Streusel Swirl Cake Recipe

Simple and classic, this buttery cinnamon crumb coffee cake is anything but plain! Sour cream ensures a moist, light (not overly dense) breakfast cake, and there’s double the brown sugar cinnamon crumb streusel. Enjoy a thick ribbon of streusel inside and plenty of crumbs on top, both made from the same mixture.

Cake for breakfast… well, don’t mind if I do! I’ve published quite a few coffee cake recipes over the years, and this is my go-to, absolute favorite sour cream version.

I originally published today’s recipe in 2015 and have made so many variations over the years, including doubling the crumb so there’s more swirl INSIDE and ON TOP of the cake. That’s the version you’ll find in the printable recipe below. (Because what’s the point of crumb cake if it’s all cake and no crumb?! Double the crumb = double the fun!)

Rustic Almond Streusel Swirl Coffee Cake

This cinnamon crumb coffee cake is the original and “plain” version of my raspberry almond crumb cake, cranberry Christmas cake, and blackberry cream cheese crumb cake.

Compared to my New York-style crumb cake recipe, it’s smaller and softer—with a lighter, more cake-like crumb. It also has a delicious cinnamon swirl inside and vanilla icing on top, similar to cinnamon swirl quick bread and cinnamon swirl banana bread. The best part? Make just 1 cinnamon crumb mixture and use that for the filling AND topping.

This coffee cake is delightful alongside a cup of coffee or tea (or a mimosa!). Make it for a birthday breakfast, a coffee catch-up with a friend, or a morning meeting—really any time you want to make the morning a little special. It’s always a favorite among these Easter brunch recipes, too!

Coffee Cake With Chocolate Streusel Recipe

To keep things simple, there’s only 1 cinnamon crumb mixture.Layer 1 cup (practically half) in the center of the coffee cake and sprinkle the rest on top.You need brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and cold, cubed butter. The butter must be chilled. Why the emphasis on cold? The streusel mixture needs to maintain some of its structure in the oven or else both layers will sink to the bottom.

Use a pastry cutter to cut the cold butter into the other ingredients. You could also use 2 forks, or a food processor. Look how crumbly it gets:

Refrigerate the crumb mixture as you make the cake batter. The batter is rich and thick, and you need to divide it in half so you can layer in some of the cinnamon crumbs. The old version of the recipe created such a thick, heavy batter that it was difficult to divide and spread into the pan. By adding a little milk (just 2 Tablespoons!), the batter is much easier to divide and spread.

Pillsbury Streusel Swirl Cake [1981]

You need an 8-inch square pan for this recipe. See below for other size variations. Line it with lightly greased parchment paper so you can easily remove the cake from the pan as a whole, or just directly grease the pan. (Either way works.) Eyeball half of the cake batter and smooth it into the bottom of the greased pan. It does NOT have to be exact, nor perfect. Layer 1 cup (about half) of the cinnamon crumbs on top:

Now spread the remaining batter on top. This can be tricky since you’re spreading thick batter on an unstable crumb foundation. Just do your best. Top with remaining crumbs:

Bake, and then top with vanilla icing. The icing is optional, but always a fabulous (and pretty) finishing touch. You could even turn it into a delicious orange icing by replacing the milk with orange juice.

Cinnamon Coffee Crumb Cake Recipe

I get this question a lot. 🙂 There is no coffee IN this cake! “Coffee cake” gets its name not because of the ingredients in the cake, but because it’s a breakfast cake to be enjoyed WITH coffee.

Every baker should have a classic, old-fashioned and buttery coffee cake recipe in their back pocket and this one is my gold standard, baseline recipe. You’re welcome to borrow it! An 8-inch square pan is required, but see the recipe Notes for other sizes.

Sally McKenney is a professional food photographer, cookbook author, and baker. Her kitchen-tested recipes and thorough step-by-step tutorials give readers the knowledge and confidence to bake from scratch. Sally has been featured on

Chocolate Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake

You need an 8-inch square pan for this recipe. See below for other size variations. Line it with lightly greased parchment paper so you can easily remove the cake from the pan as a whole, or just directly grease the pan. (Either way works.) Eyeball half of the cake batter and smooth it into the bottom of the greased pan. It does NOT have to be exact, nor perfect. Layer 1 cup (about half) of the cinnamon crumbs on top:

Now spread the remaining batter on top. This can be tricky since you’re spreading thick batter on an unstable crumb foundation. Just do your best. Top with remaining crumbs:

Bake, and then top with vanilla icing. The icing is optional, but always a fabulous (and pretty) finishing touch. You could even turn it into a delicious orange icing by replacing the milk with orange juice.

Cinnamon Coffee Crumb Cake Recipe

I get this question a lot. 🙂 There is no coffee IN this cake! “Coffee cake” gets its name not because of the ingredients in the cake, but because it’s a breakfast cake to be enjoyed WITH coffee.

Every baker should have a classic, old-fashioned and buttery coffee cake recipe in their back pocket and this one is my gold standard, baseline recipe. You’re welcome to borrow it! An 8-inch square pan is required, but see the recipe Notes for other sizes.

Sally McKenney is a professional food photographer, cookbook author, and baker. Her kitchen-tested recipes and thorough step-by-step tutorials give readers the knowledge and confidence to bake from scratch. Sally has been featured on

Chocolate Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake