.I did step by step and it’s PERFECT
Valerie B on 2025-07-30 (3 stars): The cake batter is amazing. However the crumb mix is way too much. I had to scrape off over a cup of plus through away almost another cup and a half.