Cinnamon Coffee Cake

This coffee cake is moist, sweet, and really strong on the cinnamon, just like we like it! It is naturally sweetened with maple syrup, no refined sugar, making even better.

Coffee cake is one of those things where when I make it, I always wonder why I don't make it more often. It is a great little treat for morning, afternoon, or a night time snack.

Two non-negotiables for my coffee cake is the addition of a lot of cinnamon and a streusel topping full of more cinnamon and some butter. This cake has all of that plus an added vanilla flavor, from extract.

When doing research on coffee cakes and figuring out where I wanted to start, I found that a lot of coffee cake recipes have a vanilla pudding packet in them. I can understand what that would do for the coffee cake flavor, but you really don't need it with this recipe.

Here, we just stick with the basics, using ingredients you have in your pantry. There is nothing special about these ingredients, just your usual baking items!

Details and Tips!

This coffee cake is really simple to make. The hardest thing to do is not overmix your batter. The batter seems to come together really quickly. Mix it only until just combined and no further to ensure it is nice and tender.

I like to do a layer of streusel in the middle of the cake. This will give you nice bites of cinnamon sweetness throughout the middle and on the top. You don't have to do this step and can certainly save it all for the top of you choose!

If you have the time, get your cold ingredients to room temperature. It isn't do or die here, but it will help everything come together really nicely.

For the best bake ever, I recommend using the Greenpan loaf pan. It is a non-toxic, ceramic pan and the coffee cake comes out like a dream when baked in it. It is great for any loaves you are baking. You don't even need to coat the dish with butter! Click here to check it out!

What you need!

• egg, large or extra large
• unsalted butter
• pure vanilla extract, not imitation
• whole milk
• salt
• baking powder
• maple syrup, pure
• all purpose flour
• cinnamon
• nutmeg

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Customize!

You can do so much with this coffee cake recipe to make it your own. A popular option, I am sure, is to add nuts. In this house, we don't like nuts in our food. I don't know, there is just something about it that I don't love, and luckily my husband shares this same opinion. Walnuts or pecans would probably be good in it though.

This recipe is naturally sweetened with maple syrup, no refined sugars welcome here. BUT, if you want to top it with a vanilla glaze, that would be yummy! It would lose the title of naturally sweetened, but maybe worth it? I don't know.

I think chocolate chips would also be great here. Adding it to the streusel would add a nice little chocolatey bite that would be delicious!

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Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Fluffy, moist, and full of cinnamon, this coffee cake is perfect! It is naturally sweetened with maple syrup, no refined sugars, and so good!

For the cake

• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter (melted and cooled slightly)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup whole milk (room temperature)
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder (aluminum free)

For the streusel

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• salt (just a pinch!)

For the cake

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Grease a loaf pan with butter and set aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs. Add in the melted butter, vanilla, milk, and maple syrup. Whisk everything together until completely combined and smooth.

4. Gently add the flour, salt, and baking powder to the top of the wet ingredients so it is sitting on top of them. Gently whisk the dry ingredients and slowly work them into the wet ingredients until just combined, don't overmix! Set aside.

For the streusel

1. Add the flour, butter, syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt to a small mixing bowl. Using a fork, mix the ingredients together. It should be the consistency of a soft butter.

Assemble the cake

1. Pour half of the cake batter into the loaf pan. Sprinkle half of the streusel mixture on top. Gently pour over the rest of the cake batter and sprinkle the rest of the streusel mixture on top.

2. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick stuck into the center comes out clean! Enjoy!

This is a great recipe to make ahead and freeze. Once thawed, it is just as moist and delicious. 

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. 

Breakfast

American

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