If you're looking for a delicious way to use up your sourdough discard, this sourdough discard coffee cake recipe is perfect for you. With its moist crumb, warm cinnamon flavor, and buttery streusel topping, this cake is a cozy addition to any breakfast or brunch spread. If that's not enough, it’s simple to whip up and lets your sourdough starter shine in a whole new way!
This sourdough discard coffee cake is the perfect treat for cozy fall mornings with a hot cup of coffee or espresso. It’s also an ideal addition to holiday gatherings like Thanksgiving or Christmas brunch, where its warm cinnamon flavors complement the festive cheer.
The cake also shines at baby showers, casual springtime picnics, or summer parties, offering a versatile, crowd-pleasing dessert for any season.
If you like this recipe, then you will love my sourdough banana bread or my sourdough banana muffins! If you want to stay in the sourdough cinnamon lane, try my sourdough discard cinnamon rolls or my sourdough discard snickerdoodles!
Ingredients
The sourdough discard coffee cake relies on simple ingredients like flour, sugar, butter, eggs, and cinnamon, all of which are pantry staples and readily available at any grocery store.
The star ingredient, sourdough discard, comes from your own starter, making this recipe both accessible and a great way to repurpose what you already have.
- For the cake
- Unsalted butter
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Sour cream
- Vanilla extract
- Sourdough discard
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Baking powder
- For the streusel
- Brown sugar
- Flour
- Unsalted butter
- Cinnamon
- Cardamom
- Nutmeg
- Salt
- For the vanilla glaze
- Powdered sugar
- Milk
- Vanilla extract
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
This coffee cake is a breeze to prepare, requiring just a straightforward mixing of ingredients and no complex techniques.
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350F and prepare a loaf pan with parchment paper or grease with butter.
Make the streusel and set aside.
Step 2: Beat butter until light and fluffy (pictured).
Slowly add in eggs, then combine remaining wet and dry ingredients until just combined.
Step 3: Layer half of the batter in a prepared loaf pan.
Step 4: Top with half of the streusel.
Step 5: Layer remaining batter on top.
Step 6: Top with remaining streusel. Bake at 350F for 55-60 minutes or until the top is lightly firm and set and no longer jiggly.
Hint: Don't over-mix your batter! Over mixing can negatively affect the rise of your bread, making it more dense.
Substitutions
Some of the listed ingredients not work for you? Here are a few of my tried and true substitutes!
- Butter: Use a non-dairy butter like Country Crock's plant butter.
- Milk - Use high-fat non-dairy milk if you don't want to use dairy! I highly recommend Oatly oat milk (full-fat or regular would be ideal).
Variations
This sourdough coffee cake recipe can be easily switched up to create new and interesting flavors. Here are some fun ideas to try out!
- Extra crunch - Add ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans to the streusel to add an extra crunch!
- Chocolate - Add 1 cup of chocolate chips to the batter to add some rich, chocolatey goodness!
- Long-ferment - You can ferment this loaf overnight in the fridge by making the batter and omitting the eggs, baking powder, and salt. Add those ingredients the next day just before baking! Some recommend only leaving the baking powder and baking soda out for fermenting, but I like to leave out the eggs and salt too.
Equipment
- Kitchen scale with a paddle attachment (please weigh your ingredients for best results)
- Stand mixer (or large bowl with a hand mixer)
- Loaf pan
- Parchment paper
- medium bowl for mixing dry ingredients
- Small bowl for mixing the streusel
Storage
For best results, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.
Sourdough coffee cake can be frozen for up to 3 months, however, the streusel will be significantly softer after being thawed. It will be very yummy still, though!
Top tip
Weigh your ingredients for best results! I can't recommend this enough. Kitchen scales are easy to find, affordable, and beneficial to your baking journey. It is the best way to make sure your recipes turn out as accurately as possible. See my "equipment" section above for links to scales I recommend.
FAQ
Yes! I do recommend using a weighted scale here, especially to make sure you are adding the right amount (150g) of sourdough to the mix. Active starter has more air in it, so 1 ½ cups of it will inevitably weigh less than 1 ½ cups of unfed discard.
Yes! See my "variations" section for more information.
Yes! Your results might taste slightly different, but they will still be delicious. Scroll up to "substitutions" for my recommended dairy-free products!
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Sourdough Discard Coffee Cake
Equipment
- Kitchen scale with a paddle attachment (please weigh your ingredients for best results)
- Stand Mixer (or large bowl with a hand mixer)
- Loaf Pan
- Parchment Paper
- medium bowl for mixing dry ingredients
- Small bowl for mixing the streusel
Ingredients
For sourdough cake
- ¾ cup unsalted butter room temperature, 169g
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar 250g
- 3 eggs room temp
- ½ cup sourdough discard 150g
- ⅓ cup sour cream 85g
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt omit if using salted butter
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour 150g
For cinnamon streusel
- 1 cup flour 120g
- 1 cup brown sugar 220g
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon cardamom
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled so it isnt hot
- pinch salt
For the vanilla glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a 9″x5″ loaf pan with parchment paper or grease it with butter or oil.
- Make your cinnamon streussel by adding melted and cooled butter to your flour, sugar, and spices. Set aside.1 cup flour, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon cardamom, ½ teaspoon nutmeg, 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, pinch salt
- Combine butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.¾ cup unsalted butter, 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- Add in eggs one at a time on medium-low speed until combined. Add each egg one at a time.3 eggs
- Scrape the sides of your bowl again, and beat in the remaining wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.½ cup sourdough discard, ⅓ cup sour cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla
- On low speed, add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients a little at a time.1 teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon salt, 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- Pour half of the cake batter into a loaf pan, and spread it evenly. Cover the batter entirely with half of the cinnamon streusel. Layer the remaining cake batter on top of the streusel and then finish it off with the remaining streusel. There will be two cake layers and two streusel layers total.
- Bake on the middle rack of your preheated oven for 55 to 60 minutes. You'll know when the cake is ready when it is lightly firm on top and the coffee cake doesn't jiggle when you wiggle the pan slightly.
- While the cake is cooling, make your glaze by mixing powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk.1 cup powdered sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 tablespoons milk
- Allow it to cool completely before topping with the glaze. I recommend letting the glaze to set before serving for best results.
Notes
- Weigh your ingredients for best results! I can't recommend this enough. Kitchen scales are easy to find, affordable, and beneficial to your baking journey. It is the best way to make sure your recipes turn out as accurately as possible. See my "equipment" section above for links to scales I recommend.
- Don't over-mix your batter! Overmixing can negatively affect the rise of your cake, making it more dense.
- For best results, store in an airtight container refrigerated or at room temperature for 3-5 days. Sourdough coffee cake can be frozen for up to 3 months, however, the streusel will be significantly softer after being thawed. It will be very yummy still, though!
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