Gluten-Free Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Our Gluten-Free Cinnamon Coffee Cake recipe has all the classic flavor you love, simply made gluten-free! We combine fluffy, buttery vanilla cake with two layers of cinnamon streusel topping for a delicious special occasion breakfast treat your whole family will love.

This gluten-free cinnamon coffee cake recipe is perfect for a special weekend breakfast, brunch, or special occasion. (Seriously–Easter, Mother’s Day, Christmas morning, birthdays…you name it! So good!) It’s got a lot going for it:

• It’s EASY. You’ll start with a simple cake batter, then we use the same cinnamon crumb mixture for the middle and top of the cake!
• It’s DELICIOUS. Notes of buttery vanilla, brown sugar, and plenty of cinnamon in every bite!
• It’s SPECIAL. With TWO layers of brown sugar cinnamon crumb topping, this delicious coffee cake add a touch of elegance to a weekend brunch or holiday morning!

It’s the perfect example of a recipe that looks much fancier than it actually is. There aren’t any fancy skills you need, and the beautiful cinnamon swirl and crumble couldn’t be easier to make.

Best of all, this easy recipe starts with simple ingredients. Let’s take a look…

Simple Ingredients To Start

As always, you can find the fully recipe including ingredient amounts, step by step instructions, and more in the recipe card below!

• Butter. Yep, there’s kind of a lot. This isn’t the time to hold back–it’s worth it! It makes for an extra tender cake.
• Sugar. Granulated sugar for the cake & brown sugar for the streusel.
• Eggs. Three eggs add some richness to the cake and hold everything together.
• Vanilla. Always!
• Sour Cream. Full-fat sour cream adds acidity but also adds richness to the cake. I don’t recommend a low-fat or fat-free swap for this coffee cake.
• Baking Powder & Baking Soda. Make sure yours are fresh with this test!
• Salt. To balance the flavors.
• Gluten-Free Flour. We recommend King Arthur Measure-For-Measure Gluten-Free Flour blend for taste and texture. If you use another brand (like Bob’s Red Mill), be sure it contains xanthan gum!
• Our Favorite Cinnamon Streusel. This is a variation on the streusel we use for our Blueberry Coffee Cake and Pumpkin Streusel Bread. It’s made from butter, gluten-free flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. It’s simple, and delicious every time!
• Maybe Some Glaze. Then, you can finish the coffee cake off with a dusting of powdered sugar or a simple glaze, made from butter, milk, maple syrup, vanilla, and powdered sugar. (We love it best with the glaze!)

How To Make Gluten-Free Cinnamon Coffee Cake, Step By Step

1. Preheat & Prep. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a metal 8-inch square pan with parchment paper. 
2. Make The Streusel. In a medium bowl, combine melted butter, gluten-free flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Mix lightly with a fork just until clusters form and there aren’t any super floury bits. (It’s ok for it to look a bit powdery, just no big clumps of flour!). Try not to over-mix the streusel into a paste–stop when the clusters form. Set the streusel aside.
3. Make The Cake Batter. In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, cream the softened butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes, until light, fluffy and smooth. Add eggs one at a time, mixing to incorporate each egg before adding the next one. Then, the vanilla and mix to combine. Scrape down the sides of your bowl and add the gluten-free flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until just the dry ingredients are blended into the wet ingredients. Mix in the sour cream and beat for 30-60 seconds, until the mixture is lighter in color, smooth, and velvety.
4. Layer The Coffee Cake. Scoop roughly half of the gluten-free coffee cake batter into the prepared pan and smooth into an even layer. Top with roughly half of the crumble mixture and gently pat into the top of the cake batter. Top streusel with the second half of the cake batter and smooth. Top with the remaining streusel mixture. 
5. Bake & Cool. Now, bake the coffee cake in preheated oven for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean with just a few moist crumbs (no wet batter!). Cool the cake on a wire rack 10 minutes before removing from the pan and cooling completely. (If needed, you can cool in the pan.) 
6. Garnish The Cake. If desired, you can garnish with a simple glaze or sprinkle with powdered sugar. For the glaze, combine melted butter, maple syrup, milk, vanilla, and 1/3 cup powdered sugar in a liquid measuring cup or small bowl. Whisk until totally smooth, adding more powdered sugar as necessary until it’s mostly opaque and drizzles easily off your fork or whisk. (If the glaze gets too thick, you can thin it with a little more milk.) Drizzle over cooled coffee cake before serving.

FAQ + Tips And Tricks For The Best Gluten-Free Coffee Cake

What Makes A Coffee Cake A Coffee Cake? The name “coffee cake” doesn’t come from the ingredients (there’s no actual coffee in the cake!). Instead, it’s a lightly sweet breakfast cake that’s meant to be served with a cup of coffee. In general, coffee cakes are topped with a crumb, crumble or streusel topping rather than frosted like traditional dessert cakes.

Does Cinnamon Coffee Cake Need To Be Refrigerated? It can stay at room temperature about 2 hours, but after that I recommend covering and refrigerating the cake to help it stay fresh.

Watch The Ingredient Temperature! For best results, you’ll want to start the cake with softened butter, room temperature eggs, and room temperature sour cream. This is important because the butter needs to be soft enough to cream with the sugar (a trick for fluffy cake!) and you don’t want cold eggs or sour cream ruining the creamed mixture. Starting with room temperature ingredients will give your cake the perfect texture. 

Try An Offset Spatula. Using an offset spatula (frosting spatula) can make spreading the batter MUCH easier. You’ll love this tool for spreading cake and brownie batter, but it’s also great for spreading icing, frosting cakes, and leveling all kinds of batters!

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