World’s Best Cinnamon Coffee Cake

I make a lot of delicious cakes but one of my favorite recipes is this cinnamon coffeecake. While I do have many recipes that are pretty amazing, gleaned from years of trial and error (oh so many errors!), this cinnamon coffee cake recipe has evolved into one of the best in my culinary cookbook. I like to think of it as the best cinnamon coffee cake in the world. If I were smart I would open up a cake shop and make a lot of money selling these coffee cakes, but that wouldn't be much fun. And if I could figure out how to box the mix I would put Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines out of business. I'm just sayin'.

Before you start you may want to see what the finished cinnamon coffee cake looks like. Not only is this the best cinnamon coffee cake in the world, it sure looks cool when made in a square pan!


Now go and preheat your oven to 350 degrees. That's Fahrenheit, for those that were wondering.

Ingredients:
•Topping:
•1/2 cup brown sugar
•1/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour
•1/4 cup butter
•1 teaspoon cinnamon

You want your topping moist and crumbly, with a strong but not overpowering cinnamon flavor. Feel free to adjust the amount of flour in the mix to your liking. It is smarter to err on the side of the topping being too dry. People have argued that they like it a little more moist, but that doesn't turn out well as the topping then sinks down into the cake as it rises. You can think of this as free tip number 1!

•Cake:
•1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
•2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•1 egg, beaten
•3/4 cup sugar
•1/3 cup melted butter
•1/2 cup milk
•1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Useful tip! Ingredients mix together better when they are at room temperature. Take out your milk, eggs, and butter a couple hours before you begin. This will usually make ALL of your recipes turn out better. You are welcome!

Preparation:
For the Topping:
In small mixing bowl, combine topping ingredients. Blend with fork until crumbly. Set aside.

For the cake:
Sift 1 1/2 cups sifted flour with baking powder and salt into a bowl.
In a medium bowl, beat together beaten egg and 3/4 cup sugar and 1/3 cup melted butter. Add milk and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture and mix well.

Pour batter into a greased and floured 8-inch square or 9-inch layer-cake pan.
Sprinkle topping crumb mixture evenly over batter.
Bake at 375° for 25 to 30 minutes, or until cake tests done.
Partially cool in pan on wire rack.
Cut coffee cake into squares while still warm.

When you eat it you will see why this is the best cinnamon coffee cake in the world. I hope you have enough milk to go around after you cut into this warm and buttery cake - you are going to need it!

And if you like that you have to check out my version of the Best Chocolate Cake in the World.