By: Jill Mills Posted: Jan 30, 2026

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This Sour Cream Coffee Cake is soft and buttery with a generous cinnamon sugar ribbon baked through the middle. A crunchy pecan streusel on top adds texture, and the simple glaze gives it that extra special finish.

Drizzling glaze over a slice of sour cream coffee cake

This sour cream coffee cake recipe is a classic and was the inspiration behind my other coffee cake recipes, like blueberry coffee cake and lemon coffee cake. Those flavors are fun and I love to make them in the sumer, but this cinnamon coffee cake is where it all started.

The cake itself is soft, buttery, and moist, but it’s the cinnamon sugar filling and pecan streusel topping that really steal the show. The crunchy topping is the perfect contrast to the soft, tender cake, and generous amounts of cinnamon in the filling and topping add a lovely warmth throughout.

Featured Comment

Best coffee cake ever!!

– Adeline P

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Why This Is The Best Sour Cream Coffee Cake

That streusel topping! The best part of this coffee cake, in my opinion, is the cinnamon streusel topping with pecans. It adds so much flavor and texture to balance the tender cake and light vanilla flavor. I love the crunch that the pecans add!
Ultra moist cake. Dry coffee cake is bland and boring, which is not the vibe we’re going for here. Sour cream doesn’t just add tangy flavor – it adds LOTS of moisture (as seen in sour cream chocolate cake). The end result is a cake that’s moist and slightly dense, with a super tender crumb.
Dessert or breakfast? Your choice! Sour cream coffee cake is one of those recipes that does double duty. It’s the perfect excuse to eat cake for breakfast, but it’s also lovely as an afternoon pick-me-up with a cup of coffee and sweet enough to enjoy as dessert.

Overhead view of ingredients needed to make sour cream coffee cake

Recipe Ingredients

Don’t be intimidated by the long ingredient list – most of the ingredients are repeated throughout various elements of the recipe, and almost all of them are baking staples. Be sure to scroll down to the recipe card below for the exact measurements.

Streusel Topping

Flour
Light brown sugar – Creates the sweet, crumbly texture in the streusel.
Cinnamon – A generous amount of cinnamon adds lots of warm flavor to the topping.
Salt – Helps to balance the sweet and savory flavors.
Pecans – Chopped pecans add lots of crunch to the streusel. However, they can be omitted or replaced with rolled oats for a classic cinnamon streusel topping.
Butter – I used unsalted. If using salted, skip the added salt. The butter helps the ingredients stick together to form the crumbly texture.

Cinnamon-Sugar Filling

Brown sugar – I opted for brown sugar over white sugar for my cinnamon sugar filling because the sweet molasses flavor pairs so nicely with the cinnamon.
Cinnamon

Cake Batter

All-purpose flour
Baking powder & baking soda – Using both helps create the perfect rise for the dense but airy coffee cake texture.
Salt
Butter – I recommend unsalted butter to fully control the flavor of the coffee cake, since some salted brands have a significant amount of salt in them. It should be softened but not melted.
Sugar
Eggs – Use large eggs at room temperature. They add richness and help create the perfect texture in the cake.
Vanilla extract
Sour cream – I only recommend full-fat sour cream here. This adds loads of moisture as well as the classic tangy texture. Greek yogurt also works here, though it adds a slightly tangier flavor and technically it wouldn’t be sour cream coffee cake.
Whole milk – This batter is quite thick so whole milk helps to thin it out, while adding a bit of extra moisture.

Glaze

Powdered sugar – The base of the sweet glaze.
Milk – Makes the glaze pourable, use only as much as needed.
Vanilla extract

How To Make Sour Cream Coffee Cake

One thing I love about this coffee cake recipe is how easy it is to make. The printable instructions can be found in the recipe card below.

Cinnamon, salt, brown sugar, and pecans in a bowl.

Stirring streusel ingredients with a wooden spoo

Make the streusel. Whisk together the dry streusel ingredients. Once combined, mix in the melted butter with a fork until large crumbs form.
Make the cinnamon sugar filling. Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.
Prep. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease the baking pan and line it with parchment paper, leaving overhang on two sides.

Sticks of butter and sugar n a mixing bowl

Make the batter. Whisk together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Mix in the vanilla, followed by the sour cream.
Add the dry ingredients. Turn the mixer on low and alternate adding the flour and milk, starting and ending with flour. Be sure to mix until just combined. Overmixing will make the cake denser and tougher.

Sprinkling cinnamon sugar on top of coffee cake batter

Spreading coffee cake batter on top of cinnamon sugar

Assemble. Spread half of the batter into the pan. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly on top then gently spread the remaining batter over it. Sprinkle the streusel on top of the batter, gently pressing it in so it adheres to the cake.

Overhead view of a baked sour cream coffee cake

Powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk in a bowl.

Bake. Bake for 45-55 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean. If the top is browning before the center is baked, tent the pan with foil. Allow to cool.
Add the glaze. Whisk together the glaze ingredients until smooth. Drizzle over the cooled cake.
Enjoy! Slice into squares and enjoy with a cup of coffee.

A slice of sour cream coffee cake on a white plate

Tips & Tricks

After making this sour cream coffee cake recipe so many times, I’ve found a few things that are key to perfecting the recipe.

Room temperature ingredients. Make sure the butter, eggs, and sour cream are at room temperature before starting. This helps everything blend smoothly and creates a lighter cake texture.
Don’t skip the parchment. Lining the pan with parchment and leaving an overhang makes it so much easier to lift the cake out cleanly for slicing. Without it, the streusel can stick to the edges.
Use finely chopped pecans. Keeping the nuts finely chopped makes the streusel crumbly and easy to cut through. Larger chunks can cause the topping to break off when slicing.
Even batter layers. Spread the first half of the batter all the way to the edges of the pan and smooth it out before adding the filling. This ensures the cinnamon-sugar ribbon bakes evenly across the cake. For the top layer, it helps to drop spoonfuls of it over the filling and then gently spread with an offset spatula or back of a spoon. This keeps the filling layer from shifting around.
Check early. Every oven bakes differently, so start checking for doneness at the 45-minute mark. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out mostly clean, with just a few moist crumbs.
Glaze when cooled. Wait until the cake is fully cooled before drizzling on the glaze, or it will melt into the streusel instead of sitting nicely on top.
Other pan options. Instead of a regular 9×13 pan, you can bake this in two 8-inch square pans or a 10-inch bundt pan (adjusting the bake time as needed). Just keep an eye on it and test for doneness since thicker cakes will take longer.

Serving a slice of sour cream coffee cake

Proper Storage

Room temperature: Sour cream coffee cake stays moist at room temperature for 2-3 days. Just keep it tightly covered.
Freezer: For longer storage, it can be frozen unglazed for up to 3 months. Just bake as directed, cool completely, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Add the glaze after thawing.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Why This Is The Best Sour Cream Coffee Cake