Gluten-Free Coffee Cake | Easy Recipe | Sour Cream Cake with Cinnamon Streusel Topping | Perfect Christmas Dessert
This recipe is an updated take on the sour cream coffee cake from my first cookbook, Easy Gluten-Free Baking.
Since there are now great gluten-free flour blends available at the market, there’s no need to mix individual flours for this recipe. (That said, if you LOVE that recipe and I know lots of you do, go ahead and make it as written!)
Gluten-Free Coffee Cake: The Ingredients
Gluten-Free Baking Flour: For this recipe, I use my go-to flour blend: Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour. If you use a different flour blend in this recipe, the results might be different. (For the best results, be sure to use a blend that includes xanthan or guar gum.)
The Butter: Reach for softened butter when making this cake. When it’s beaten together with the sugar, it traps air. Trapped air= a light cake with a delicate crumb.
The Sour Cream: Sour cream makes this cake light and moist. For the best flavor and texture, use full-fat sour cream. (If you’re dairy-free, try a plant-based sour cream.)
The Eggs: Two eggs are needed to make this cake. I haven’t tested this recipe with an egg replacer. So I can’t say if it will work without eggs.
The Cinnamon: This is the star of the show, isn’t it? Not only does the filling and streusel include cinnamon, I add a tiny amount to the butter. This adds a whisper of cinnamon to the cake batter. You can’t really taste it but you can tell it’s there.
The Sugar: You’ll need two types of sugar to make this coffee cake. Granulated sugar for the cake batter and brown sugar for the filling/streusel. The brown sugar adds a lovely flavor that, if used in the cake batter, would impart a flavor that’s not traditionally found in coffee cake. This recipe makes a traditional coffee cake. That means it’s a vanilla-scented cake topped with a brown sugar streusel topping.
How to Make Gluten-Free Coffee Cake
- Mix the Filling. This coffee cake includes a yummy ribbon of cinnamon-sugar filling. That same filling turns into the topping. It’s baking magic. (It’s butter, which, I think is baking magic.)
- Make the Batter. This is a simple batter to make. You beat together some butter and sugar. Add a few eggs. Then add (separately) the dry ingredients and sour cream. Mix until the batter looks smooth and thick.
- Spread Half the Batter into the Pan. The original recipe called for a bundt pan. While this is lovely, a lot of people don’t oven bundt pans. So this version of the cake is made in a 9×9-inch square baking pan.
- Sprinkle the Filling Over the Batter. Sprinkle half (this is important) the filling evenly over the cake batter.
- Spread Remaining Batter Over the Filling. Plop the remaining batter all over the pan. Then spread it over the cinnamon-sugar filling. Sometimes the filling makes it tough to spread the batter. This is normal-and a bit annoying!-to make this easy, spread the batter with the back of a spoon. And don’t worry too much if the filling pokes through the cake batter. The streusel topping covers it up.
- Make the Streusel. Here’s where the magic happens: stir a little melted butter into the remaining filling. It’ll clump and look a bit like wet sand. Gently squeeze and crumble topping evenly over the top of the cake.
- Bake. Bake until the cake is golden brown. It smells amazing while baking. Test for doneness by inserting a cake tester into the center of the cake.
Gluten-Free Coffee Cake FAQs
Is there coffee in coffee cake?
No. Coffee cake, at least in the United States, is usually a vanilla cake topped with a streusel topping. It’s served in the morning, usually alongside a cup of….coffee.
Can I make this recipe dairy-free?
Yes. Replace the butter and sour cream with dairy-free alternatives.
Can I use almond flour?
Not in this recipe.
Can I make this cake without eggs?
I haven’t tested the recipe with an egg-replacer. So I can’t say for sure.
