The Best Coffee Cake Recipe Without Sour Cream
Delicious, buttery, and tangy, you wonโt believe how good the coffee cake without sour cream tastes. So many recipes add sour cream for that zing, but let me tell you, buttermilk is king when it comes to making that bakery-fresh coffee cake to start your morning.ย
A Tender Cake

Talk about a tender and moist cake, even with the absence of sour cream. The cake is light and fluffy underneath the streusel topping.
Donโt sleep on this one, though likely youโll be dreaming of the crunchy streusel topping. It will most certainly be your motivation to jump out of bed when the alarm clock goes off. And it can serve as an afternoon snack, dessert, or treat to enjoy any time with the ones you love.

A Great Recipe For Coffee Cake Without Sour Cream
As I mentioned, this coffee cake recipe is made without sour cream. I use buttermilk instead, which gives it even better results, in my opinion.
If you donโt have buttermilk, you can make it by mixing one cup of milk with a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice or white vinegar. Stir it up first before adding it in and let it sit for a few minutes, though real buttermilk is best.
The streusel topping is a bit different than a typical topping. It combines sugar, brown sugar, and butter for a thinner topping.
Ingredients For The Easy Coffee Cake Recipe
Streusel Topping
- White granulated sugar
- Ground cinnamon
- All-purpose flour
- Cold butter, cubed
Coffee Cake
- White granulated sugar
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Cold butter, cubed
- Egg
- Buttermilk
- Vanilla extract
- Milk
Full recipe with measurements and instructions listed at the bottom of the post in the recipe card.
Watch How To Make Coffee Cake Without Sour Cream

Step-By-Step Instructions
Streusel Topping

Start by adding white sugar to a medium bowl.

Next, add the ground cinnamon to the bowl.

Add the flour to the mixing bowl.

Add the cubed butter and cut it into the dry mixture with a pastry cutter. Cut until the mixture resembles the shape of peas.

This is what the streusel will look like when it’s done. You can set it aside while you get the cake ready.
Coffee Cake

For the cake, grab a large bowl and add the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt and mix.

Add the cold cubed butter to the bowl and cut it in until it resembles the shape of peas.

Pour the buttermilk and milk into the bowl with the dry ingredients.

Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix well with a hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer.

Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan.

Sprinkle the streusel crumb topping over the top of the cake batter.

Bake the coffee cake for 25-30 minutes or until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean in the center of the cake. The cinnamon streusel on top of the cake will be nice and melted and crunchy. And the cake will be golden brown.

What Is Coffee Cake?
With a name like coffee cake, youโd think it has coffee in it. But nope!
Thereโs no java in here. Itโs merely a cake made with white sugar, all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, butter, egg, buttermilk, vanilla extract, and milk.
The best way I can describe it is like a moist cake with a nice streusel topping made with a delicious cinnamon sugar mixture that just seals the deal.
Itโs the kind of cake that’s sweet without being excessively sweet, and the perfect thing to serve when friends and family drop by. And yes, the fluffy cake goes beautifully with a hot cup of coffee which is where the name comes about.
More Delicious Cake Recipes to Try
- For something a little different, try this strawberry ice cream cheesecake from Woman’s Day.
- Pound cake with cream cheese frosting is a sweet and tender dessert that is hard to resist.
- For a nostalgic treat thatโs surprisingly simple, try this pineapple upside down cake recipe using cake mix for a quick shortcut.
- The holidays just taste better with this eggnog pound cake recipe with eggnog glazeโitโs festive, moist, and full of flavor.
- This easy brown sugar chocolate chip cake is warm, gooey, and perfect with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
- If you love a good retro dessert, this chocolate Coca-Cola cake is rich, moist, and brings back all the memories.
- Start your morning (or end your day) with this cinnamon coffee cake with buttermilkโitโs soft, sweet, and full of cozy flavor.