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Mini Coffee Cake

| Breakfast, Cakes, Christmas, Desserts, Easter, Holiday Recipes, Recipes, Small-batch Dessert, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day

This Mini Coffee Cake is light and fluffy with a ridiculously good buttery, crunchy, crumbly streusel layer over the top. It serves four, but you might not want to share…

Say hello to the world’s perfect (mini) coffee cake.

And by perfect, I mean perfect. It’s light, fluffy, cinnamon spicy, and has the ideal ratio of cake to crumbles.

Slice of mini coffee cake on a plate.

There was a moment as I was testing this cake for the first time, dropping handfuls of sugar and butter crumbles over the cake batter, that I was like, okay, this is an excessive amount of streusel, even for me. I’m going to have to cut this down.

But nope. Once everything bakes up, it turns out that excessive is just right when it comes to coffee cake. The crumb layer is thick and decadent, making up about a third of the cake’s height, but paired with the light, not-too-sweet vanilla cake underneath, it’s perfect.

With every bite, you get just the right amount of moist, fluffy cake and buttery, crumbly, crunchy streusel.

This little cake is stellar enough that you can serve it on its own with just a good cup of coffee alongside. Or make it a part of a breakfast spread.

The cake needs at least 15 minutes to cool, and that’s plenty of time to fry up some bacon, scramble some eggs, cut up a little fruit, and maybe make a mimosa or two. The cake will serve four, especially when served with a full breakfast, so invite a couple friends over and enjoy!

Small coffee cake with streusel in a baking dish.

Ingredient Notes

  • Unsalted butter: This recipe calls for unsalted butter, but if you only have salted, not a problem. Simply reduce the salt to a pinch (both in the streusel and the cake), and you’ll be good to go. 
  • Sour cream: The cake calls for a couple tablespoons of sour cream in the batter, which helps give it a fantastic moist texture. In a pinch, you can substitute plain unsweetened yogurt instead. 

Collage photo of mini coffee cake being assembled.

FAQ

Can I double this recipe?

Sure. You can double the recipe and bake it in an 8×8-inch baking dish. Just extend the baking time as needed.

I don’t have a 7×5-inch baking dish. What else can I use?

You can also bake this in a 6-inch round or square pan. If using a 6-inch round pan, extend the baking time slightly since the cake will be a little thicker and need a slightly longer baking time. 

Mini coffee cake slice with a bite out of it.

More Small Cake Recipes

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Mini Coffee Cake Recipe Tips

  • If you are making this in a cold kitchen during the winter, your room-temperature butter might be a little too cold to cream easily. You can microwave the softened butter for just a couple seconds, long enough to further soften, but not melt it.
  • When testing the cake for doneness, make sure the streusel is not scraping off wet batter from your toothpick or cake tester, making the cake look done while still under-baked. Use the cake tester to clear a very small hole in the topping so you can accurately test your cake.
This Mini Coffee Cake is light and fluffy with an insane buttery, crunchy, crumbly streusel layer over the top. It serves four, but you might not want to share. | #Breakfast | #BreakfastForTwo | #CoffeeCake | #MiniCake |

Mini Coffee Cake

This Mini Coffee Cake is light and fluffy with a ridiculously good buttery, crunchy, crumbly streusel layer over the top. It serves four, but you might not want to share...
4.98 from 35 votes
Print Pin
Course: Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Servings (Hover or Click to Change Yield): 4 servings
Calories: 416kcal
Author: Tracy

Ingredients

Special Equipment

Streusel

  • 3 tablespoons (36g) brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoons (36g) granulated sugar
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg optional
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • 4 tablespoons (56g) unsalted butter melted
  • ½ cup + 1 tablespoon (68g) all-purpose flour measured by weight or using the spoon and sweep method*

Cake

  • ½ cup + 2 tablespoons (75g) all-purpose flour measured by weight or using the spoon and sweep method
  • ½ teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter softened
  • ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg room temperature
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons sour cream
  • 2 tablespoons milk

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 7x5-inch baking dish.
  • In a small bowl, whisk together brown and granulated sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Drizzle in melted butter and mix until well combined. Use a spoon to stir in the flour, a little at a time, until flour is completely incorporated. Place in the refrigerator.
  • In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
  • In a medium bowl, combine butter and granulated sugar. Cream them together until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add egg and vanilla and beat until well-combined. Add sour cream and mix well. Add half of the flour mixture and stir until just mixed. Add 1 tablespoon of milk and stir until just mixed. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture and milk.
  • Pour batter into your prepared dish and drop crumb mixture over the top in pea-size pieces. It will seem like a lot, but don't worry! It's just the right amount.
  • Bake for 28 to 34 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with just a few crumbs. Differences in ovens, baking dishes, and environments may affect baking time, so don't be worried if your cake takes slightly longer to bake. Cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting, and enjoy!

Notes

*Correct flour measurement is important in this recipe. For best results, measure by weight or the Spoon and Sweep Method (stir the flour in your container to fluff it up and then spoon it into your measuring cup, sweep excess off with the flat of a knife).
This cake is best on the first day, but will keep for up to 48 hours. Store covered, at room temperature. 
Did you make this recipe?I'd love to see it! Tag @BakingMischief or hashtag it #BakingMischief.

Adapted From Cooking Classy

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Comments

  1. Peter says

    5 stars
    Made this today and it was perfect. I folded some blueberries and lemon zest into the cake and added some chopped pecans to the streusel! Love the small size so I don’t overindulge 😉 Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply

  2. Kat says

    Hey I just made this! And with a larger pan too so the cake was a bit thinner, but it was equally delicious and my family devoured it! To those baking remember to have your ingredients room temperature, it makes a difference (egg, milk) !Thank you so much ^.^

    Reply

  3. Sandria Gutierrez says

    5 stars
    Just had my first bite of this coffee cake. Excellent recipe! The topping was crunchy and sweet. The cake moist, and delicious. It is not an easy thing to scale recipes down. You seem to have mastered it. Well done, and thank you,

    Reply

  4. Payton says

    You mentioned mixing cream into the sugar and butter mixture for the cake. How much cream would this be?

    Reply

    • Tracy says

      Hi, Karen, it should work. Cooking time might be a tiny bit longer since the cake will be a little thicker. Hope you enjoy it!

      Reply

  6. Dawn Denius says

    5 stars
    I was looking for a small batch coffee cake and found your delicious recipe. I made it this morning and it did take a few more than the maximum bake time but it turned out beautifully! I may try the cupcake suggestion another baker mentioned to keep me from eating more than my slice.

    Reply

  7. Autumn says

    5 stars
    Just made these and they turned out great, only thing I did differently was made them into cupcakes so I can grab-and-go. It made 6 cupcakes, and I will definitely make these again. Thank you !

    Reply

      • Tracy says

        Hi Rose, could you tell me what browser you’re using so I can look into it? I just checked it on Chrome and it’s working fine. In the meantime, if you’d like, I can email you a PDF of the recipe so you can print it without using the print button. Just let me know. 🙂

  11. Soniya says

    I absolutely love coffee cakes and this looks so delicious and inviting!! Can’t wait to try this cake recipe of yours 🙂 this holiday season!

    Reply

  14. Sues says

    5 stars
    I love the idea of a mini coffee cake!! Perfect for ensuring I don’t just snack on coffee cake throughout the entire day, b ut still able to get my day off to an awesome start!

    Reply
4.98 from 35 votes (15 ratings without comment)

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