When there is something sweet served for breakfast – which happens on Sunday in our house – everyone rushes to the table to see what wonderful treat is awaiting. This high altitude cinnamon crumb coffee cake features a moist, slightly dense sour cream cake that’s spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg. I piled the cake with loads of buttery, crunchy crumb topping. Everything is better with crumb topping, and it’s a must for a good coffee cake.
Looking for more high altitude coffee cake recipes? You’ll love this pumpkin crumb coffee cake, banana bread coffee cake, and gingerbread maple coffee cake.
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Why You’ll Love This Cake
Easy to Make. This is one of those recipes that’s perfectly uncomplicated, requiring nothing more than just whisking together wet and dry ingredients. It bakes up in about a half hour, and is ready to eat right away!
Delicious Warm or Cold. You can enjoy this coffee cake warm from the oven, or at room temperature. It’s even great days later!
Cake for Breakfast. What better way to get to eat cake for breakfast than with a buttery, crumb topped coffee cake?
The crumb topping on this cinnamon crumb coffee cake is as important as the cake itself! A generous amount of streusel crumbs sprinkled over the batter stays crunchy for days, and adds a great salty-sweet finish to this breakfast cake.
Ingredients
The Cake.
- Unsalted Butter. Adds flavor and richness to the cake. I use unsalted butter so I can control the saltiness.
- Dark Brown Sugar. Dark brown sugar adds sweetness, of course, but also moisture, and a subtle hint of molasses flavor.
- Eggs. Add structure and richness.
- Vanilla. Flavor.
- Sour Cream. Moisture, richness and acidity. Use a full-fat sour cream.
- All-purpose Flour. Provides structure to the cake batter.
- Baking Powder + Baking Soda. Leavens the cake, making it rise.
- Salt. Balances the sweetness.
- Cinnamon + Nutmeg. A pinch of nutmeg nicely complements the cinnamon, which is our featured spice.
The Crumb Topping.
- Granulated Sugar + Dark Brown Sugar. A blend of sugars makes a really nice flavor in this sweet streusel topping.
- All-purpose Flour. Absorbs the butter, making the crumb topping crumbly.
- Cinnamon + Nutmeg. Flavor.
- Salt. Balances the sweetness.
- Unsalted Butter. Richness, moisture and flavor.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and spray a 9×9 inch baking pan with non-stick spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla and sour cream.
- Separately, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and stir together with a spatula, just until moistened. The batter will be thick.
- Spread the cake batter evenly into the prepared pan.
Topping
- In a bowl, combine the sugar, brown sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Drizzle with the melted butter and toss together with a fork until moistened and crumbly. Sprinkle over the cake batter.
- Bake the cake on the center oven rack for about 30 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool for 10-15 minutes, and serve warm.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I bake this cake the night before?
This cake stays so moist, that to save time in the morning, I will often bake the cake at night to serve the next morning. Simply re-warm pieces for a few seconds in the microwave, and they’ll be soft and warm with that just-baked texture that’s simply irresistible.
That said, this is a quick recipe to mix up, and only bakes for 30 minutes. So if your family can wait a half hour for hot, fresh-from-the-oven coffee cake, then bake it first thing in the morning. Your house will smell just incredible.
How long does this cake stay moist?
Leftover coffee cake should be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days to keep it soft and moist.
Can I use vegetable oil instead of melted butter in the cake batter?
Yes, that works just fine.
You Might Also Like
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Did you love today’s recipe? Please rate the recipe and let me know in the comments what you thought! Also, be sure to follow Curly Girl Kitchen on Instagram, and tag me when you try one of my recipes so I can see all your delicious creations!
High Altitude Cinnamon Crumb Coffee Cake
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Ingredients
Cake
- 5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- ⅓ cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
Crumb Topping
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and spray a 9×9 inch baking pan with non-stick spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla and sour cream.
- Separately, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and stir together with a spatula, just until moistened. The batter will be thick.
- Spread the cake batter evenly into the prepared pan.
Topping
- In a bowl, combine the sugar, brown sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Drizzle with the melted butter and toss together with a fork until moistened and crumbly. Sprinkle over the cake batter.
- Bake the cake on the center oven rack for about 22-30 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool for 10-15 minutes, and serve warm.
Notes
- Leftover coffee cake should be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- Make this cake ahead by baking it the night before! Warm up pieces by microwaving for 15-20 seconds on 50% power for a just-baked texture.
Hello! Do you use a glass or metal pan? Thanks!
I usually use a ceramic pan for this one, since I don’t have a 9-inch metal pan. Metal pans conduct heat more efficiently, though, and the cake may bake a little faster in a metal pan.
Good cake but mine came out a bit dry – every oven is different I should have tested it at 22-23 minutes. Thank you for posting this recipe! I’m at 5900 feet and new to high altitude baking.
This recipe takes a full 30 minutes to bake for me, and is a very moist cake. If your oven runs hotter, then it could have gotten over-baked, which would dry it out more. Also, be sure you’re measuring your flour correctly, using the “spoon and sweep” method, where you lightly spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level it off the top. If you use your measuring cup to scoop the flour out of the bag, it will get packed in, measuring too much flour and resulting in dry baked goods.
Looking at making this Christmas morning! Could I make it in a 9×13 pan?
Yes, you can double the recipe to bake it in a 9×13 pan.