Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake: Tender Sour Cream Crumb Cake for Thanksgiving Morning

Preheat the oven to 350F (175C). Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan, or line it with parchment for easy lifting.

Serves 12

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour (for the streusel)
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (for the cake)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup full-fat sour cream
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F (175C). Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan, or line it with parchment for easy lifting.
2. Make the streusel: in a bowl, stir together 1 cup flour, the brown sugar and cinnamon. Add the cold butter cubes and pinch and rub with your fingertips until the mixture forms coarse, pea-sized crumbs. Chill while you make the batter.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 cups flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt.
4. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar with a mixer on medium-high for 3 minutes, until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla.
5. On low speed, add half the flour mixture, then the sour cream, then the remaining flour, mixing just until no dry streaks remain. The batter will be thick, like frosting.
6. Spread half the batter evenly into the pan with an offset spatula. Sprinkle with half the streusel. Dollop the remaining batter on top and gently spread it to the edges, then cover with the rest of the streusel, pressing it lightly so it adheres.
7. Bake for 38 to 45 minutes, until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with only moist crumbs attached.
8. Cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes before slicing into squares. Serve warm or at room temperature with hot coffee.
9. The cake keeps, covered, at room temperature for 3 days, and it can be baked the night before Thanksgiving and rewarmed in a 300F oven for 10 minutes.
10. Coffee cake does not contain coffee; it is the cake you eat with coffee, a tradition German and Scandinavian immigrants carried to the American Midwest in the 1800s along with their yeasted kuchen and crumb-topped streuselkuchen. The quicker, baking-powder version with a ribbon of cinnamon sugar through the middle became the American standard by the mid-20th century, and it is exactly the kind of thing you want on Thanksgiving morning, when the oven is spoken for later and the house is filling up with hungry guests. Sour cream gives the crumb its signature tenderness and slight tang, and a generous double layer of streusel makes sure every square gets its share of buttery cinnamon crunch.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 390 kcal
• Protein: 5g
• Fat: 18g
• Carbohydrates: 53g
• Fiber: 1g
• Sugar: 32g
• Sodium: 220mg