The world needs more crumb cake. I mean how could your day go wrong if you start it out with a piece of this dreamy and decadent, over-the-top Crumb Cake? How I wish I could have this every day for breakfast.
You’ll love then generous layer of crisp, buttery, cinnamon laden crumbs atop that pillowy-soft, moist cake that’s swirled with notes of vanilla and an ever so light tang from the sour cream. This is one of my favorite breakfast cakes, like ever. I’m a crumbaholic. If it has crumbs I need it, and this is overloaded with them to the max! I just love the contrast of a fluffy cake next to a dense crumbly crumb.
Last year I attempted several times to make a crumb muffin and it just never worked for me because the crumbs would either end up swallowed up by the muffin or all spread out to the edges (which made since because I never used a super tall cupcake liner to keep everything intact). Luckily, things worked out much better in cake form. This cake turned out to be the best crumb cake I’ve ever had and I already can’t wait to make it again!
Crumb Cake
Yield: About 9 servings
Ingredients
Crumbs
- 1 cup + 2 Tbsp (160g) all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup (74g) packed light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup (72g) granulated sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (4 oz) unsalted butter, melted
Cake
- 1 cup (143g) all-purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 5 Tbsp (2.5 oz) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup (109g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup (2 oz) milk
- 1/4 cup (2 oz) sour cream
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8 by 8-inch baking dish then line with two sheets of parchment, butter parchment (alternately you can just butter and lightly flour the dish if you don't care to lift out the whole cake).
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For the crumbs:
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In a mixing bowl whisk together brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon and salt. Pour in melted butter (use a spatula to scrape out any excess) and stir to combine. Slowly add flour while mixing with a wooden spoon or spatula, and mix until no streaks of flour remain. Set aside to rest while cake batter is prepared.
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For the cake:
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In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt for 20 seconds, set aside.
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In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together butter and granulated sugar until pale and fluffy. Mix in egg and vanilla. In liquid measuring cup used to measure milk, whisk together sour cream with milk. Add in 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and blend just until combined, then add 1/2 of the milk mixture and mix just until combined. Repeat process once more, then end by mixing in last 1/3 of the flour mixture until nearly combined. Scape down sides and bottom of bowl using a rubber spatula and fold batter to fully incorporate.
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Pour batter into prepared baking dish and spread into an even layer. Break crumb mixture into pea size crumbs and drop evenly over batter. Bake in preheated oven until toothpick inserted into center comes out free of batter and cake doesn't sink when touched in center, about 32 - 35 minutes. Cool in cake pan 10 minutes, then using parchment overhang lift cake from pan and cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container.
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Recipe source: Cooking Classy
Averie @ Averie Cooks: I LOVE crumb cake!!!! I put a pumpkin version in my pumpkin cookbook and I would love yours! Those big crumbs, oh yes! April 15, 2015 at 7:04pm
Amanda @ The Chunky Chef: Ohhhhh my goodness… I need this in my life!! Definitely pinning and making soon :) April 15, 2015 at 8:43pm
Kathy Nelson: In the cake directions, you refer to the buttermilk mixture. I didn’t see buttermilk in the ingredients list. Am I mis-
reading the directions? April 15, 2015 at 9:47pm
Jaclyn: Sorry that was dumb, even after reading over it 3 times I still managed to miss that word :). I was thinking of it as buttermilk no longer just milk I guess because the sour cream gives it that tang. Thanks for pointing that out! April 15, 2015 at 9:59pm
Laura (Tutti Dolci): That crumb is just perfection, gorgeous cake! April 16, 2015 at 12:08am
Jaclyn: Thanks so much Laura! The crumb is definitely the best part. May 11, 2015 at 3:35pm
Shelby @ Go Eat and Repeat: This crumb cake is gorgeous! I even like how you plated it with fruit. I always try and get a little fruit in with breakfast so this would be perfect! April 16, 2015 at 7:35am
Jaclyn: Thanks Shelby! April 16, 2015 at 8:11pm
Joanna: Nothing beats a good cumble cake! I’ve recently baked my mini bowls crumble with rasbpberries and oranges. Can I just show off ans say they were good? ;) April 16, 2015 at 10:17am
Elle @ Only Taste Matters: I’m always looking for a good crumb cake recipe and now I’ve found it! Thanks! Pinned. April 16, 2015 at 2:45pm
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar: Crumb cake has got to be one of my favorite things on the planet. Love this!! April 16, 2015 at 4:51pm
Vanessa: Do you think I could replace the sour cream with Greek yogurt…and it’ll turn out just the same? April 16, 2015 at 10:24pm
Jaclyn: From what I’ve heard that’s generally fine, in my opinion I think it may not be quite as moist because sour cream has more fat than Greek yogurt. April 17, 2015 at 9:47am
Katelyn @munchie pie: I love crumb cake too!!! I pick all the crumbs off the tops of the cake because it’s the best part haha! April 17, 2015 at 3:59pm
Laura Dembowski: This looks like the perfect buttery crumb cake! April 19, 2015 at 6:30am
Jenna: This crumb cake looks amazing!! Love how it doesn’t have a TON of butter in it! Definitely giving it a try :) April 25, 2015 at 7:06am
miki: i made this crumb cake this past weekend and it was absolutely amazing. i especially love that it only makes a 8×8 pan instead of a full one. thank you so much for this wonderful recipe!!! May 4, 2015 at 9:38am
Fran: Hi! I love the way this crumb cake looks on your site! However, when I made this recipe the crumbs sank into the cake during baking. :( also, even though I measured everything right, but my crumbs were more moist than/not as crumby as yours shown prior to baking… I am not sure why the sinking happened and I’d love a response! I made another crumb cake recipe yesterday that also resulted in sunk in crumbs… Please let me know why this could be happening! June 17, 2015 at 7:56am
Jaclyn: It likely just wasn’t cooked through all the way in the center which would cause them to sink. Also I recommend breaking the crumbs up in to really small little pieces, they’ll start out in bigger crumbles. August 18, 2015 at 6:32pm
Becky: Just made this and it’s in the oven right now. Can’t wait to try some! :D the uncooked mixture definitely tasted good! :) July 21, 2015 at 1:46pm
Erin: I made this cake and the crumbs didn’t turn out like yours. I followed the recipe exactly but the crumb topping turned out more like paste. Please let me know what I did wrong. Thanks! December 23, 2015 at 1:07pm
Ashley: At least I am not the only one that thought that!
I did my crumbs twice thinking I messed up!
This sucks…a waste of ingredients! December 28, 2015 at 4:38pm
Becky Bridgewater: This happened to me aswell so I made extra crumble and sprinkled it on top! December 30, 2015 at 12:18pm
Vicky: I initially had the same issue, but I found two (different) suggestions: 1. Use cold, cubed butter and work it into the other ingredients with a pastry blender. This takes some effort, as you do not want an un-mixed topping; or 2. Make as directed, but stick the finished product in the fridge until you’re ready to use it. Break/scrape with a fork to get it back to crumbs, if necessary. Hope this helps! February 8, 2016 at 4:48pm
Jessica: This cake turned out amazing! I love crunchy crumbs as well and this will make a perfect breakfast tomorrow morning! Thanks for sharing the recipe! January 9, 2016 at 9:24am
Kandice: Amazing recipe! I accidentally cut my butter in half for the crumb mixture and it still tasted great, just a bit more dry. The cake is the perfect texture! January 9, 2016 at 6:53pm
Laurel: I have made this several times and it is by far my families most favorite coffee cake! Have you ever prepped this the night before and then popped it in the next morning? March 1, 2016 at 8:12pm
Leah: Can I double this and put it in a 9×13 pan? Anyone try that? March 26, 2016 at 10:05am
Laurel Seiter: I always do it that way and it works out great. May 6, 2016 at 3:37pm
LC: Could I prep this the night before, leave in the fridge overnight and just bake the next morning?? June 10, 2016 at 9:27am
Claire Marsh: The cake portion seemed a little thin compared to the crumbs. June 13, 2016 at 6:06pm
Lupe R: Love this cake!! I was looking for a coffee cake recipe and I ran into this one.. decided to make this today. I was a little worried about the crumb mixture. It was kind of wet when I made it and thought why isn’t it crumbled? But once I got to putting it all together it worked out.. My family is gonna love this one. Thanks for the recipe :) July 25, 2016 at 2:14pm
Lisa: This cake is amazing! Made one for my brother as a “thank you” and he absolutely loved it, so much so that he made sure to request that I make two of them for the family beach trip! I wonder if the reviewers that had trouble with the crumbs let the mixture sit long enough. You have to be sure to make them first so it can sit while the batter is made. August 5, 2016 at 9:24pm
Jaclyn: I’m so glad your family has enjoyed this cake Lisa! Thanks for your feedback! August 6, 2016 at 10:28am
Nicole: I made this a few days ago and my family devoured the cake and requested another, so I just made a second one today!! They all couldn’t believe it was homemade, as it tasted like it could be sold at a store! Thanks for sharing :) It was very easy to make, and I didn’t have any problems. August 13, 2016 at 5:23pm
Jaclyn: So happy to hear this Nicole! Thanks for leaving a comment! August 15, 2016 at 3:45pm
Mina: This is the best crumb cake I’ve ever had. Thank you so much for the recipe!! :D August 14, 2016 at 4:09pm
Jaclyn: Thanks for the great review Mina! August 15, 2016 at 3:40pm
Mary Jane: Do you correct the recipie to butter il or is it just milk & sour cream August 19, 2016 at 8:10am
Sharon: Yum! This looks just like the coffee cake I used to get a Starbucks back in the day. I cannot wait to try it. Thanks for sharing! August 24, 2016 at 2:29pm
Elena Wright: I just made this! I almost messed up once or twice but it still turned out really delicious. I didn’t have any sour cream so I used buttermilk and the cake was ridiculously moist. It was fantastic. I almost added twice as much baking powder but was able to fix it. And I accidentally added too much flour to the crumb topping so I had to add more sugar and butter to fix it so I had extra crumb topping on mine. Everybody really loved it and said it was delicious. I am keeping this recipe and I’m tempted to mess with it a little by adding apples or something. Again thank you for sharing. September 4, 2016 at 3:00pm
Jaclyn: Thanks for the great feedback Elena! September 7, 2016 at 10:23am
Lisa: This is absolutely delicious! I have been searching for a crumb cake recipe like this for years and my search is over! This is a winner! September 27, 2016 at 9:04am
Jaclyn: Thanks for the great review Lisa! September 27, 2016 at 2:02pm
Maureen: My cake didn’t look anything like this and I followed the recipe exactly. Wasn’t a fan. February 5, 2017 at 12:22pm
Aretha: Just made this and the cake didn’t have enough flavor. The crumble was perfect. Idk what happened I used the milk an sour cream an maybe it should have been buttermilk instead. February 18, 2017 at 9:56pm
Nancy: Made this today. We’ll see how it turns out since I wasn’t sure how much butter to use in the crumb mixture. Your recipe says 1/2 cup (4oz) but 1/2 cup of butter is equal to 8 oz. or 1 stick. Please clarify the amount so we can make this delicious looking cake. March 11, 2017 at 5:31pm
Jaclyn: Sorry for the confusion. 4 oz of butter is actually 1/2 cup. Butter measures differently than say 8 oz of water. If you look on a package of butter is should say there is 1 lb (16 oz) so divided by 4 sticks of butter it would be 4 oz per 1/2 cup stick of butter. Hope that makes sense. March 14, 2017 at 12:06am
Ruz 🙂: Looks great..😍 August 11, 2017 at 4:07am
Karen: Our favorite recipe!!
Can I use this recipe to make muffins? September 9, 2017 at 5:34pm
Jaclyn: I’m so glad you like this recipe Karen! It should work well as muffins too, just cut back the baking time. September 9, 2017 at 11:43pm