Ready to enjoy the fluffiest coffee cake alongside your morning cup of coffee? Try Grandma's Sour Cream Coffee Cake! This staple recipe makes the perfect breakfast, mid-morning snack, or afternoon treat!

sour cream coffee cake stacked with a bite taken out

A Quick Look

Recipe Name: Grandma's Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Ready In: 40 minutes
Serves: 12 pieces
Main Ingredients: butter, sugar, eggs, sour cream, vanilla, flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, baking soda
Why You'll Love It: Ready to enjoy the fluffiest coffee cake alongside your morning cup of coffee? Try Grandma's Sour Cream Coffee Cake! This staple recipe makes the perfect breakfast, mid-morning snack, or afternoon treat!

Coffee cake made with sour cream

Have you ever baked a cake with sour cream? Though cake recipes don't often include the ingredient, there's no arguing that sour cream enhances any cake recipe its used in! That's especially true in Grandma's sour cream coffee cake.

This recipe uses typical baking ingredients like butter, sugar, eggs, and flour. The addition of sour cream replaces the oil, creating a cake that is extra flavorful, moist, and fluffy!

It doesn't stop there. After the cake layer comes a layer of cinnamon sugar, followed by a sugary glaze. You're going to love it!

Ingredients in Grandma's sour cream coffee cake

This sour cream coffee cake recipe is made in three parts: the cake, the cinnamon sugar, and the glaze. Each part uses flavorful ingredients that all come together to make the most delicious cake.

Cake

Butter: First up for the coffee cake is ½ cup of softened butter. Using softened butter will allow the cake batter to come together much easier. I recommend salted over unsalted butter.
Sugar: Create the cake's sweet flavor by including 1 cup of sugar.
Eggs: Next, use 2 large eggs to help the cake achieve the correct level of fluffiness.
Sour cream: ½ pint of sour cream adds more flavor to the cake! It's a staple ingredient in this recipe.
Flour: Next, thicken up the batter with 2 cups of all purpose flour.
Baking powder: Help the cake bake properly with 1.5 teaspoon of baking powder.
Baking soda: Then, follow the baking powder with ½ teaspoon of baking soda.
Salt: Lastly, finish off the cake batter with ¼ teaspoon of salt.

Cinnamon Sugar Layer

Sugar: The cinnamon sugar layer is made with a base of ¾ cup of sugar. You can use coconut sugar or granulated sugar, or even light brown sugar! Note that using brown sugar will thicken up the mixture and may make it a bit clumpy.
Cinnamon: Then, add extra flavor with 2 teaspoon of cinnamon.

Glaze (optional)

Powdered sugar: To create the optional glaze, first grab 1 cup of powdered sugar.
Almond milk: Create a glaze by adding 1-2 tablespoon of almond milk to the sugar.

Tools used to make this sour cream coffee cake

Around 8 kitchen tools are required to prepare this coffee cake. Everything is listed below. If a hand mixer is not available, you can use a regular stirring utensil.

9x9 baking dish
Parchment paper
Large mixing bowl
Electric mixer
Spatula
Small mixing bowl
Stirring utensil
Whisk
Icing knife

For measuring ingredients, you will need the following sized measuring cups: ¼ tsp, ½ tsp, 1 tsp, ½ cup, and 1 cup.

How to make coffee cake using sour cream

Ready to dive into this recipe? You can expect the cake to require 15 minutes of prep time, bringing it to around 45 minutes of total time from start to finish. It yields 12 individual slices.

First, preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 9x9 baking dish. I also add a layer of parchment on the bottom.

Then, use a large mixing bowl and a hand mixer on low speed to beat together the butter and sugar until they are well combined. Add the eggs and blend until creamy. Then, mix in the sour cream and vanilla.

Next, grab a small bowl and whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Slowly add the dry flour mixture to the wet, using a mixer until everything is combined. The batter should be fluffy.

Add half the batter to the baking dish and spread into an even layer. I use an icing knife to make sure it spreads evenly because it will be thick.

In a small bowl, mix together the cinnamon and sugar. Sprinkle half of the mixture evenly over the cake batter.

Repeat the process of adding the remaining batter to the pan, spreading it out with an icing knife, and topping with more cinnamon sugar.

Bake for 28-32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

While the cake cools, create the glaze by mixing together the ingredients. Once cooled, drizzle the glaze over the cake.

Cut, serve, and enjoy!

Recipe Tips

What does sour cream do to a cake?

Sour cream works wonders for making cakes fluffy and moist. It also helps elevate the flavor, making everything taste a bit more powerful.

Can you use light sour cream in cake?

Feel free to use light sour cream or full-fat sour cream in your recipe. If using light sour cream, you may notice a more refined flavor in the cake, but it shouldn't alter the recipe too much.

What flavors go well with coffee cake?

Cinnamon is always a delicious flavor in coffee cake, as well as berries and other fresh fruits!

What can I add to this cake?

Hoping to add even more flavor to this sour cream coffee cake? One ingredient that goes splendidly with sour cream is fresh fruit. So, consider adding fruit to your coffee cake! You could use blueberries, raspberries, or even chopped strawberries. If you'd rather add a crunch, you can sprinkle chopped pecans or walnuts on top!

Storing leftovers

Wondering about storage? Coffee cake cane be stored at room temperature or in the fridge or freezer to maintain a longer shelf life.

Regardless of where you store it, be sure to place the sour cream cake in an airtight container to keep it fresh and moist. Then, enjoy it at room temperature for 2-3 days, refrigerated for 4-5, or frozen for up to 1 month!

You may store the cake in plastic wrap, but it may dry out faster.

If you liked this recipe, you'll want to try these!

Want to dig into some more incredible coffee cake recipes? Here are some ideas to try!

Recipe by Erin Morrissey and Photos by The Mindful Hapa

Erin Antoniak