Classic Coffee Cake Recipe

A Classic Coffee Cake recipe that is perfect for a weekend or holiday breakfast. Overnight and make ahead friendly. The crumbly oat topping is delicious!

Originally published September 5, 2017.

A childhood favorite of mine is Classic Coffee Cake, also known affectionately as "Breakfast Cake". The coffee cake is similar to a yellow cake, but the cinnamon, oat, and nut crumbly topping is what makes it addicting. It has a more open crumb that is perfect for soaking up milk poured on top of it warm from the oven.

Ingredients for Coffee Cake

Here are the basics of what we're using. Most are basic pantry items!

Milk - 2% or whole preferred
Sour Cream or plain greek yogurt
Egg
Vanilla extract
Flour - all purpose
Baking Powder
White granulated sugar
Salt
Oats - old fashioned
Walnuts
Butter, salted
Cinnamon
Brown Sugar

How to make homemade coffee cake

To use less dishes, I make the batter in one bowl.

Combine wet ingredients
Combine dry ingredients
Make the crumbly topping (SO GUD) and sprinkle it over the batter.
Bake!

This coffee cake is SO EASY to make ahead overnight and bake in the morning. There is quite a bit of vegetable oil in the original recipe my family used, but I replaced it with plain greek yogurt (or sour cream) and it's so much better.

I like a big slice in a bowl with milk poured over it, almost like cereal. The milk soaks into the cake and it's delicious! It's also good just served warm with a big glass of milk on the side, and strawberries.

Here are some tips to make coffee cake THE BEST:

Greek yogurt or sour cream is a must. It makes the coffee cake extra soft. I like to use plain greek yogurt for the extra protein, and there's no difference in taste.
Always always always use milk, not water in the batter. 1%, 2%, or whole milk is great. I won't recommend skim milk unless it's for a deliberately wannabe skinny recipe.
DON'T over mix once you add the dry ingredients. Over-mixing results in less fluffy, more chewy cake when it's baked.

Other great breakfast recipes:

Need some weekend breakfast cake ideas? I got you!

📝 Printable Recipe