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This Brown Butter Coffee Cake is one of those recipes that EVERYONE loves. When I thought up the recipe, I expected it would be pretty good (otherwise I wouldn’t have created it!) – but it blew even my expectations out of the water!
Every single person who has sampled it has loved it.
You won’t even believe how incredible this Brown Butter Coffee Cake smells while it’s baking.
Your neighbors will probably come knocking just to see just what that divine aroma is! I hope you’ll be ready to share 🙂
If you’ve never browned butter before, what are you waiting for?! Here’s a helpful post on how to make brown butter. I’ve also explained how to brown butter step-by-step below in the pink tip box.
The brown butter adds a slightly caramelized nutty flavor to this cake that, when combined with the other flavor-boosting ingredients (sour cream, cinnamon, and brown sugar), the result is simply heavenly.
Pair it with a cup of coffee and you’re ready for a moment of pure bliss! I truly hope you give this recipe a try soon and let me know what you think!
How to Make Brown Butter Coffee Cake
Overview of How to Make Brown Butter Coffee Cake
- Make the streusel: In a small bowl, whisk together the crumb topping ingredients with a fork until the texture resembles wet sand. Set aside.
- Brown the butter: Instructions on this just below.
- Make the cake: In a large bowl, stir together the dry ingredients and sugars. To the browned butter, add the milk, eggs, and sour cream. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture then pour in the wet ingredients. Gently stir until just combined. Don’t overmix.
- Layer the streusel topping and the cake batter: Spoon half of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with half of the streusel. Spread the remaining batter over the streusel. Sprinkle with the remaining streusel.
- Bake: Bake at 350°F for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes on a wire rack.
- Make the glaze: In a small bowl combine the sugar and milk until a thick yet pourable icing forms. Drizzle over the warm cake. Cut into squares and serve. Store leftovers, covered, at room temperature for up to 4 days.
How to Brown Butter
Use a stainless steel sauté pan for best results. Nonstick prevents the butter from browning completely – and it also prevents you from being able to visually see how browned the butter is getting. Same with the dark color of cast iron. Something with a wider surface area, like a sauté pan rather than a saucepan, encourages browning faster and more evenly.
Don’t step away from butter that’s browning after it’s melted! It can go from browned to burnt very quickly. At the same time, don’t be afraid of letting that color develop. It should become rich amber in color and nicely fragrant. Be sure to scrape all the brown bits into the mixing bowl – that’s where the flavor lives!
Instructions for How to Brown Butter:
- In a medium stainless steel sauté pan set over medium heat, melt the butter.
- Swirling the pan occasionally, cook the butter. It will become foamy with audible cracking and popping noises.
- Once the crackling stops, continue to swirl the pan until the butter develops a nutty aroma and brown bits start to form at the bottom.
- Once the bits are amber in color, about 2 to 3 minutes after the popping stops, remove from heat.
What Pan Should I Bake This Coffee Cake in?
Be sure to use a light-colored metal baking pan for best results! Dark-colored pans will brown the edges and make them dry. Glass or ceramic pans will work in a pinch, but you’ll likely need to increase the baking time and lower the temperature by 25°F. Check out this article on Glass vs. Metal Pans for more information.
Why is There No Coffee in This Brown Butter Coffee Cake?
Generally, coffee cake is meant to be served with coffee, so it doesn’t always contain coffee as an ingredient! Enjoy this coffee cake alongside a nice cup of coffee instead.
Why is There Sour Cream in This Coffee Cake Recipe?
Sour cream in coffee cake creates the most beautiful, moist texture and flavor. If you don’t have sour cream, you can also use plain full-fat yogurt. Make sure it’s room temperature when incorporating into your batter.
Can You Double This Brown Butter Coffee Cake Recipe?
Yes! Simply double all ingredients and bake in a 9 by 13-inch baking pan. Add a few minutes to the baking time.
How Long Can You Store Brown Butter Coffee Cake?
Brown Butter Coffee Cake will keep fresh and moist for 3 days. Cover well with plastic wrap or store inside an airtight container or ziptop bag.
Can You Freeze Brown Butter Coffee Cake?
I’ve had great results from freezing the entire baked cake in an airtight container, then allowing it to defrost at room temperature before icing and serving.
More Coffee Cake Recipes You’ll Love:
More Brown Butter Recipes:
For the streusel
-
3/4
cup
(150 grams) light brown sugar
-
1/3
cup
(48 grams) all-purpose flour
-
1
teaspoon
ground cinnamon
-
4
tablespoons
(57 grams) unsalted butter,
melted
For the coffee cake
-
1 1/2
sticks (170 grams) unsalted butter
-
2
cups
(254 grams) all-purpose flour
-
1
teaspoon
baking powder
-
1/2
teaspoon
baking soda
-
1/2
teaspoon
fine salt
-
1/4
cup
(50 grams) granulated sugar
-
1/2
cup
(100 grams) light brown sugar
-
1/4
cup
whole milk
-
2
large eggs,
at room temperature
-
8
ounces
(227 grams) sour cream or plain full fat yogurt,
at room temperature
For the topping
-
1/2
cup
(63 grams) powdered sugar,
sifted
-
1
tablespoon
milk
-
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8-inch square metal pan with parchment paper or foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
Make the streusel:
-
In a small bowl, combine all of the streusel ingredients with a fork until the texture resembles wet sand.
Brown the butter:
-
In a medium slightly deep stainless skillet set over medium heat melt the butter. Swirling the pan occasionally, continue to cook the butter. It should become foamy with audible cracking and popping noises. Once the crackling stops continue to swirl the pan until the butter develops a nutty aroma and brown bits start to form at the bottom. Once the bits are amber in color, about 2 to 3 minutes after the popping stops, remove from heat and pour into a medium mixing bowl and let cool slightly.
Make the cake:
-
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugars.
-
To the browned butter, add the milk, eggs, and sour cream. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients then pour in the wet ingredients. Gently stir until just combined. Don’t overmix.
-
Spoon half of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with half of the streusel. Spread the remaining batter over the streusel. Sprinkle with the remaining streusel.
-
Bake for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes.
Make the topping:
-
In a small bowl combine the sugar and milk until a thick yet pourable icing forms. Drizzle over the warm cake. Cut into squares and serve. Store leftovers, covered, at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
This recipe was the selection for our monthly baking challenge in March 2019. See all the entries submitted below! Learn more about our baking challenges here.
has anyone made this in a loaf pan?
Hi Jacqui! We haven’t tried that, but feel free to give it a try. I would probably recommend cutting the recipe in half, or dividing the full recipe between two loaf pans, depending on the size/volume of your loaf pans. Let us know how it goes! 🙂
I doubled the recipe and baked it in a 9 x 13 metal pan. I added three minutes onto the bake time. I will triple the streusel topping next time because it’s so delicious. This was a huge hit.
Delicious!!! Super easy, comes together quickly and is a wonderful texture. Only change I made was added fresh grated nutmeg to the cake batter.
I love this recipe! I’ve made it multiple times. Most recently, I used this recipe to make muffins! I baked them for around 23 mins at 350 and they came out great.
This is a fantastic coffee cake! But wow! It should be for all the butter, sour cream, and brown sugar in there! This is a splurge for sure. Very heavy but not necessarily dense… I doubled it and baked it in a 9×13 cake pan. It’s very thick – but moist. I also used dark brown sugar and no issues there! I can’t wait to sit down with my fresh Black Rifle Coffee and a big ol’ piece of this after I get down typing!
Has anyone made this with 2 percent fage yogurt?
Hi Kaye! Perhaps our other readers have, but we have not tried this ourselves. We always find the best results come from using full fat sour cream or yogurt. Let us know what you think if you give this recipe a try! 🙂
Made this last night for a birthday treat and wow. It’s the very best coffee cake I’ve ever had! My husband and agreed, but took it a step further saying “this is the best thing I’ve ever eaten!” It was so easy and quick to make, and we’re about to devour slices with coffee this morning. Thank you so much!!
Best coffee cake ever! Have made this for many years now and it always tastes terrific. I often use 1 1/2 – 2 times the amount of streusel and sometimes add pecans to it. A Family Favorite. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful recipe.
So glad to hear this, Eileen!
Made this for breakfast this morning. Delish! I did add pecans to the streusel. Otherwise didn’t make any changes. Turned out great. Will definitely be making it again.
This was a huge hit with my family! The butter really adds a great, rich flavour. Recipe was easy to follow and came out great!
The most delicious coffee cake ever!
Omg Tessa!! You’ve outdone yourself with this recipe. On my list of favs now.
Wonderful! So happy you enjoyed this recipe 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
I know this is a tough question for baking – but I really want to make this ! My daughter has an allergy. Any idea which egg substitute would be best for this recipe ?
Flax seed egg or applesauce ?
We haven’t tried either, so I can’t say for sure! Please let us know how it goes if you give it a try!
Would it be okay to add 1/2 c pecans to the streusel?
Tracy
We haven’t tried that, but you’re more than welcome to experiment, it sounds delicious! Let us know how it goes!
Hai…
Pardon my question, the recipe called brown butter coffee cake. However, I don’t find any coffee in the Ingredients, did I miss it ?
Thanking you in advance for your reply.
Hi Corran! Coffee cake in the United States is meant to be served with coffee, it doesn’t always contain coffee as an ingredient!
Why is it called coffee cake if it doesn’t contain coffee?
Hi Natalia! This type of cake is typically served with coffee, which is where its name comes from. It doesn’t actually have coffee as an ingredient 🙂
What is the bake time when baking two of these at the same time? I’d like to bake these as gifts for my neighbors for the holidays and would like to speed up the process. Thank you!
Hi Gigi! We haven’t tried that, so I can’t say for sure! Please let us know how it goes if you give it a try.
Would you consider a copper colored pan to be light or dark metal? If that’s my only option, would glass produce better results? Thanks!
Hi Jordan! Tessa has used the Williams Sonoma and OXO gold coated nonstick pans (browned too much for her liking), but none of the copper colored ones. They would be similar to baking on a dark nonstick. You’ll likely need to reduce the baking time, and maybe even drop the temp by 10-15 degrees. If you use a glass or ceramic pan, you will likely need to increase the baking time. I hope that helps!
I made this cake for a treat this week. Oh. My. Gosh!! It was amazing. Thanks for a fantastic recipe that I will be making again!
Hi! What can I substitute the sour cream with? Would butter milk work or is Yogurt better?
Looks amazing, can’t wait to try it!
Hi Hana! We recommend using plain full fat yogurt as another option. We actually list that in the recipe’s ingredients 🙂 If you try buttermilk, let us know how it goes as we haven’t tested that!
Super love this cake! I love the brown butter flavor!
This recipe is amazing, full of flavor and easy. Thank you Tessa!
So happy you enjoyed it, Osleidys! Thank you for the comment!
This cake is INSANE. Never thought I’d say that about coffee cake but I couldn’t be happier with the results. I ran out of brown sugar for the crumble and had to use white sugar, and used plain yogurt for the sour cream part. Absolutely will be making this again. Excellent recipe. Thanks!
So happy your substitutions worked perfectly, Sarah! Thanks for taking the time to comment!
If doubling the recipe, can I bake it in a 9×13 pan or will cooking two rounds in an 8×8 going to have the best results?
Hi Chelsea! A 9×13 pan should work perfectly fine 🙂 Enjoy your coffee cake!
Hi. Would it work if I used cake flour instead for a more tender cake? Thanks.
I haven’t tried cake flour with this recipe, so I can’t say for sure how it would hold up; however, I will say this coffee cake is already super moist with the addition of sour cream. I’d recommend trying it first to see what you think, and then experiment if you’d like 🙂
Made this for Sunday brunch today and my sisters and I have concluded it’s the best coffee cake we have ever made. We’re real sticklers for texture and flavor, doing everything from scratch. It really is so delicious and wonderful.
I used:
8 oz plain greek yogurt in place of sour cream
An extra 1/4 tsp of cinnamon to the streusel
1/2 tsp of vanilla to the glaze.
Everything else to the T!
Mine took 50 mins rather than 40 but that’s just my oven.
Perfectly moist. Incredible flavor. I can’t wait to make it again!!
Hooray!! I’m so pleased everyone loved this coffee cake! 🙂
Hi, I’m about to make this I think, but do you know if it’s alright to prepare the batter ahead of time, keep it in the fridge overnight and bake the next day?
No, this recipe includes baking soda, so the batter needs to be baked soon after mixing. You could make the entire coffee cake ahead of time though as this recipe keeps particularly well and actually improves over time as the flavors intensify! 🙂
The BEST coffee cake recipe ever. I had never baked anything with brown butter. I was a bit hesitant.
(yes I like to play it safe? The brown butter was easy and the aroma fantastic. I was also concerned that the coffee cake would be dry. NOPE. The whole process was easy and problem free. The best part was the Fabulous moist delicious coffee cake. Thank you.
Linda
YAY!! I’m so thrilled you loved your coffee cake! 🙂