This Starbucks-Inspired Cinnamon Coffee Cake Riffs On The Original

Starbucks cinnamon coffee cake is a tasty treat made with a sour cream cake base and a rich cinnamon streusel that's used as a middle layer in the cake and as a topping. It's a sweet and convenient treat you can enjoy with your morning coffee or as a little pick-me-up snack. But while some people visit their local Starbucks daily, others aren't fans of the chain or their price tags.

Luckily, recipe developer Michelle Bottalico has created a copycat version of the Starbucks coffee cake you can make yourself at home. But this isn't just a copycat recipe — it's an elevated version that we think is even better than the original. This version has a cream cheese layer in the middle and a powdered sugar icing. While the cake itself is very moist, the cream cheese layer adds extra moisture and a rich, creamy contrast to the soft cake. The icing highlights the streusel topping and makes the cake even more decadent. Enjoy a slice fresh and warm if you can, because that will give you the most wow factor, but the cake is excellent after it's cooled down too.

For the streusel, you will need all-purpose flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and melted unsalted butter. The first ingredient for the cream cheese filling is cream cheese, of course. Make sure to set the cream cheese out ahead of time to soften it. You will also need powdered sugar, cinnamon, and milk. The cake batter ingredients are unsalted butter (make sure to soften this butter ahead of time as well), granulated sugar, large eggs, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, Greek yogurt, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Finally, the cake is topped with a powdered sugar icing made from powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract.

Preheat the oven to 325 F.

Start making the streusel by placing the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl and mixing well to combine.

Add the melted butter and combine with a fork until evenly mixed but still crumbly. Do not overmix or it will form a paste. Set the streusel aside.

Make the cream cheese filling: Place the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, cinnamon, and milk in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until fluffy and spreadable. Set aside.

Begin the cake: Place the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat on low until well mixed and fluffy.

Add the eggs and oil and beat until smooth.

Stir in the vanilla extract and yogurt.

Place the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a separate mixing bowl and whisk to combine.

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients and stir until just incorporated. Do not overmix.

Pour half of the batter into a greased 8x8-inch cake pan and use a spatula or butter knife to spread it evenly.

Place large spoonfuls of the cream cheese filling evenly over the batter and gently spread it into an even layer over the batter as best as you can.

Evenly sprinkle half of the streusel on top of the cream cheese layer.

Pour the other half of the batter on top of the streusel and spread it into an even layer.

Evenly sprinkle the other half of the streusel on top.

Bake for 50-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. (Loosely cover the pan with foil during the last 15 minutes if it looks like the cake is getting too browned.) Remove from the oven and let cool at least 20 minutes, until warm.

Meanwhile, make the icing: Place the powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon milk, and the vanilla extract in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Gradually add the remaining 1 tablespoon milk until it reaches a drizzling consistency. (You may not need all of the milk.)

Drizzle the icing over the cake and serve.

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The first way this copycat recipe is an elevated version of Starbucks' cinnamon coffee cake is that it's baked in a cake format instead of in muffin tins or a mini loaf pan. This gives the cake more presence and weight, and you can cut slices to be as slim or as generous as you like. 

Two major ways this version is elevated is the cream cheese layer in the middle of the cake and the powdered sugar icing. This is a super moist cake, and the oil in the batter, the cream cheese layer, and the icing all contribute to that. About the cream cheese layer — it's not strictly necessary here. It just makes it extra rich and decadent. You can even leave it out if you wish. The cake is still moist and sweet without it. But for full elevation, keep it in. Just remember to refrigerate the leftovers if you use the cream cheese.

This version is also a little more generous with the streusel, and the streusel contains more cinnamon than the Starbucks original. The effect is delicious — the rich, buttery streusel clumps up perfectly, and the flavor is sweet with a lovely noticeable cinnamon presence.

If you'd like this cake to be more like the original Starbucks version instead of our version, you can choose to use all butter in the batter instead of butter plus vegetable oil. You can also use enriched wheat flour, which is what Starbucks uses, instead of all-purpose flour (the measurement will remain the same). If you don't normally buy Greek yogurt, you can substitute whole milk or sour cream for the yogurt. They will still add moisture to the batter.

There are plenty of ways to enhance this cake and make it your own. You could make two layers of streusel in the middle of the cake instead of one. Instead of the powdered sugar icing, you could dust the top of the cake with powdered sugar. The sugar would fall into the nooks and crannies of the buttery streusel crumble topping and make it extra sweet. The white powder also makes for a pretty finish.

Frosting the cake with cinnamon buttercream frosting would give a unique spin to this cake. Walnuts on top are optional. Instead of frosting, you could add berries and toasted nuts to the top of the cake (along with the streusel) before baking it. Leave the cake as is after baking or dust it with powdered sugar. Pressing berries into the cream cheese layer in the center of the cake would also be delicious and make the center colorful when you slice it.

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