Sourdough Coffee Cake
This sourdough coffee cake, with a cinnamon sugar streusel topping and middle layer, is a delicious use for your leftover sourdough starter. It’s the perfect sweet morning treat.
Sourdough Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Streusel Topping
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- ½ cup butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup sourdough starter
- ½ cup sour cream or greek yogurt
For the Topping
- ½ cup cold butter diced
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Prep. 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.
- Make the batter. 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.
- Make the topping. To make the topping, cut the butter into the flour until it is the size of peas. Stir in the brown sugar and cinnamon.
- Assemble. 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. 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.
Notes
Nutrition
This is our go-to for lazy Saturday mornings, paired with a strong cup of coffee for me and glasses of cold milk for the kids. They even ask for it on birthdays and special occasions, which, let’s be honest, makes my sourdough-loving heart swell with pride.
It’s the perfect balance of not too sweet, wonderfully moist, and just the right amount of ‘special’ to make our weekend breakfasts feel like a celebration.
Key Ingredients and Tools
You’ll need the following for this delicious coffee cake:
- butter, softened
- granulated sugar
- eggs
- vanilla
- all-purpose flour
- baking powder
- baking soda
- salt
- sourdough starter
- sour cream or Greek yogurt
- cold butter, diced
- brown sugar
- teaspoons cinnamon
Troubleshooting and Help
Absolutely! An active starter is actually great for this recipe. It means your cake might have a lighter texture and a nice, subtle sourdough tang.
Definitely! This cake actually tastes even better the next day, in my opinion. The flavors have time to meld together, and the texture remains moist. Just make sure to cover it well or store it in an airtight container to keep it from drying out. It’s a lifesaver for when you want a hassle-free morning treat.
Substitute the all-purpose flour with a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend. Look for a blend that’s designed to be a 1:1 replacement. Gluten-free cakes sometimes require a slightly different baking time. Start checking for doneness a few minutes earlier than the recipe suggests.
Use a plant-based butter substitute. There are many great brands out there that work just like dairy butter in baking. Replace each egg with a flax egg. To make a flax egg, mix 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed with 3 tablespoons of water. Let it sit for about 5 minutes until it becomes gel-like. This not only acts as a binder but adds a little extra fiber too! Opt for a vegan sour cream or a plant-based yogurt. There are coconut, almond, and soy-based versions that would work well in this recipe.
More Quick Breads
I picked these because they are perfect for guests! Everyone will love them, even kids.
I promise you’ll love this recipe!
By Katie Shaw
Katie lives in Virginia with her husband, three daughters, a chocolate lab, and over thirty chickens. She loves creating simple tutorials for sourdough, bread, and soap. Her recipes, articles, and YouTube videos reach millions of people per year.
One of my favorites as is. I also cut the cinnamon crumble in half and added froze blueberries and nutmeg to the batter. And topped with the cinnamon crumble .
Hey Patricia, that sounds delicious! I love the idea of adding blueberries and nutmeg. I bet it adds such a nice flavor. Thanks for sharing your twist on the recipe, I might have to try that next time!
I made this today, and it’s delicious! First time I’ve used sourdough starter in a coffee cake. Next time I’ll use less topping on top since a lot of it fell off. I used an angel food cake pan, that I’ve used for previous coffee cakes. I allowed it to cool the 15 minutes and tried to take it out of the pan I used. It came apart, but not too bad. Yes, I will definitely make it again, but will use the 9×9″ pan, and leave it in the pan for cutting. I’m also thinking of adding pecans next time with the topping, probably try apples too. Thank you for a great recipe.
YUMMY!
I did not have any pecans or blueberries but will try each another time.
I used just the cinnamon streusel, layering it in between and again on top.
I know my family (this is the only change I made to the recipe), and I made extra so I would have lots between the layers, just the way they like it. I am here to tell you, make this version. It is moist and delicious. Served warm with a cup of tea or coffee, and you have the start of a perfect morning.
thanks kathy! i love your ideas for additions!
Hi, I I have is a low sugar regular vanilla yogurt. Will that work?
Instead of the sourdough starter? I think it would. Let me know 🙂
This is my favorite recipe to use up my sourdough discard. I’ve made it several times now, and it’s a huge hit every time! The only thing I do differently is I also add 1/2 cup of buttermilk to the batter. I made it exactly as this recipe says the first time, and it was amazing. The addition of the buttermilk is a personal preference for helping the batter to spread a little easier without adding too much additional liquid.