This moist sour cream coffee cake is topped with big fat crumbs! Sometimes, coffee cakes lean towards dry (you really need that cup of coffee to help it go down). Not so with this one! It’s super moist and tastes of brown sugar, cinnamon, and giant bear hugs.
The Secret to the Best Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Sour cream is the key to making coffee cake super moist. But, there is a second trick!
My coffee cake is a bit unconventional in that it uses crumb topping both in the batter and on top of the cake.
As you can see above, the crumbs in the batter won’t be visible in the end, but they make the cake nice and moist and buttery.
How to Serve Sour Cream Coffee Cake
This cake is typically served at room temperature with – you guessed it – a cup of coffee.
It lasts about three days in an airtight container. But, you can also freeze the cake for months or freeze individual slices and bring to room temperature before enjoying.
The Difference Between Coffee Cake and Crumb Cake
The term crumb cake and coffee cake can be used interchangeably. They are both unfrosted cakes with a crumb topping.
New York crumb cake (which this cake is not) is a special kind of crumb cake with a nearly equal amount of crumbs and cake.
If you want more crumbs on this cake, go for it! Just double the crumb part of this recipe. The more crumbs, the merrier!
What If I Don’t Have Sour Cream?
I’ve done extensive testing and found that you can replace the sour cream with yogurt or Greek yogurt and not notice any difference. So, use whatever you have on hand.
Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Crumb Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 6 tablespoons brown sugar same as 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons
- 6 tablespoons rolled oats same as 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons
Cake Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup full-fat sour cream
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Crumb Instructions
- Mix all ingredients in a small bowl until large crumbs form.
Cake Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Beat butter, brown sugar, and white sugar in a medium-sized mixing bowl until light and fluffy.
- Beat in eggs one at a time.
- Beat in sour cream and vanilla.
- In a separate medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Add flour mixture to wet ingredients a little bit at a time until just combined.
- Spread half of the batter into a greased 8" round cake pan.
- Top with half of the crumbs. (These crumbs will all but disappear during baking, but will add to the moistness of the cake.)
- Top with the remaining batter.
- Top with remaining crumbs.
- Bake for 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
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