Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Tender, delicious homemade Sour Cream Coffee cake with a cinnamon pecan filling and topping.
Servings: 9
Calories: 487kcal
Ingredients
Coffee Cake Batter:
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened 113 grams
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar 130 grams
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup sour cream 238 grams
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour 232 grams
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
Topping:
- ½ cup all-purpose flour 64 grams
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed 64 grams
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter cold and diced
- 1 cup chopped pecans 105 grams
Glaze:
- ½ cup confectioner’s sugar 50 grams
- 2-3 teaspoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Lightly butter an 9x9 inch baking pan and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, use a hand-held mixer to beat together the butter and granulated sugar for the cake.
- Mix in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Beat in the vanilla extract and sour cream just until incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt. Mix the flour mixture into the sugar mixture in two batches, mixing well after each addition. The batter should be fairly thick and sticky. Set aside.
- For the topping, in a small mixing bowl, use a fork to mix together the all-purpose flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and cold butter until it forms small crumbs. Stir in the chopped pecans.
- Spread half of your cake batter over the bottom of your prepared pan, smoothing the top with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle half of the topping mixture evenly over the batter. Spoon the remaining cake batter in small piles evenly over the top of the topping layer and gently smooth. Sprinkle the remaining topping on top of the cake.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- Allow the cake to cool in the pan on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes.
- In another small mixing bowl, stir together the confectioner’s sugar and milk. Use less milk for a thicker glaze and more milk for a thinner glaze. Drizzle the glaze over the entire cake and serve.
Notes
Can you use an 8×8″ baking pan, tube pan, or bundt pan for this recipe?
An 8×8″ pan will probably be too small to hold the batter, so I don’t recommend trying it. I haven’t tested this coffee cake recipe in a tube pan or bundt pan. If you want to use a bundt pan, you should try my bundt coffee cake.
Why is my cake dense with a tight crumb?
It could be a few things. First, you might have added too much flour. Always use the spoon and level method to measure (instead of scooping the flour out of the package with the cup), so you don’t end up with too much.
It could also be that you overmixed the batter. When you add the dry ingredients, do it in two batches and mix just until combined. Overmixing will develop more gluten in the flour which can make your cake dense.
It’s also a good idea to use room-temperature ingredients. Adding cold eggs and sour cream makes it harder to fully incorporate the batter, so you end up overmixing the batter.
How should you store sour cream coffee cake?
Cover it with plastic wrap, and it will keep for up to three days at room temperature. Or, you can keep it covered in the refrigerator for up to a week.
What does sour cream do for cake?
Sour cream is a great ingredient to use in baking! It adds a rich, tangy flavor and also helps create a tender, moist crumb. Greek yogurt is often used as a substitute for sour cream – if you try it, just be sure to use full-fat yogurt.
Nutrition
Serving: 1piece | Calories: 487kcal | Carbohydrates: 54g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 60mg | Sodium: 283mg | Potassium: 192mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 29g | Vitamin A: 789IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 81mg | Iron: 2mg