This soft & tender Caramel Coffee Cake has a delicious soft vanilla cake, layer of a buttery, cinnamon streusel, and topped with ribbons of delicious caramel sauce. Using easy store-bought caramel sauce (so you don't have to spend all morning making your own caramel), this recipe can be made in about an hour and requires minimal effort! It is perfect for a breakfast or brunch get together, but also delicious enough to serve for dessert.
After making my Chocolate Coffee Cake, I decided caramel was the next flavor I wanted to try to create. Caramel is such a great flavor that I wanted it to shine on it's own, hence why were not adding it our cake batter, just drizzling it on top of the cake. That way you get real caramel in every bite you take.
Just like my Orange Coffee Cake and Almond Coffee Cake, this cake is bursting with flavor and had great contrast between the tender cake and the crumbly streusel topping. Plus the combination of cinnamon and caramel is delicious! I used store-bought caramel for convenience, but you can totally make your own if wanted.
Coffee cakes are easy to make and perfect to take with you to your next brunch gathering with friends or family. You can slice these as big or as small as needed to get everyone a piece!
why you'll love this recipe
- This moist caramel coffee cake is perfect for your next brunch gathering any time of year, it's easy to serve to a crowd and perfect to slice into small pieces!
- It's easy to make and comes together in under an hour.
- Speaking of easy, we are using store-bought caramel sauce for this delicious cake, so you don't need to do extra dishes!
- The crumb topping is absolutely amazing, I would make this cake just for that part.
Is there coffee in coffee cake?
Ironically, no, there is no coffee in coffee cake. It gets its name from being a delicious breakfast cake that should be served along side coffee. The best way to enjoy it is to have a slice with a warm cup of coffee or even tea! You could also serve this for dessert though, it's that delicious!
ingredients
- caramel sauce- Like I said above, I used store-bought caramel simply for convenience purposes. I found this brand of caramel sauce at my local grocery store and it tasted just as good as homemade caramel.
- sour cream- using sour cream in this coffee cake adds richness, moisture, and flavor.
- flour- I tested this recipe with all purpose flour only. I recommend weighing your flour with a kitchen scale.
- sugar
- egg- we only need 1 egg and an egg yolk for this recipe, both add moisture to our cake.
- butter- I typically like to bake with unsalted butter so I can control the amount of salt in the recipe. If you only have salted butter you can use that, just omit the salt this recipe calls for!
- vanilla extract
- milk- I like using whole milk in my coffee cake recipes because it adds extra richness and moisture. Any milk should work fine though.
Store bought caramel vs. homemade caramel
I love a homemade caramel sauce more than the next person, but when I was making this cake I wanted something easy and less time-intensive. I used store-bought caramel and it turned out fantastic! You should be able to find a good quality caramel sauce at any grocery store. I found the caramel I used at my local Giant.
If you want to make your own caramel, it's really not too difficult. Check out my caramel brownies for the recipe I love to use (which has great reviews by the way). This recipe makes way more caramel then you need for this coffee cake though, but you can use it to drizzle on desserts or use in a caramel cold brew!
step by step instructions
Step 1: Make streusel- in a bowl, melt the butter and let it cool for a few minutes. Mix in the sugar, flour, and cinnamon until combined into moist crumbs. Place this in the fridge while making the rest of the cake.
Step 2: Preheat oven to 350 F and grease an 8x8 square pan with nonstick spray. Line with parchment paper for easy removal. Set aside.
Step 3: In a small mixing bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Step 4: In a separate large bowl, use an electric mixer with a paddle attachment to cream sugar and butter together until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Add the egg, egg yolk, vanilla extract, and sour cream, mixing until combined.
Step 5: Add half of the dry ingredients, followed by the milk, and finish with the second half of the flour mixture. Mix until just combined, be careful not to over mix here.
Step 6: Pour half the cake batter in the prepared pan. Sprinkle a little less than half of the streusel on top of the batter. Carefully spread the rest of the batter on top. Top evenly with the remaining streusel, and then drizzle the caramel sauce on top of that.
Step 7: Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes on a wire rack.
Step 8: Once cooled, top with icing- in a small bowl whisk together the powdered sugar and milk until smooth. Drizzle the sugar glaze over the cake, slice, and enjoy.
Tips & Notes
- If you want, you can leave the layer of streusel out of the middle of the cake and just crumble it all on top of the batter. It's a personal preference, both taste great!
- Add chocolate chips to this cake- add between ½ and 1 cup of chocolate chips to the batter.
- I tested this in an 8x8 square pan and 9-inch round pan, both worked great.
- Make this in a 9x5 loaf pan- baking time will be a bit longer, around 40-45 minutes.
Storage and Reheating Instructions
This coffee cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days, or up to a week in the fridge. It can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
To freeze, allow the cake to cool completely before wrapping in plastic wrap and then tinfoil, and placing in the freezer. You can freeze the entire cake, or individual slices. To defrost, allow the cake to sit at room temperature until ready to eat. I would add the icing after freezing the cake and ready to serve.
Want to try more recipes?
If you made this recipe, I would love to know what you thought! Leave me a star rating and a comment below - I read them all! ⭐️ Your reviews not only help my business but other bakers as well!
Want an exclusive first look at all my recipes? Join my email newsletter which sends Bake & Bacon recipes straight to your inbox as soon as they go live, so you never miss a recipe!
Want to keep up with Bake & Bacon outside of the blog? Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Youtube. Tag me on any social media and use the hashtag #bakeandbacon so I can see what you are baking!
📖 Recipe
Easy Caramel Coffee Cake (using Store-Bought Caramel)
Equipment
Ingredients
Streusel
- 8 tablespoon unsalted butter melted and cooled
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
- 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk at room temperature
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup sour cream at room temperature
- ½ cup whole milk at room temperature
- 3 tablespoon caramel sauce
Icing
- ½ cup confec sugar
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 ½-2 teaspoons milk or cream
Instructions
- Make streusel- in a bowl, melt the butter and let it cool for a few minutes. Mix in the sugar, flour, and cinnamon until combined. Place this in the fridge while making the rest of the cake.8 tablespoon unsalted butter, ¾ cup granulated sugar, 1 cup all-purpose flour spooned and leveled, 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- Preheat oven to 350 F and grease an 8x8 square pan. Line with parchment paper for easy removal. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
- In a separate large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream sugar and butter together until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Add the egg, egg yolk, vanilla extract, and sour cream, mixing until combined.¼ cup unsalted butter, ¾ cup granulated sugar, 1 large egg, ¼ cup sour cream, 2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 large egg yolk
- Add the flour mixture and milk in alternating additions, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Mix until just combined, be careful not to overmix here.½ cup whole milk
- Pour half the batter in the greased pan. Sprinkle a little less than half of the streusel on top of the batter. Carefully spread the rest of the batter on top. Top evenly with the remaining streusel, and then drizzle the caramel sauce on top of that (I heated my caramel in the microwave for a few seconds to get it to be more runny)3 tablespoon caramel sauce
- Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes, and then allow to cool completely.
- Once cooled, top with icing- in a small bowl whisk together the powdered sugar and milk until smooth. Drizzle the sugar glaze over the cake, slice, and enjoy.½ cup confec sugar, ¼ teaspoon vanilla, 1 ½-2 teaspoons milk or cream
Notes
- If you want, you can leave the layer of streusel out of the middle of the cake and just crumble it all on top of the batter.
- I tested this in an 8x8 square pan and 9-inch round pan, both worked great. 9x9 square pan is too large.
- Depending on your oven temperature, this cake might take longer to bake.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days, or up to a week in the fridge. It can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
This post contains affiliate links which means if you purchase something off of one of those links I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting my blog!
Leave a Reply