Cinnamon and brown sugar form a crunchy topping that sits and settles into a spiced cake, making a perfect accompaniment to your favorite hot beverages. Bake this Cinnamon Streusel Coffeecake for your next breakfast, brunch, or tea.
Coffeecake is probably one of my favorite breakfast dishes to prepare. I can feed a crowd in one fell swoop by stirring up a sweet batter and baking it in the oven. While I have some favorite flavors and fruity options, one go-to combination is cinnamon streusel.
Cinnamon, the American favorite as I came to learn during my time in France where cinnamon is rarely used in sweet dishes, is not only on the list of healthy spices, but it’s also an affordable pantry staple to keep on hand. This means you can whip up a Cinnamon Streusel Coffeecake any time.
It’s basically always in season!
Cinnamon Streusel Coffeecake for the win!
This Cinnamon Coffeecake is quickly becoming a favorite at our house. The cinnamon and brown sugar form a crunchy topping, some of it resting on top, some of it sinking into the rich cake. Either way it is delicious.
The cake is easy to pull together, makes a great make-ahead baking mix, and is always a crowd pleaser.
Unfortunately, I rarely get to eat any since my family devours it every time. When you make it, be sure to serve yourself first! Baker’s prerogative!
How to make this good and cheap:
Here are some of the strategies you can use to make this recipe more economical:
- Stock up on ingredients when they are on sale. When I find regular kitchen staples on sale, I buy a lot. I’m currently using a price book to track prices and that’s saving me money. For this recipe, keeping an eye on the price of flour and butter can help keep the price down.
- Buying in bulk – It’s rare that I would buy just one bag of flour. Instead I stock up when I see a sale. I also have gotten into the habit of buying cases of flour from Bob’s Red Mill. I practice the same bulk buying for spices and other baking ingredients.
How I make this recipe easy:
This Cinnamon Streusel Coffeecake recipe really couldn’t be easier than it is, but having the right kitchen tools can really make your time in the kitchen more enjoyable. Over time, I’ve honed my collection so that they are perfect for my needs.
Here are the tools that I use for this recipe:
- stainless steel mixing bowl – I’m not sure you have too many of these.
- Silicone spatula/spoon – I have two or three of these – so convenient!
- parchment paper – I hate washing pans. Parchment paper makes clean up a breeze. Use office binder clips to secure the paper to the 9×13-inch pan until you get the batter spread.
- 9×13-inch pan – I love the ones that come with plastic lids for easy storage and stacking in the freezer.
- springform pan – a must-have for homemade cheesecakes and coffeecakes.
Cinnamon Streusel Coffeecake
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup neutral oil
- 1 egg beaten
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp salt
Topping:
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 2 tbsp unbleached, all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp butter , melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 °. Grease a 9x13 baking pan or a 9-inch springform pan.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar and oil. Mix in the egg and vanilla until smooth. Stir in the milk.
- Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Blend just until mixed. Spoon into the prepared pan.
- In a small bowl, combine the topping ingredients and sprinkle them over the batter.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Cool on a rack slightly before serving.
Notes
Originally published January 18, 2012. Updated March 8, 2018.
P.S. The comments from January 2012 do reflect typos that have since been rectified. What a nightmare posting day! However, all was not lost! The resulting second recipe turned out to be delicious, albeit not the coffeecake everyone was expecting. You can find our happy accident Snickerdoodle Bars here.
Kate
I make this at least twice a month for my kids’ breakfast—it’s my middle daughter’s favorite! I try to always make two at a time and tuck one away in the freezer. One of my favorite Good Cheap Eats! Thank you, Jessica!
Jessica Fisher
Yay! So glad to hear it’s in the regular rotation!
Irish Stevens
I was lookingfor a quit and easy cofffee cake and this one is great made it and love it thanks
Jessica Fisher
Great! So glad to hear that you liked it. I might go make that for my people this morning. thanks for the nudge.
Becky
I forgot the milk! Did anyone else miss that one? Hopefully it turns out!
Jessica
Did you read the comments? There’s a huge story behind that. It will probably be more cookie than cake like.
Shonda
Mine turned out great. I used half cup applesauce and 1/4 cup sugar.
Danielle
Just made this on a whim after a sweet craving! Delicious!
Jessica
Yeah! Glad you liked it!
Emily
My 22-month-old and I made this last night for today’s breakfast. Not only is it delicious, but quick, too! Even with his “help,” it was in the oven in about ten minutes.
Carlene Courtney
Thank you SO much. I will try the new recipe. Guess what? It was good as a cookie!
Jessica
@Carlene Courtney, ha, ha! Yes, it is. You’ll have to read my tale here: https://goodcheapeats.com/2012/02/those-snickerdoodle-bars/
Amanda Cathleen
Made 2 batches today! First made a batch to go into my kids lunchboxes for tomorrow, and for them to have for a special breakfast with yogurt. But I ended up letting them have some after dinner for dessert (a rare occasion here, they just don’t think about it, and I don’t remind them!) so I *needed* to make another batch for tomorrow’s breakfast. Delicious! I did use half whole white wheat flour and it turned out beautifully!
A friend of mine saw that I posted making this on facebook and she made a batch today too, she also said it was super good, easy to make, especially since its all pantry staples!
Jessica
So glad you liked it! Especially after all the faux pas at the beginning.
Jaime
This sounds so good! I’m planning to make it for my book club tomorrow.
Moe
YUM!! Made this today and plan on linking to your blog with this.
I made a few changes in using things up in my pantry: we are having a pantry challenge over at my blog http://AdoptiveMomHomeschoolingAnOnlyChild.blogspot.com/
I had some cranberries and golden raisins that needed used up. I also wanted to limit the oil so I used 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce and 1/4 cup oil, also we are working on adding more fiber to our diet so I sprinkled in 3 tsp Ener-G Pure Rice Bran (can’t even tell it’s in there). YUM!! My guys like it and so did I.
Stop by my blog to see a picture.
Thanks for the great recipe idea on a cold morning!
Moe
Elizabeth
Read through all the comments yesterday morning before making it….but apparently the milk hadn’t found its way into the posted recipe yet, because mine was just like a big cookie. Not really what I was going for. 🙁 Maybe if the dough had risen better, the cake wouldn’t have been so dense, but as-is, there was too much crumble for the amount of cake I ended up with. It was also a little sweet for my taste.