Vegan Coffee Cake
Soft and fluffy vegan coffee cake with a thick layer of cinnamon sugar and a crunchy streusel topping. This cake is easy to make, uses very common pantry ingredients and is perfect with a cup of coffee!
Ingredients
Streusel topping
- ½ cup (65g) all-purpose plain flour
- ¼ cup (50g) packed brown sugar or sugar of choice
- 2 ½ tablespoons (35g) vegan butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Cinnamon Swirl
- ⅓ cup (65g) packed brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Vegan Vanilla Cake
- 2 ⅓ cups (290g) all-purpose plain flour (note 1 for gluten-free option)
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- Pinch of salt optional
- 1 cup (250g) dairy-free milk
- ⅔ cup (145g) neutral flavored oil
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar optional (note 2)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180°C (355°F). Line an 8-inch (20 cm) square tin with parchment paper.
Make the streusel topping:
- Add all ingredients to a small bowl and mix until it resembles a fine crumbly mixture. Set aside.
Make the cinnamon swirl mixture:
- In a separate bowl, add the sugar and cinnamon and mix until combined. Set aside.
Make the vanilla cake:
- Add all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder and salt) to a large mixing bowl. Whisk until the mixture is well combined. Add all the wet ingredients (dairy-free milk, oil, vinegar and vanilla) and whisk until smooth.
Assemble the vegan coffee cake:
- Pour around half of the cake batter into your prepared pan. If needed, flatten the surface with an offset spatula or spoon. Sprinkle all of the cinnamon sugar evenly on top of the cake batter.
- Pour the remaining half of the batter on top. Use an offset spatula or spoon to spread out the batter so you can't see any more of the cinnamon sugar. Sprinkle the streusel topping on top.
- Bake the coffee cake for 50-55 minutes. If the top is browning too quickly, tent the cake pan with aluminum foil. The cake is ready when you can insert a toothpick in the center and there's no wet batter on it (some moist crumbs on the toothpick are fine).
- Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 20 minutes then transfer to a wire rack.
- Serve the cake as is, with a light dusting of powdered sugar or a thin drizzle of icing (note 3). Use a serrated knife to cut the cake into slices. Store the cake in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days, in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Notes
- To make this vegan coffee cake gluten-free, substitute the plain flour for 1 1/2 cups (150g) almond flour / blanched almond meal and 1 cup (160g) gluten-free all-purpose flour and reduce the oil to 1/2 cup (85g). For the topping, you can use just gluten-free all-purpose flour.
- Alternatively, you can use 1 tablespoon lemon juice. The acid reacts with the dairy-free milk to make vegan buttermilk which gives a cake a more tender crumb. You don't need to mix the ingredients separately as it has the same chemical reaction in the bowl!
- I made a simple icing by mixing 3/4 cup (75g) of powdered sugar and 3-4 teaspoons of dairy-free milk. Add more sugar for a thicker icing or more liquid for a thinner icing and drizzle it over the cooled cake.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 square | Calories: 269kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 13g | Sodium: 118mg | Potassium: 38mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 2IU | Vitamin C: 0.02mg | Calcium: 79mg | Iron: 1mg