Moist carrot cake meets coffee crumb cake in this anytime, single layer cake recipe. When you are craving cake for breakfast or need something sustainable for grazing each time you pass through the kitchen, this counter cake is your best friend.
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This Carrot Coffee Cake is everything you could ever ask for (and then some) from a sturdy cake made for snacking, nibbling, and satisfying our everyday cake cravings.
It is a rich, tender cake base that gets some added moisture and flavor from grated carrots and sour cream before being rippled with cinnamon-scented brown sugar and topped with a generous shower of streusel crumbs and clusters.
With a ripple of brown sugar and drizzle of vanilla bean glaze, this carrot coffee cake is as every bit comforting with morning pj’s as it is perfect for any spring celebration.
Ingredients
- Brown sugar
- All-purpose flour
- Rolled oats
- Cinnamon, ginger, cardamon, and/or other warm spices
- Unsalted butter
- Granulated sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla
- Sour cream
- Grated carrtos
- Pecans - optional
See recipe cards for quantities.
Tasting Notes
This single-layer cake is packed with flavor. Brown butter adds depth and richness. It is nutty and aromatic.
The sour cream adds a bit of fat and acidity that keeps the cake moist and tender on our counters for days (if it lasts that long). If you don’t have sour cream, try substituting it with equal full-fat, plain Greek yogurt (or any plain yogurt you have on hand), applesauce, or even mashed banana.
Looking to classic carrot cake for our spice blend, a bit of cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger add warmth and flavor.
The current of brown sugar that runs through the middle of the cake melts when baked, adding sweetness and spice to each bite.
The crumbly bits of sugar and cinnamon coated butter on top might be our favorite part. All that being said, this cakes needs nothing more that a drizzle of vanilla bean glaze before being devoured.
What is Coffee Cake?
As the name implies, it is perfect along side your coffee (morning, noon, and night). But does coffee cake have coffee in it? Probably sometimes it does, but not typically.
Most coffee cakes are spiked with cinnamon and offer a crumbly, buttery texture on top. Sure enough, there are probably coffee-flavored coffee cakes, but that is not the standard.
Substitutions
Sour Cream - You may try a substitute of equal parts full-fat, plain Greek yogurt, applesauce, or mashed banana for the sour cream.
Oats - Don’t have rolled oats? Try replacing them with ½ cup chopped nuts
Vanilla - Use pure vanilla extract or the seeds of a vanilla bean if vanilla bean paste is not available.
Serving and Storage
This recipe serves 8-10 people. Store it covered at room temperature for up to 4 days.
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Recipe
Carrot Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Oat Streusel Topping
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 3 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup rolled oats
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 pinch salt
- 3 tablespoon unsalted butter very soft, partially melted
Cinnamon Carrot Cake
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ½ teaspoon cardamom
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 ¼ cups grated carrots
- ½ cup chopped pecans optional
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Vanilla Bean Glaze
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1-2 tablespoon milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
Oat Streusel Topping
- Mix together the sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon, and salt in a small mixing bowl. Add the butter and stir until the dry ingredients are moistened and small clumps form. Place the streusel in the freezer as you prepare the cake batter.
- The butter should be extremely soft but not completely melted (partially melted is best). This helps create larger crumbles in the streusel.
Cinnamon Carrot Cake
- Pre-heat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9-inch springform pan and set aside.
- Dice the butter and melt it in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Continue to cook the butter until it browns, about 8 minutes. Stir the butter as it browns to keep the butter fat from sticking and burning at the bottom of the pan. When done, the butter will be golden in color and very aromatic with a pleasant nutty smell. Remove the browned butter from the heat and strain through a mesh sieve into the bowl of a stand mixer (or large bowl with a hand mixer).
- Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom. Set aside.
- Add the sugar to the browned butter and mix on medium speed for a couple minutes. Not only are we incorporating the sugar into the butter, but we are bringing down the temperature of the browned butter before adding the eggs. After mixing in the sugar, add the eggs and vanilla. Once the eggs are incorporated, add the sour cream and mix until combined.
- Turn the mixer to low and add in the flour mixture in two batches. Stop the mixer before the dry ingredients are fully incorporated. Fold in the carrots and pecans, if using, until combined.
- Tip about ⅔ of the batter into the prepared springform pan and smooth out with a small offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Sprinkle the top of the batter with the brown sugar and remaining cinnamon. Carefully spread the remaining batter over the top of the brown sugar mixture.
- Sprinkle the Oat Streusel Topping over the top of the cake batter. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake on a wire rack before removing the the ring of the springform pan.
- To serve, drizzle with the Vanilla Bean Glaze. Serve and store covered at room temperature for 3 to 4 days.
Vanilla Bean Glaze
- Stir together all of the ingredients minus 1 tablespoons milk in a small mixing bowl until smooth. It should be thin enough to drizzle off of a spoon. Add more milk as needed.
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