A delicious use for your discarded sourdough starter, this sourdough coffee cake is swirled and topped with cinnamon sugar streusel for the perfect sweet morning treat.
This coffee cake is one of our absolute favorites: a sweet and tender cake swirled with cinnamon sugar streusel that makes everything more delicious. And even though this is a great way to use your discard sourdough starter, there is no sourdough taste.
So start brewing a pot of coffee and pop this in the oven. It’s one of our favorite things to make for playdates that is loved by the mom and the little ones.
💡Are you unfamiliar with the world of sourdough? Visit the beginners guide to sourdough baking, or get started with a sourdough starter of your own from scratch!
Ingredients you’ll need:
for the cake
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup sourdough starter
- 1/2 cup sour cream or greek yogurt
for the topping
- 1/4 cup cold butter, diced
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
Helpful tools:
- A pastry blender for blending butter and flour together easily
- An offset spatula for spreading out the batter
Let’s make some coffee cake!
Make the batter
This is a thick batter, so I prefer to make it with a stand mixer, but you could use a hand mixer if you have strong arms! Make sure your butter is softened before you begin.
Beat the sugar and butter together until well combined. then add the eggs.
Combine all the dry ingredients for the cake in a separate mixing bowl. Add one third them to the butter mixture and mix. Then add the sour cream and mix. Add one more third of the dry ingredients, mix. Add the sourdough starter, and mix. Finally add the last portion of the flour and mix.
The batter will be thick.
Make the topping and assemble
Now we make the cinnamon sugar topping. To get a delicious crumbly streusel, you need to blend the butter and flour together first. Start with cold butter and cut it into the flour using two forks, a pastry blender, or by rubbing it together with your hands. Then add in the sugar and the cinnamon.
Now we just have to put it all together and bake! Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place an oven rack in the center. Prepare a square pan with non stick cooking spray.
Spread out half of the cake batter into the pan, then sprinkle half of the streusel topping on top. Place the remaining cake batter in dollops and then smooth it out, using an offset spatula if you have one. Sprinkle the rest of the topping on top.
Bake for 40-45 minutes. You will want a toothpick to come out clean, or with just a few crumbs. Let the coffee cake cool a bit in the pan, and then you can serve it directly out there.
Need more recipes to use up your discarded sourdough starter?
- Sourdough banana bread is another quick bread breakfast favorite that we love.
- Sourdough carrot cupcakes are more of a dessert, but would make a respectable breakfast without the frosting!
📖 Print the recipe here
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Sourdough Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Streusel Topping
Ingredients
for the cake:
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup sourdough starter
- 1/2 cup sour cream or greek yogurt
for the topping
- 1/4 cup cold butter diced
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with the rack in the center. Prepare a 9 x 9 or 8 x 8 square pan with non stick cooking spray.
- Beat the butter and sugar in an electric stand mixer until combined. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until fluffy. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate mixing bowl. Add to the butter mixture, 1/3 at a time, alternating with the sourdough starter and sour cream. Mix gently until just combined.
- To make the topping, cut the butter into the flour until it is the size of peas. Stir in the brown sugar and cinnamon.
- Layer half of the cake batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle half of the topping on the cake batter. Gently spread the remaining cake batter on top, and top with the rest of the topping.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes. Serve in squares directly out of the pan.
Natalie says
Made this cake this morning and it is fantastic! I live at high altitude and baked goods tend to rise too quickly and then sink in the middle here. The sourdough really seems to help, but I also made the following adjustments: Made sure the eggs were at room temperature, used a scant cup of sugar, a generous 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and used just a bit less of both the baking powder and baking soda. Will definitely make this again soon!
Leah says
Just want to say this is the best coffee cake I have made. Will definitely make it again and again. I doubled the topping ingredients.
Katie Shaw says
thank you Leah! so happy to hear that 🙂
Dee says
This recipe was so easy and delicious. There’s only 2 of us, so I made 3 mini-loaves. I baked it at 350 for 30 minutes. They turned out perfect.
Katie Shaw says
oh thank you for letting me know about the mini loaves! I will be sure to try that. glad you enjoyed your coffee cake 🙂
Judith says
What could I sub for the sour cream or yogurt? Thanks
Katie Shaw says
hi Judith, one reader made it with all sourdough starter instead of the sour cream!
Julie Boyer says
Definitely need to double the topping recipe if using a 9 x 9 pan.
Anne says
This was delicious. I have made it a couple of timesavers it turned out great both times. Could this work as cupcakes do you think? It would be a bit more work but make it easier to freeze and then take out just one or two at the time.
Katie Shaw says
Yes I think it would be delicious! I think it might be easier to put all the topping right on top instead of layering. Maybe!
Christine says
This cake is moist and delicious. The whole family loved it. I added sliced plums and a pinch of nutmeg to the middle layer and cooked it a little longer until the tester came out clean. Winner!
Katie Shaw says
oh I will have to try plum, great idea. glad you liked the recipe!
Liz says
This was delicious!! Thank you so much for the recipe! I baked it in an 8×8 for 40 minutes and it was perfect. I am curious about the ratio of starter to sour cream, because you mentioned you could sub more sour cream for the starter. Do you think I could go the other way, and do more starter and less sour cream, or even 1 cup of starter and no sour cream? Thanks again for a fantastic recipe!
Katie Shaw says
hi liz! I’m so glad the coffee cake was a hit! you could certainly try increasing the sourdough starter to 3/4 cup, but I think 1 cup would make it too dense and doughy. the sour cream really helps keep the cake tender. 🙂
Tanya says
This is my second time making this coffee cake and it is just dreamy! Perfect moisture in the crumb, dense enough to feel really indulgent without being heavy, and with just the right amount of cinnamon and sugar!
The second time around I actually had more excess starter than I needed, so throwing caution to the wind, I put in a full 1 cup rather than ½ cup of active starter, while still using the full ½ cup sour cream as well.
It still performed beautifully, needing just 5 extra minutes of bake time. Probably the fact that it was active helped a bit, since that meant the starter was loose and well-aerated when it went into the batter.
I also am baking this in my round springform pan with some parchment pinned in at the bottom – simply because I don’t have any square baking pans – and it makes serving and cutting the full cake a breeze!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Katie Shaw says
hooray! thank you so much for letting me know, and I love the idea about the spring form pan!
Liz says
Thank you both so much for your replies!
Anonymous says
What is the size/dimension of the baking dish for this recipe?
Katie Shaw says
I use 9 x 9, others have tried 13 x 9 and done it as a single layer with a reduced baking time.
Diane says
Can you freeze it after its cooked?
Katie Shaw says
yes!
Kathy says
Delicious! Thank you!
Katie Shaw says
wonderful! glad you liked it 🙂
Hansel says
There is no coffee added ??
Katie Shaw says
no, American coffee cake is typically just a cake a served with coffee 🙂 at least where I live!
Kayti says
Can you make this the night before, refrigerate and cook in the morning?
Katie Shaw says
you can make the batter but I wouldn’t do the layering
Mandy says
I agree. Looks and smells awesome, but took me about 50ish minutes to cook. I may try a 9×13 next time as well. Thanks for the recipe!
TWynnB says
This was absolutely delicious and fairly easy to make.
Because it gets so tall in my 8×8, I think I’ll do it in one layer in a 13×9 and cut back on the baking time. Right now, when I take a piece I eat the bottom half first and then the top half because it’s so thick!
Otherwise, I wouldn’t change a thing. Moist, wonderful flavor, nice topping without being too much.
Katie Shaw says
that’s a good idea! I do like it tall but I definitely see your point. glad you liked it!
Tammi says
Can I double the ingredients and make it layered in a 9×13” pan?
Katie Shaw says
yes, sure!