Coconut Coffee Cake
Before we keep going, I want to remind you guys that coffee cake does not supposed to have coffee in it. It is actually named “coffee cake” because it is a breakfast cake that is meant to be enjoyed with a cup of coffee. Think along the lines of banana bread, muffins, doughnuts, etc.
Yes, you heard me right, you can eat cake for breakfast! This soft, moist, and flavorful coffee cake is the perfect companion for your morning cup of Joe or an afternoon snack. This is one of the best baking recipes for the weekends and special brunches.
If you love coconut, you’ll be a huge fan of this cake because there is coconut worked into the cake and into the crumble topping. The crumbled streusel topping is really what brings the whole cake together. You get the bite of a soft cake with a crunchy sweet topping. Texture and flavor heaven!
Tips To Make My Coconut Coffee Cake
- Don’t substitute sour cream! Use regular full fat sour cream! this is pretty much the most important ingredients in a coffee cake and I highly recommend that you do not substitute it. This is the key to the best texture.
- Use sweetened coconut flakes or you can also make your own if you wish. Note, that if you want to make your own, they will be unsweetened, so you may need to add more sugar. (For the process to make your own coconut flakes, check out my coconut banana bread recipe.)
- I highly recommend using a 9×9 baking dish. Make sure to also grease the baking dish well! Use slightly softened butter to rub it all over the inside.
- Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. This will create the dense but soft base for the coffee cake batter
- Be careful, don’t overmix the crumble. After you pour in melted butter slowly and carefully FOLD and CUT it in with a large fork to mix. Streusel should look like large crumbs and not paste.
Storing and Freezing Instructions
- Storing at room temperature – If you know you’ll eat it within a couple of days, you can easily store the bread at room temperature for 2-3 days. Make sure to cover it airtight so it doesn’t dry out.
- Longer storing – to store the coffee cake for longer, store it in the refrigerator. Make sure to store in an air-tight container. In the refrigerator, it should be good for 5-7 days. You can always reheat the individual slices in the microwave, for 5-10 seconds at a time.
- Freezing – Cool your coconut coffee cake to room temperature before freezing. (You can transfer it into an aluminum baking pan.) You can also take the whole cooled coffee cake out and of the baking pan and wrap it in couple of layers of aluminum foil first and then in plastic wrap. Wrapping it in a couple of layers, will prevent freezer burn. Label and place it into the freezer for 2-3 months.
- If you wish, you an slice the cooled coffee cake and wrap individual slices to freeze.
- Thaw the coffee cake on the counter top. Individual slices will just take a few minutes to thaw but the whole coffee cake will take 30-45 minutes.
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Coconut Coffee Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Coffee Cake:
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter softened
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1 cup full fat sour cream room temperature
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
Crumble:
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 3 Tbsp white granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
- 1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F° degrees and grease a 9×9 baking dish.
- Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Scrape sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Add vanilla and sour cream. Beat until well combined.
- Sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat on low speed until just mixed.
- Scrape sides and bottom of the bowl and fold in the coconut, until incorporated throughout.
- Spread the batter in the prepared baking dish evenly.
Crumble Topping:
- In a medium bowl, combine brown sugar, white sugar, coconut flakes, and flour. Mix well until all ingredients are incorporated evenly. Pour in melted butter slowly and carefully while fold it in with a large fork.
- You will want to be careful so you don’t overmix. Streusel should look like large crumbs and not paste.
- Spread the crumble topping over batter evenly. Bake for 55-60 minutes and do a toothpick test in the center to make sure it’s done. Cool to room temperature before cutting.
Video
Notes
- Storing at room temperature – If you know you’ll eat it within a couple of days, you can easily store the bread at room temperature for 2-3 days. Make sure to cover it airtight so it doesn’t dry out.
- Longer storing – to store the coffee cake for longer, store it in the refrigerator. Make sure to store in an air-tight container. In the refrigerator, it should be good for 5-7 days. You can always reheat the individual slices in the microwave, for 5-10 seconds at a time.
- Freezing – Cool your coconut coffee cake to room temperature before freezing. (You can transfer it into an aluminum baking pan.) You can also take the whole cooled coffee cake out and of the baking pan and wrap it in couple of layers of aluminum foil first and then in plastic wrap. Wrapping it in a couple of layers, will prevent freezer burn. Label and place it into the freezer for 2-3 months.
If you wish, you an slice the cooled coffee cake and wrap individual slices to freeze. - Thaw the coffee cake on the counter top. Individual slices will just take a few minutes to thaw but the whole coffee cake will take 30-45 minutes
Nutrition
More Sweet Recipes To Try
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in May 2015.
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Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
Excellent recipe, moist and delicious. My chef boyfriend has declared this his new favorite cake. Easy to make, did toasted coconut on top of the crumble. Might try brown butter next time- which will probably be very soon. Thank you!
That makes me so happy to hear! I bet the toasted coconut added such a great flavor and crunch. And yes, brown butter next time sounds heavenly, your chef boyfriend clearly has great taste! 😄
Can I use roasted coconut for this recipe?
I think the recipe is delicious. However, I think it works better in a 9×11 dish instead of a square dish.
To clarify: I think the recipe as posted is better if cooked in a 9×11 dish. There is sufficient batter and it puffs up a lot. I also think half the crumble is enough. Overall, delicious!
Gla dyou liked it, Cindy!
Hi there how do I do the measuriments for a 9×13 pan?
Hi there! To make the coconut coffee cake in a 9×13 pan, you can increase the recipe by half, giving you the right amount of batter for the larger pan. Enjoy your baking!
What a wonderful recipe – it makes the house smell so inviting and homey. I laugh, when I think back to the first time I made this:; I didn`t have a 9×9-in. pan, so I substituted a 9″ pie plate, instead. That was a mistake. My oven was a mess! But what I could salvage of the cake was phenomenal and encouraged me to forge ahead. I`m so glad I did. Now I even scrolled down far enough to see that the recipe can also be adated to a 9×13-in. pan – I have that, so next time, I`ll try that, too. Thank you so much for this delicious way to start the day (or celebrate midday, or snack a piece in the evening, lol).
Hi Cindy,
Thanks for sharing, it’s always fun to hear the stories of people trying out my recipes! I am glad you have a sense of humor with the pie plate and that you still enjoyed the cake despite the oven mishap! lol I hope it turns out just as delicious for you in the larger pan. Happy cooking! 🍰😊
Fantastic cake. My wife loved it too. (I do the cooking and baking.) She said “Make sure you do not lose that recipe!” I didn’t change the recipe at allbut I didn’t follow the order of what goes in when – I seldom do.
Thanks, Ben! I am so glad you and your wife liked it!
How do you make the fresh coconut flakes? We bought a coconut for fun but now I don’t know what to do with it. This cake sounds so yummy but I assume it needs to be dried somehow?
Hi Michelle, I have not made homemade coconut flakes but I did find a recipe online that may help you. https://www.lowcarb-nocarb.com/homemade-coconut-shreds/
Do u think this would work in a pampered chef bundt pan or possibly my mini loaf bakers?
Hi, Melanie!
Yes, you could but the cooking time would change you should check the mini loaf pans after 18 minutes to see if done.
Hi, I am going to cook it. However, I did not understand how much sugar do we want for the cake and where is the coffee powder?
P.S. I love coconut too.
Hi Sohrab!
There are different amounts of sugar in the actual cake and in the crumble topping. It’s divided in the recipe. For the cake, it’s 1 cup white granulated sugar.
There is no coffee powder. The name “coffee cake” is actually the type of cake, it describes that it is a morning cake that’s great to go with your morning coffee. It doesn’t actually have coffee in it.
I hope you will like it even without coffee 🙂
I forgot to include the baking time for the 9×13: 30 min. I just wanna say again this recipe is sooooo yummy!! The look on my hubby’s face was priceless when he took a bite….heavenly! Thx again!
I started getting out the ingredients and realized I didn’t have sour cream or unsweetened coconut flakes! I’m so thankful for the Greek yogurt question! I used vanilla Greek yogurt. I also used regular sweetened coconut flakes because that’s all I had in the pantry. I baked it in a 9×13 casserole and cut the time because I needed more squares. This is delicious! Thanks so much for making my coconut addiction worse! 😉
Thank you, Connie! I’m glad you liked it!
The cake is in the oven. smell of coconutty heaven in here.
I’m a coconut fan all the way. N the love of coffee. Question. I have yogurt instead of sour cream. Will it make a differnce in it if I use the yogurt? Thank you Lisa
I”m sorry I didn’t see your question earlier! It’s not ideal but you can substitute full fat Greek yogurt or full fat plain yogurt. Neither has the fat content of sour cream, but I don’t think the difference would be too noticeable. I’ve never substituted sour cream for anything in coffee cakes because of the large amount that goes in there but I’d be interested to find out.
Let me know how it turned out!
Thank you 🙂
This Cake Is AMAZING. Even though I used yogurt it still work and tasted very good. Hubby went on a crabbing trip with son and friend. They all loved it and asked for more when they got home. Thanks sharing this amazing cake. Its gonna take a take a trip to Florida from Oregon. My best friend there loves coconut. Thanks again Lisa J,H in Oregon.
I”m so happy it worked out well!! Yay 🙂
Hi Lyuba!
Thank you for this amazing recipe! We love it!
I just writing a blog post on our Blog for share your recipe! I’ve included your like and your picture if you want to watch it! 🙂 http://www.cacafeblog.com/2016/01/21/recipe-coconut-coffee-cake/
Have a great day! Good Blog!
PS: If you want we will be happy to plan a partnership together you can send me an email at cacafesm@gmail.com
Best,
Made this coffee cake Sunday, and it is so delicious. I have been craving coconut and this hit the spot. I could not find unsweetened coconut, so I used sweetened coconut & decreased the sugar as suggested & it was great! Tips are always so helpful. I look forward to your next coconut recipe.
I’m so glad you liked it, Lisa!!
I love coconut a little too much 🙂 and now, I’m craving something coconutty.
I shall make something soon!
Looks like a fabulous coffee cake! Loving all that streusel 🙂
This looks pretty darn good. I’ve never tried the International Delight coffee although we use their creamer. It would be very tasty during the hot summer months. I, too, love coconut anything. I can eat it just plain. I will certainly have to make this recipe. Thank you.
Thank you 🙂
I hope you’ll like my coffee cake and give ID coffee a try. I love it in caramel too 🙂