Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Rich with butter and topped with a simple cinnamon streusel my family’s favorite Cinnamon Coffee Cake is both basic and compelling. Warm out of the oven it is fragrant, soft and delicious. Later in the day it is a little firmer but still wonderful. This recipe, from a card dated 1973, holds the secret formula for a coffee cake we have consistently treasured in my family for decades.

Vintage Recipes

This is a recipe from McCall’s Great American Recipe Card Collection. If I remember correctly, these cards were collected over time, arriving in the mail in installments. Each installment filled another section of Aunt Hen’s large plastic recipe box that she received with her subscription.

The recipe card has the year 1973 printed on it. It is no longer kept with all of the other recipes in a neatly organized file but belongs in a folder in my kitchen file drawer when it isn’t thumbtacked to a cork board inside my kitchen cabinet, indicating that I have specific plans to make it. This card has been mine for over 40 years now.

Like the dear bunny in The Velveteen Rabbit, this card has grown shabby. It is stained and creased and worn. There is a hole in the upper corner from being tacked to the cork board. Time has turned it yellow and experience has spattered batter on the front picture and spilled something else, maybe vanilla, on the back.

A slice of Cinnamon Coffee Cake served on a plate beside a basket.

Our Favorite Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Despite the wear and tear this particular recipe card is still well loved, regarded and remembered. It holds the secret formula for a coffee cake we have consistently treasured in my family since the beginning. Perhaps in posting it here it can even become REAL. As the book says, “When you are Real shabbiness doesn’t matter.”

My family has used this cake with a few candles on top as a birthday cake, with a big nut baked inside as a King Cake and, for a while, we made it almost every Sunday, without variation, for an after-church brunch. To newlyweds on a tight budget this coffee cake was a real treat. Warm from the oven it is fragrant, soft and delicious. Later in the day it is a little firmer but still wonderful.

Last week my husband wanted a cake to share at work. Of course, this is the one he asked me to bake. Cut into sixteen small pieces it was gone in an instant. Really, it’s that good!

Enjoy!

Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Course: Breakfast, Dessert
Servings

9

servings
Prep time

15

minutes
Cooking time

30

minutes
Total time

45

minutes

Warm from the oven Cinnamon Coffee Cake is fragrant, soft and delicious. Later in the day it is a little firmer but still wonderful.

Ingredients

  • Topping:
  • 1/2 cup (100g) sugar

  • 1/4 cup (31g) flour

  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon

  • 1/4 cup butter, softened

  • Batter:
  • 1 1/2 cups (190g) flour

  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1 egg

  • 3/4 cup (150g) sugar

  • 1/3 cup butter, melted

  • 1/2 cup milk

  • 2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 375F.
  • Topping:
  • Combine 1/2 sugar, 1/4 cup flour and 2 teaspoons cinnamon in a small bowl.
  • Mix in 1/4 cup soft butter with a fork until the mixture is crumbly. Set aside.
  • Batter:
  • With a whisk, combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk the egg until frothy. Add 3/4 cup sugar and 1/3 cup melted butter blending until smooth.
  • Add the milk and vanilla, whisking until well combined.
  • With a wooden spoon, stir in the flour mixture until smooth and well combined.
  • Pour the batter into a prepared 9-inch square baking pan. Scatter the topping evenly across the top. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until done. (For an 8-inch square pan, bake 30-35 minutes.)
  • Cool a bit on a wire rack, then cut into pieces and serve warm.

Notes

  • Recipe Source: Adapted slightly from McCall’s Great American Recipe Card Collection.

21 Comments

  1. ravenlockes

    THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!

    I was searching online for over an hour for this recipe-my son;s favorite recipe and I could not find the card in my file–praise GOD!! THANK YOU!!!

    Anna

  2. Alice D. Millionaire

    this is in my oven as we type. in hindsight though, i wish i'd doubled the topping and put it in the middle & on the top. yummm.

  3. Thanking for post this recipe. My mom got these cards when i was a kid and i always made this coffee cake. Years later the card got lost in a move. And I have been looking for the recipe for a long time.Glad i will be able to make it for my kids. Thanks

  4. Anonymous

    Just wondering, why is it called coffee cake when there is no coffee added?

    Lora

  5. Kelly, and all -I'm so glad to hear you like this coffee cake as much as my family has over the years. Thank you for your comments!

  6. Kelly, mama of 4

    this is our new favorite recipe… We all love it and the kids enjoy helping… Thanks Lisa for your amazing blog to give Moms new ideas!

  7. I made this today for my family. however I added 1/2 cup chopped pecans to the batter. What a wonderfully easy to make recipe. Thanks for sharing.

  8. Anonymous – Thanks for your kind comment. I was up bright and early this morning making this coffee cake too. Today it was for my youngest son's birthday. He wouldn't say what kind of birthday cake he wanted but the men in my house always love this coffee cake!

  9. I made this bright and early this morning because we were expecting visitors. It is SO GOOD! We loved it, and I'll be making it again… and again.

    Thanks muchly!

  10. Robin Sue

    I love those worn out recipe cards. I do remember that subscription of recipe cards that came once a month. My roomie had them in college too. The cake looks so moist and delicious.

  11. Pardon me, but is there really no coffee in the cake? Nonetheless, I’m sure to try this recipe. Thanks so much for sharing!

  12. This looks wonderful! I love home baked goods and I will definitely try this one. I grew up with McCalls too, reminds me of cutting out pictures with my Mom and Grandma.

  13. This coffee cake looks incredible! I love that the recipe card has grown shabby and worn with love–evidence of how great this cake is. Sorry that I’ve been an absent commenter; I just finished up my law school exams and am finally getting around to my google reader.

  14. My favorite coffeecake ever. I have an old McCall’s cookbook from the 1960 that I love. Lots of old fashioned recipes.

  15. bliss, thy name is cinnamon coffee cake. so moist yet still properly crumbly, redolent of cinnamon. sigh. 🙂

  16. WOW… McCalls is a name you don’t hear much about any more. This is a wonderful recipe, I love making these on a cold Sunday morning for breakfast.

  17. Donna-FFW

    I love coffee cake and this looks delicious. Ill have to try this variation.

  18. i love these kind of cakes! I remember the McCall’s paper dolls!

  19. I love cakes like this they are a real treat, thanks for posting the recipe!

  20. the southern hostess

    This sounds so good. I might have to get in the kitchen on Sunday morning.

  21. noble pig

    How delicious is this. I haven’t heard the word McCall’s in years but remember the magazine. I have to make this!

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