Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake Recipe is a sweet, delicious treat perfect for breakfast or brunch. It’s perfectly “cinnamony” and the cake is buttery and moist!
Buongiorno from Italy!
My husband and I are in Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy and taking a day trip to Cinque Terre, a place I have always wanted to see in person. This is a picture my sister took when she visited Cinque Terre. Picture perfect, right?
Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake
Today I have my good friend and former co-worker Jessica from Stuck on Sweet sharing her Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake. YUM!
Her blog is filled with delicious food, but especially all of her delicious sweets. She offers lots of inspiration if you have a sweet tooth! Two of my favorite recipes include Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes and Banana Cream Cupcakes. Jessica and I worked together for 3 years until she recently took a new job. While I am so happy for her (and her commute went from one hour to about 10 minutes) I miss seeing her! She is one of the sweetest people I have ever met and has an infectious smile and personality.
Jess is actually one of the reasons I started a food blog. She turned me on to reading food blogs when we both started working together three years ago. At that time I had never read food blogs, but once she introduced me I was hooked. I loved seeing the interesting and exciting recipes that food bloggers came up with and reading their stories along the way. I am excited to have her here today to share her Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake with you. Such a perfect breakfast or brunch treat. Welcome Jessica!
Hello everyone! This is Jessica from Stuck on Sweet. I hope I am finding everyone doing well today! Julia asked me to guest post on her blog while she’s on her fabulous vacation in Italy. I cannot wait to read about her trip, especially the food. 😉
Today I am sharing an easy (despite the long recipe) Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake with you. I hope you all like sweets!
I have a few Starbucks gift cards so I have been stopping there lately to grab my favorite latte (skinny vanilla of course) and every now and then I will munch on their blueberry or cinnamon coffee cake because it’s soooooooo good. I figured, why the heck not just make my own? So I did!
The batter is thick and creamy and incredibly tasty…I mean really really good – I licked the bowl clean. This recipe calls for a ton of cinnamon. It seems like it’s way too much (at least I thought so) but after all said and done, it’s the perfect amount.
The picture above is important! First spread half the batter on the bottom of a greased baking pan, then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top then spread the rest of the batter on top. The batter is thick so it may be difficult to spread. I used a small spatula and it worked well.
Next, take a knife and swirl it through the batter so the cinnamon mixture is thoroughly swirled through the batter. This is what makes the coffee cake look pretty!
Lastly, sprinkle the streusel topping on top (also seems like a lot) and bake! Feel free to add more butter to the streusel topping to make it more buttery. I did not add more and it came out a little more powdery but still tasted wonderful.
Look at the swirl! I just love this Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake recipe. It’s perfectly “cinnamony” and the cake is buttery and moist (yuck, hate that word but I don’t know how else to describe it).
It’s even more perfect with a cup of coffee!
Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake
Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake is a delicious treat for breakfast or a brunch. The cinnamon flavor pairs great with a warm cup of coffee.
Ingredients
- •For the streusel topping
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (if you use unsalted butter)
- 1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 6 tablespoons butter, melted
- •For the filling
- 1 cup brown sugar, light or dark
- 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- •For the cake
- 3/4 cup butter
- 1 teaspoon salt (1 1/4 teaspoons if you use unsalted butter)
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
- 1 1/4 cups milk (anything from skim to whole)
- 3 3/4 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan, or two 9" round cake pans.
- Make the topping by whisking together the sugar, salt, flour, and cinnamon. Add the melted butter, stirring till well combined. Set the topping aside.
- Make the filling by mixing together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa powder. Note that the cocoa powder is used strictly for color, not flavor; leave it out if you like. Set it aside.
- To make the cake: In a large bowl, beat together the butter, salt, sugars, baking powder, and vanilla until well combined and smooth.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream or yogurt and milk till well combined. You don't need to whisk out all the lumps.
- Add the flour to the butter mixture alternately with the milk/sour cream mixture, beating gently to combine.
- Pour/spread half the batter (a scant 3 cups) into the prepared pan(s), spreading all the way to the edges. If you're using two 9" round pans, spread 1 1/3 cups batter in each pan.
- Sprinkle the filling evenly atop the batter.
- Spread the remaining batter atop the filling. Use a table knife to gently swirl the filling into the batter, as though you were making a marble cake. Don't combine filling and batter thoroughly; just swirl the filling through the batter.
- Sprinkle the topping over the batter in the pan.
- Bake the cake until it's a dark golden brown around the edges; medium-golden with no light patches showing on top, and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes for the 9" x 13" pan, 50 to 55 minutes for the 9" round pans. When pressed gently in the middle, the cake should spring back.
- Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool for 20 minutes before cutting and serving. Serve cake right from the pan
Cheska
Wednesday 30th of August 2017
Awesome blog! Thanks for sharing the Cinnamon Swirl Coffee cake recipe. I must try this, this is the quintessential breakfast coffee cake! Keep it up!
Loretta | A Finn In The Kitchen
Tuesday 14th of May 2013
I love when baked goods are loaded with cinnamon! It's my favorite 'sweet' spice :) Loving all the guest posts...
Julia
Tuesday 14th of May 2013
Thanks Loretta! Cinnamon is such a great spice especially in breakfast baked goods!
Stephie @ Eat Your Heart Out
Tuesday 7th of May 2013
Hi Jessica! Great to "meet" you! Thanks for introducing Julia to food blogging so that we could all benefit from her site ;-)
This coffee cake is goooooorgeous! I just love that swirl. I could totally go for a piece (or two or three or four) of that.
Julia
Monday 13th of May 2013
I have a weakness with coffee cake--it never ends in just one piece!
Stefanie @ Sarcastic Cooking
Tuesday 7th of May 2013
What a stunning recipe! I can smell this baking away in my oven already! Hope you are enjoying the trip Julia!
Jessica@stuckonsweet
Tuesday 7th of May 2013
I wish I was with you in Italy right now - eat lots of pasta and drink lots of wine for me! I hope you're have SO MUCH FUN!!!
Julia
Monday 13th of May 2013
Thanks for sharing your recipe! I am back--the trip was more than I even expected. Italy was just amazing--you have to get Vin to take you. The food is out of this world. :)