Any excuse for cake for breakfast is what I like to hear!If you’re looking for the perfect combination of pecans, butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar — then you’ve come to the right place. This nutty coffee cake if the perfect accompaniment with your favorite cup of coffee or tea. It’s super versatile and can be served warm or at room temperature.
I love this cinnamon pecan coffee cake because it’s such a simple recipe to make and it hits the spot on both savory & sweet. It’s a delicious sweet treat perfect all year round or even on Christmas morning.
The Secret Ingredient
Sour cream is a very understated ingredient that deserves a lot of praise. It is used in this recipe for multiple reasons. It helps to keep the batter thick for your middle streusel layer. A thick batter generally stays in place and is less likely to bleed. It also gives moisture to the cake crumb. This cake will guaranteed to be moist and last for several days. It also provides a richness. No, you won’t taste sour cream. There’s a decent amount of fat in the sour cream which will make this a denser and rich cake.
If you’re truly opposed to using sour cream, you can substitute with a full fat Greek yogurt. Sour cream contains less casein proteins than yogurt. Casein can improve fluffiness of cake, so using sour cream makes a slightly less fluffy cake. If you’re going for something slightly lighter, Greek yogurt may be your preferred option.
Ingredients
- Unsalted Butter: Buttery richness in both the cake and the streusel. We use unsalted butter so we can control the salt content, otherwise it will be too salty.
- Chopped Pecan: Gives the streusel topping the best nutty and fall flavors. Feel free to use a food processor or chop with a knife.
- All Purpose Flour: Kitchen staple that is the structure to the cake.
- Granulated Sugar: Adds sweetness to the cake.
- Brown Sugar: The molasses works well with the butter in enhancing the toffee-like flavor.
- Ground Cinnamon: Gives a nice warm spice flavor reminiscent of fall and winter.
- Baking Powder & Soda: These are leavening agents that react with the sour cream to help the coffee cake rise.
- Vanilla Extract: The warm flavor works harmoniously with cinnamon and butter.
- Eggs: Adds flavor and stability to the cake. I prefer to use pasture raised eggs because they’re humane and the yolks are so deep.
- Sour Cream: Our secret weapon for a thick batter and moist crumbs. This allows us to skip adding vegetable oil. You may swap for Greek yogurt.
- Salt: Seasoning to bring out the flavors.
- Powdered Sugar: Decorative sweet coating to our finished coffee cake.
Can you freeze this?
If you’re like me, then you may even want to save some for another time. So the good news is that YES, you can freeze this. I like to vacuum seal items but if you don’t have that option, you still can freeze it! You can cover the cake in the pan tightly with plastic wrap followed by foil. For good measure, there’s also freezer bags or an airtight container.
I recommend consuming within 30 days.
To thaw: allow coffee cake to thaw at room temperature. If you would like to reheat it, cover the cake in foil and bake it at 300°F for about 15 minutes, or until warmed through. Garnish with powdered sugar if you like.
Coffee Cake with Nutty Pecan Cinnamon Streusel
Equipment
- Medium Bowl
- Wire Rack
Ingredients
Pecan Streusel
- 3 tbs Unsalted Butter Melted and cooled
- ⅔ cup Light Brown Sugar
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 2 tbs All Purpose Flour
- 1 ½ cup Pecans Finely chopped
Cake
- ½ cup Unsalted Butter Room temperature
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 1 tbs Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Sour Cream
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- ¾ tsp Baking Soda
- 1 ¾ cup All Purpose Flour
Topping
- Powdered Sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat your baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
- Streusel: Combine melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, flour, and pecan pieces in a medium bowl. Stir until combined.
- Cake: Using a stand mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and the sugar together on medium for approximately 2 minutes. Add in the eggs and continue mixing on medium for 2 more minutes, scraping down the sides of bowl as necessary.
- Add in the vanilla, sour cream, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix until combined. Turn the mixer to low and add the flour until well combined.
- Spread half of the batter in the bottom of the prepared pan. Sprinkle half of the streusel mixture on top of the batter. Carefully spread the remaining batter on top of the streusel, spreading it out with a spatula. Sprinkle the remaining streusel ingredients on top.
- Bake for 45 – 50 minutes in preheated oven. Use a toothpick to insert into the center of the cake to check doneness.
- Cool on wire rack for minimum 10 minutes before serving.
- Just before serving, dust with powdered sugar.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Made coffee pecan cake for a family get together, everyone said how lovely it was, moist thanks to the sour cream and eggs. This cake is now a favourite. Thank you Rose you are an amazingly talented cook.