This gluten free coffee cake has that classic rich, tender golden cake, topped with a that classic nubby, sweet streusel topping.
I always loved coffee cake with big pieces of brown sugar-sweetened crumble on top, and would not stop until I had a coffee cake recipe that won’t disappoint the crumble lovers among us!
Why this recipe works
The crumb of this delicious cake is dense, but incredibly tender and moist. It’s really a golden cake, instead of a gluten free vanilla cake.
Traditional cakes with a more open crumb, like vanilla cake, are typically made with a liquid in the batter like milk. This coffee cake has just 2 tablespoons of milk—and the rest of the moisture comes from sour cream.
The dense texture of this golden yellow cake combined with the huge cinnamon and sugar crumbles on top make it perfect for enjoying along with a hot cup of coffee or tea—or with a tall glass of milk. The cake is perfectly sweet, but not so sweet that the brown sugar crumble topping feels like it doesn’t belong or like it’s “too much.”
Recipe ingredients
Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make both the crumble topping and the yellow cake beneath it.
Crumble topping
Here’s what you need to make a simple crumble topping, which you’ll make first so you can refrigerate it while you make the cake:
- Unsalted butter: Adds flavor and richness, and the moisture that brings the topping together. It starts out melted, and becomes firm in the refrigerator before using it to top the cake.
- Brown sugar: Adds sweetness and depth of flavor, and what you smell baking in the oven.
- Granulated sugar: Provides sweetness, and also helps the topping crisp in the oven.
- All purpose gluten free flour blend: Responsible for the structure of your crumble that keeps it from melting into the rest of the cake; your blend must have some xanthan gum or the crumble won’t keep its shape. I recommend a high-quality blend with a finely ground rice flour, like Better Batter’s classic blend, Nicole’s Best multipurpose, or Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 (blue bag).
Cake
To make a rich yellow cake with a pleasantly dense crumb that’s perfect for supporting the nubby topping, here’s what you’ll need:
- All purpose gluten free flour blend, including xanthan gum: This provides structure and texture for the cake; you must use one of my recommended blends or the cake ingredients won’t combine properly or bake with the right texture
- Cornstarch: Helps add some tenderness by lightening the blend a bit.
- Baking powder: Provides most of the rise.
- Baking soda: Neutralizes the acid in the sour cream and helps the cake brown in the oven.
- Salt: Brings out all the other flavors and offsets the sweetness a bit
- Ground cinnamon: Adds warmth and depth of flavor, but you can leave it out if you’d prefer more plain butter flavor
- Butter: Adds richness, tenderness, and buttery flavor.
- Sour cream: Adds moisture, tang, and makes even a dense crumb super tender.
- Granulated sugar: Adds sweetness, bulk, and helps keep the cake soft and moist.
- Milk: Lightens the crumb a bit and helps bring the batter together.
- Vanilla: Adds depth of flavor
- Eggs: Add rise, bind the other ingredients together, and help maintain the cake’s structure after the rise.
How to make gluten free coffee cake
Make the crumble topping
- Whisk together the gluten free flours, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and salt.
- Mix in melted butter for easy blending.
- Chill the topping to create big crumble pieces.
Make the cake batter
- Whisking together the dry ingredients (gluten free flours, baking powder & baking soda, & salt).
- Beat the butter, sour cream, milk and granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl, then the eggs.
- Mix in the dry ingredients by hand for a thick batter.
Assemble the batter, top with crumble, & bake
- Transfer the cake batter to a prepared cake pan and spread it into an even layer.
- Break up the chilled crumble and scatter on top.
- Bake the cake at 350°F until it no longer jiggles in the center.
- Allow the cake to cool, then slice and serve!
Ingredient substitution suggestions
This cake is versatile enough that you can make some tweaks to it when you’re catering to dietary requirements other than gluten free.
Dairy free
There is a lot of butter in this recipe, both in the crumble topping and in the cake itself. The best replacement for the butter in both places is probably Melt or Miyoko’s Kitchen brand vegan butter.
For the crumble topping, if you can’t use vegan butter, try using Spectrum nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening.
In place of sour cream, try using a good quality nondairy sour cream. You can also use plain Greek-style yogurt in place of sour cream.
And remember, go with Better Batter not Cup4Cup, as Better Batter is dairy free while Cup4Cup is not.
Egg-free
There are two eggs in this coffee cake recipe, and you might be able to replace each of them with one “chia egg” each. For each, place 1 tablespoon ground white chia seeds + 1 tablespoon lukewarm water into a small bowl, mix, and allow to gel.
Corn-free
If you can’t have corn, try using arrowroot powder or even potato starch in place of cornstarch. If you can’t have cornstarch, you’ll have to avoid using Cup4Cup at all, since it is made with a lot of cornstarch.
If you can have corn and you’re already using a higher starch all purpose gluten free flour blend, like Cup4Cup, replace the 18 grams of cornstarch in this recipe with an equal amount of that high starch flour blend.
Gluten Free Coffee Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For the topping
- 8 tablespoons ( 112 g ) unsalted butter , melted
- ⅓ cup ( 73 g ) packed light brown sugar
- ¼ cup ( 50 g ) granulated sugar
- 1 cup ( 140 g ) all purpose gluten free flour blend , (See Recipe Notes)
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum , omit if your blend already contains it (use a heaping 1/2 teaspoon)
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
For the cake batter
- 1 ¾ cups ( 245 g ) all purpose gluten free flour blend , (See Recipe Notes)
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum , omit if your blend already contains it (use a heaping 1/2 teaspoon)
- 2 tablespoons ( 18 g ) cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon , optional
- 6 tablespoons ( 84 g ) unsalted butter , at room temperature
- 1 cup ( 256 g ) sour cream , at room temperature
- ¾ cup ( 150 g ) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons ( 1 fluid ounce ) milk , at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 ( 100 g (weighed out of shell) ) eggs , at room temperature
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper and set it aside.
For the crumble topping
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The topping must be prepared first, so it can chill.
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In a medium-size bowl, place all the ingredients in the order listed, mixing to combine after each addition.
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Cover the bowl that holds the raw topping. Place the bowl in the refrigerator to chill until firm.
For the cake batter
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In a medium-size bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and optional cinnamon, and whisk to combine well. Set the bowl aside.
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In a large bowl with a handheld mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, place the butter, sour cream, granulated sugar, milk, and vanilla, and beat well on medium speed until very smooth. Add the eggs, and beat until just combined.
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Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients and mix by hand until just combined. The batter will be very thick, since our liquid is mainly sour cream.
Assemble and bake the cake
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Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth into an even layer with a wet spatula. Press the spatula down in the corners to eliminate any air pockets.
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Remove the chilled crumble topping from the refrigerator. Uncover the topping, and use the tines of a fork to break up the mixture into irregular pieces.
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Scatter the crumble pieces evenly on top of the cake batter. Press down gently to help the topping adhere to the batter.
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Place the cake pan in the center of the preheated oven. Bake for about 40 minutes, until the center does not jiggle in the center when the pan is shaken from side to side gently.
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A cake tester inserted into the center should come out mostly clean. Do not overbake or the bottom will burn.
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Remove the pan from the oven and allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes or until it’s just table enough to transfer.
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Lift the cake out of the pan by the parchment paper liner, and place it on a wire rack. Pull out the parchment paper from underneath the cake to allow the cake to be exposed to the air while it cools completely.
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Slice into 9 equal squares and serve.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Storage instructions
This cake keeps well at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
For longer storage, wrap individual slices in freezer-safe wrap and freeze for up to 3 months.
Defrost frozen slices at 50% power in the microwave or at room temperature then toast lightly to refresh.
FAQs
No! There’s no coffee in coffee cake. It’s made to be enjoyed with a hot cup of coffee.
Over the years, I’ve come to suspect that, in some cultures, what they call a coffee cake actually has coffee baked into the batter. I assume that flavors the cake?
Make sure the topping is super cold when it goes into the oven, and make sure your oven doesn’t run hot, because a too-hot oven will melt the crumble. Like baking gluten free puff pastry, crumble topping must start out cold so it holds its shape during baking.
You may have let the warm cake sit in the pan and/or the parchment paper liner too long. If you don’t allow the hot steam from the oven to escape as the cake cools, it will steam the cake and can make the browned parts a bit rubbery.