This is the best, moist coffee cake recipe requiring very little work! Make this cake for breakfast or for dessert in just 30 minutes.
- There’s really nothing that compares to coffee cake fresh out of the oven in the morning.
- This recipe is super moist and very easy — takes about 30 minutes to make!
- Skip the brown sugar and cinnamon layer for a lighter version of this super moist coffee cake.
- Grab my FREE grocery store checklist and mini recipe card to make baking prep…well a piece of cake!
If you’re in a hurry and need of a quick breakfast dish, try your hand at this moist and easy coffee cake with cinnamon streusel.
What’s great about this cake is that it’s a one-pan dish, so all of the layers go in the same 8 x 8-inch pan.
Read on for a few tips on how to make the best coffee cake!
Watch the video tutorial here!
Grab 2 small bowls and 1 large bowl from your pantry, you will need all 3 for the different layers.
For this coffee cake recipe, you will be making three separate layers: the coffee cake layer, the brown sugar cinnamon layer, and the streusel layer. Each layer needs to be mixed separately in order for this recipe to turn out best. So that is why you need three bowls: two small bowls and one large bowl.
There is also a glaze for this recipe, which could be considered the fourth layer, but you can use the same bowl that you used for the brown sugar cinnamon mixture. I’m all for reducing dirty dishes when I’m baking, so go ahead and reuse this small bowl. You will be pouring that brown sugar mixture over the cake layers before you have to make the glaze. A bonus is that any extra brown sugar and cinnamon left in the bowl will get added to your glaze, making it taste even better!
Note: Even if you decide to skip the brown sugar cinnamon layer (which is an option for a lighter version – see below point), you will still need three bowls for this recipe.
Add in vanilla extract to the glaze for an extra yummy flavor!
Whenever I’m baking at home, I always add in an extra kick of vanilla extract because it just adds a new level of flavor to whatever I’m making.
You can add in a 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract to the glaze, and it really adds to the flavor in the best way!
For this recipe, you could even add extra vanilla to the cake layer as well!
For a lighter version of this coffee cake, you can skip the brown sugar cinnamon layer.
There is quite a bit of sugar in this recipe. If you want to cut it down, feel free to omit the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture mentioned in Step 5 (see recipe below).
You’ll just pour the entire amount of batter into the pan and sprinkle the streusel on top. After the coffee cake has cooled, you’ll proceed to make the glaze as described next.
Add a little bit more vegetable oil to get THE moistest coffee cake.
This coffee cake is already moist (as the name suggests!), but if you want to really set it over the top you can add extra vegetable oil. This recipe calls for 2/3 cup of vegetable oil (or canola is fine), so you’ll bump that up to 3/4 cup to get a moister yield.
I’ve used this trick over and over again for all of my cakes and brownies, and it makes such a difference in terms of reducing that dryness factor.
Seriously, wait for the coffee cake to cool before drizzling on the glaze.
The drizzle dresses this coffee cake up, but there’s a trick to it. If you don’t wait for your coffee cake to fully cool, the drizzle will melt into the cake and you won’t be able to see it (total bummer if you’re looking to get that wow-factor).
Once the coffee cake cool to the touch, you can grab a tablespoon of glaze and drizzle it diagonally across the cake. I removed mine entirely from the pan and placed it on parchment paper to catch the drizzle mess. If you want a more even and clean drizzle, you can pipe the glaze over the cake or you can use a ziplock bag if you don’t have a piping kit.
To use a ziplock bag for this step, pour the glaze in and seal it up without any air. Then cut a small corner off of the bag to get the drizzle size you desire. Proceed to use the bag as a piping bag to drizzle the glaze over your coffee cake.
Pair it with a dark roast coffee to bring out the natural sweetness of the cinnamon.
For the perfect coffee food pairing, you really can’t go wrong with any coffee you choose. But in my professional opinion, I recommend a dark roast coffee. It will help to bring out the natural sweetness of the cinnamon, which is the predominate flavor of this coffee cake. A dark roast is also very strong and robust helping to slightly cut the sweetness of the coffee cake, so it’s not overwhelmingly sugary.
My specific coffee roast pick to go along with this cinnamon dessert would be Blue Bottle’s Giant Steps. It’s a darker coffee blend with tasting notes of cocoa, marshmallows, and graham cracker. Think s’mores.
Grab my grocery store checklist and cute recipe cards for this moist and easy coffee cake!
For the full supplies and ingredients checklist for this coffee cake recipe, sign up below this section to get access to my free resource library including this checklist. You’ll be able to quickly find all of the ingredients and utensils you need to buy from the store or grab from the pantry with my easy-to-read grocery store checklist.
PLUS, you also get a free mini coffee cake recipe card with all of the detailed recipe instructions found below but on a specially-designed card! Sign up below to grab yours!
Grab my FREE Coffee Cake Grocery Store Checklist To Make Baking Prep Super EASY
Subscribe to my newsletter to receive exclusive access to my FREE resource library & grab this Coffee Cake Grocery Store Checklist & Recipe Card.
PLUS, be the first to grab bonus coffee food pairings recipes & other awesome coffee freebies. Sign up below!
Show me your brewtiful dessert masterpieces on Instagram!
When you’ve finished with your coffee cake, post a pic and tag me on Instagram @bakedbrewedbeautiful or use the hashtag #bakedbrewedbeautiful, so I can see your brewtiful creation!
You can also find me on Pinterest @bakedbrewedbeautiful and upload your photo there to show that you made this easy coffee cake!
I love to talk baking, so if you had any issues with your coffee cake too, feel free to send me a message or reply with a comment below!
Best Easy & Moist Coffee Cake Recipe
Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 8x8 square inch pan.
Start by making the streusel topping to allow the butter enough time to cool. Melt the butter in the microwave, and set aside while you combine the rest of the streusel ingredients in a separate bowl (flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt). Then, pour the cooled butter on top of the dry ingredients. Stir until combined. You should see small pea-sized balls starting to form. Set aside. This is your streusel topping.
In a small bowl, combine 1/3 cup of brown sugar and 1 tsp of cinnamon. Set aside. This is your cinnamon and brown sugar layer.
In another small bowl combine the oil, egg, vanilla, and milk together. Stir until thoroughly mixed. This is part 1 of your cake mixture.
In a large bowl, combine the rest of coffee cake ingredients (flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt). This is part 2 of your cake mixture.
Pour the egg & oil mixture (from Step 4) into the dry ingredients bowl (from Step 5). Mix together well. This is your final cake batter mixture.
Spread half of the cake batter mixture onto the bottom of your prepared pan. The batter will be very thick, but still spreadable. Spread it out as evenly as possible with a spoon so that it nearly covers the bottom of the pan. It's okay that it's a very thin layer of batter or if it doesn't cover the bottom totally, as it will get filled in later with the rest of the batter.
Sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture (that you prepared in Step 3) over the first layer of the cake batter in the pan. Note: You can skip this step for a lighter version of this recipe.
Pour the rest of the batter on top of the brown sugar layer, and spread it out evenly. Sprinkle the streusel layer evenly on top of the second cake batter layer.
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool.
Once the cake is completely cool, combine the powdered sugar, vanilla, and the milk until a thick glaze forms. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled coffee cake and serve.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 8x8 square inch pan.
Start by making the streusel topping to allow the butter enough time to cool. Melt the butter in the microwave, and set aside while you combine the rest of the streusel ingredients in a separate bowl (flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt). Then, pour the cooled butter on top of the dry ingredients. Stir until combined. You should see small pea-sized balls starting to form. Set aside. This is your streusel topping.
In a small bowl, combine 1/3 cup of brown sugar and 1 tsp of cinnamon. Set aside. This is your cinnamon and brown sugar layer.
In another small bowl combine the oil, egg, vanilla, and milk together. Stir until thoroughly mixed. This is part 1 of your cake mixture.
In a large bowl, combine the rest of coffee cake ingredients (flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt). This is part 2 of your cake mixture.
Pour the egg & oil mixture (from Step 4) into the dry ingredients bowl (from Step 5). Mix together well. This is your final cake batter mixture.
Spread half of the cake batter mixture onto the bottom of your prepared pan. The batter will be very thick, but still spreadable. Spread it out as evenly as possible with a spoon so that it nearly covers the bottom of the pan. It's okay that it's a very thin layer of batter or if it doesn't cover the bottom totally, as it will get filled in later with the rest of the batter.
Sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture (that you prepared in Step 3) over the first layer of the cake batter in the pan. Note: You can skip this step for a lighter version of this recipe.
Pour the rest of the batter on top of the brown sugar layer, and spread it out evenly. Sprinkle the streusel layer evenly on top of the second cake batter layer.
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool.
Once the cake is completely cool, combine the powdered sugar, vanilla, and the milk until a thick glaze forms. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled coffee cake and serve.
Grab my FREE Coffee Cake Grocery Store Checklist To Make Baking Prep Super EASY
Subscribe to my newsletter to receive exclusive access to my FREE resource library & grab this Coffee Cake Grocery Store Checklist & Recipe Card.
PLUS, be the first to grab bonus coffee food pairings recipes & other awesome coffee freebies. Sign up below!
So I made this today and it turned dry and crumbly. The recipe says I could pour it. It mine wasn’t pourable. What could’ve happened.
hi Jess, thanks for your comment! One common problem could be if you didn’t make the three separate layers in separate bowls: cake batter, cinnamon sugar layer, and streusel topping should all be made separately and then layered into the pan. I will say that the cake batter will be really thick, but it shouldn’t be crumbly. I actually just made it again today and it ended up very moist!
If you did that, try adding more oil next time – about 3/4 cup and that should help add more liquid.
I made this today and it turned out perfect. The laters separated when I cut it, prob because it was still warm but it was so simple to make and delicious 💜💜
That’s wonderful to hear! So glad you enjoyed – try pairing it with your morning coffee for best results!
This tasted good, especially with coffee!
This was so easy and delicious! This recipe is a keeper!
Thanks so much for the feedback – happy it worked out for you!!