Starbucks Copycat Coffee Cake

With a thick streusel crumb topping a fluffy, buttery cake, this Starbucks Copycat Coffee Cake will get them out of bed in the morning!

~ Pin it Now for Later ~

Occasionally I will surprise my family with a sweet treat on a school morning. However, my high schooler is up and at ’em by 5:30 a.m. and while I am the ever devoted mother, let’s face facts friends (ooh, an alliteration), I am not getting up before dawn to make a coffee cake!!!

Which is why I love this recipe, it’s inspired by Picky Palate’s Copycat Starbuck’s Coffee Cake recipe, with my usual tweaks and tips.

TIPS FOR THE PERFECT TENDER CRUMB COFFEE CAKE

Tip #1 | Make it the afternoon or evening beforehand.
Tip #2 | Split the recipe into two 8×8 pans, unless you have a larger family or planning for a brunch; our family of four cannot consume a 9×13 coffee cake, at least we shouldn’t!
Tip #3 | Slightly (very slightly) under-bake it, then if you can get it in the oven for 10-15 minutes before your kids wake up to warm it, it will “finish” the baking and not dry it out.
Tip #4 | Freeze the second one after cooling, wrap tightly in foil. Now you can be a hero another early morning, or a lazy Saturday or give to a friend who needs a little pick-me-up.

Here are my ingredients, you may certainly use any regular yellow or vanilla cake mix, I like this natural one from Trader Joe’s, plus I swap out the oil for melted butter!

TIP | Did you know you can do that with any boxed cake and brownie recipe, cup-for-cup, just melt your butter and let it cool, so you don’t accidentally “cook” your eggs when mixing in the butter. 

How to Bake a tender Coffee Cake

Preheat your oven to 350º.

Crack your eggs into a 2 qt mixing bowl (or stand mixer) and add your milk (or water) and give them a whirl to mix.

TIP | Did you know you can also swap out your water for milk in your cake mixes? Milk will make it moister and less crumbly. Slowly add in your cooled butter while mixing.

Add your cake mix and blend for the recommended amount of time on the box, generally about 2 minutes at medium-high speed. Look at those beautiful little flecks of vanilla bean!

Pour half of the batter into each of your greased 8×8* pans. To make it easier I thought I’d be sassy and break out my hand-held mixer (I really was just being lazy, avoiding hauling out “Big Bertha”), so I could use my large measuring mixing bowl; that way I could see the volume and easily split the batter in half. See I had a reason…but I digress…

It measured about 4 cups of batter, pour 2 cups into each pan. Eyeballing works just fine too.

*Note: You may also make this using a 9×13 pan, coating the pan with non-stick spray. Prepare as directed.

I used a nicer pan for serving and a disposable pan to freeze the second one, in case I decide to give it away.

Bake at 350° for 12-18 minutes or until the center is wiggly, semi-set, but not soupy, you don’t want the cake completely baked as you’ll put it back in the oven. A few minutes longer if you opted for the 9×13 pan.

Making the Mile High Crumb Topping

Cut your cold butter into cubes (I slice the cube lengthwise down the middle then chop the cube into tablespoon sized chunks).

TIP | You can also grate your cold butter using a box grater, then pop in freezer until ready to use.

Add your all-purpose flour, packed brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla into a large bowl.

I wouldn’t recommend using a handheld for this part (like I did), my mixer sassiness got me into trouble as it was not able to get the crumb ingredients to the desired consistency. Plus I was making a HUGE mess, spewing flour, sugar and buttery crumbs all over me and my counter, believe me this topping is so good you want it on the cake, not the counter!

Break out your “Big Bertha” and use it, you’ll be happy you did, plus it must count as exercise right? Lift it up and down elbows tight against your sides, 10 reps should do it. I tried.

Don’t forget a nice little pinch of sea salt.

Mix it up well, the below picture is after my first super messy attempt with my hand-held mixer, the mixture is a dry crumbly mess with big lumps of butter. Not what I was going for. Keep reading, I save the day…

…so much better after my KitchenAid did all the work for me while I cleaned up my crumby counters. Not that my counters are crumby in the yucky sense, but had crumbs, oh you know what I’m talking about.

You want it to stick together when you grab a handful, like this! Much better and less mess too!

As soon as your cakes are done, remove them from the oven, grabbing handfuls of the crumb topping, gently break apart and spread directly onto the hot cakes evenly. The crumbs  will “sink” into the cake slightly.

Return to the oven immediately and bake an additional 10-15 minutes, under-baking them slightly (around 10-12 minutes) if you want to reheat them in the oven when ready to serve.

Let cool fully on a cooling rack, then cover with foil for easy reheating the next day and freeze the second one for later.

Dust with powdered sugar just prior to serving. Yummy!

If you make the recipe, leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

Try these other similar breakfast and brunch recipes:

Ooey-Gooey Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting
Gluten Free Coffee Cake 
Blueberry Crumble Cake

Recommended for You!

Simple Coffee Crumbly Cake

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

A delightfully simple, moist, make-ahead coffee cake bursting with flavor and loads of crumb! Inspired by Starbucks Coffee Cake

• Author: Kathleen | The Fresh Cooky
• Prep Time: 25 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins
• Total Time: 55 mins
• Yield: 14-18 servings 1x
• Category: Breakfast
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: American

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

BASE

• 1 box Yellow or Vanilla cake mix
• (plus ingredients for cake mix; eggs, butter/oil and water/milk)

CRUMB TOPPING

• 2 sticks cold, salted butter, cut into cubes
• 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour (I use organic)
• 1 ½ Tablespoons cinnamon
• 1 ¾ cups brown sugar, packed
• 1 ½ Tablespoons vanilla
• Pinch of salt
• Powdered sugar (optional, for dusting)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray two 8×8 pans with non-stick spray or one 9×13 pan.
3. Prepare cake mix in a large mixing bowl (preferably with measurements) according to box instructions.
4. If you are using butter in place of oil, make sure you have cooled the butter slightly to avoid “cooking” your eggs.
5. Mix 2 minutes on medium-high, scraping down sides of bowl once.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan(s).
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-18 minutes, until center is wiggly, barely set, not soupy.

Preparing Crumb Topping

1. In a large bowl of a mixer with a paddle attachment, combine butter, flour, brown sugar, vanilla and salt and mix until butter incorporated and mixture is uniform without large chunks of butter.
2. Once cakes are finished with initial baking, remove and immediately crumble the topping over the hot cake(s), spreading evenly.
3. Return to the oven and continue baking an additional 10-15 minutes. If you will be freezing or serving later, pull out on the earlier side (about 10 minutes) and reheat at 300 for 10-15 minutes when ready to serve.
4. Cut into squares and dust with powdered sugar.

Notes

Copyright 2017 | The recipe for Simple Crumb Cake was originally posted by The Fresh Cooky

Keywords: Coffee Cake, streusel, crumb topping, copycat, starbucks, make ahead

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