The best Vegan Coffee Cake ever, and it’s SO easy to make! Moist, fluffy, and layered with a sweet cinnamon streusel, it’s perfect for holiday celebrations or weekend breakfasts.
Want more vegan cake recipes? Try my Apple Upside Down Cake, my Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake, and my 1 Bowl Vegan Carrot Cake next.
Put the coffee on because we’re making Vegan Coffee Cake! This is such an easy breakfast or dessert recipe with no fuss at all. Even better, it’s moist, fluffy, and full of cinnamon streusel goodness.
This is the BEST vegan coffee cake ever because it’s made with not one but two layers of cinnamon streusel (in the middle and on top), a sweet vanilla glaze, and the fluffiest cake. To me, there’s no better dessert or breakfast to pair with a hot cup of coffee.
Along with my 1 Hour Vegan Cinnamon Rolls and my Vegan French Toast Casserole, it should be at the top of your list to make for holiday mornings!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Made it a million times – incredibly delicious, a big hit with non-vegans, and tastes like the middle part of a cinnamon roll to me!” – Daria
Why you’ll love this coffee cake recipe
- Twice the cinnamon streusel – I wanted double the cinnamon streusel goodness here, so I layered it in the middle and on top of the coffee cake. Every slice tastes just like a cinnamon roll.
- Easy breakfast or dessert – It’s so easy to make! Whisk the batter, layer it with the cinnamon streusel, and bake.
- Serve with coffee or tea – The moist and fluffy cake and warm cinnamon spices make this the best treat to pair with a mug of coffee or tea. ☕
If you love this coffee cake, you should try my Pumpkin Coffee Cake or my Blueberry Coffee Cake next!
How to make vegan coffee cake
Find the complete recipe with measurements in the recipe card below.
Make the cake batter: Stir the milk and apple cider vinegar together. Set aside.
Next, stir the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar together in a large bowl. To the same bowl, add the milk/vinegar mixture, oil, applesauce, and vanilla. Stir to combine.
Pour half of the batter into the prepared cake pan.
Make the cinnamon streusel: In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together.
Sprinkle half of the streusel over the cake batter in the pan.
Pour the remaining batter over top, then top with the rest of the streusel.
To finish, drizzle melted vegan butter all over the top.
Bake the coffee cake: Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Meanwhile, make the vanilla glaze by whisking the powdered sugar, vegan cream/milk, and vanilla together until smooth.
Decorate and serve: Once the coffee cake is cool, drizzle the vanilla glaze all over the top.
Slice and serve the cake with a hot cup of coffee or tea. Enjoy!
Frequently asked questions
Despite its name, coffee cake surprisingly contains no coffee. It’s called coffee cake because the warm spices and sweet flavors go so well with a cup of coffee (or tea).
I haven’t tried it myself, but you should be okay to replace the all-purpose flour with a quality gluten-free all-purpose flour blend.
16 servings of cake is quite a lot, so if you don’t want that much, cut the ingredients in half and assemble the cake in an 8 x 8 inch pan instead.
Sure. Assemble the cake in the pan (without the melted butter on top) and keep it covered in the fridge for up to 1 day. Drizzle the butter on top before baking.
To keep it from drying out, store the leftover coffee cake on the kitchen counter (covered) for 2 to 3 days. The streusel won’t be as crisp after sitting, but the cake will still be moist and delicious.
Yes! Wrap the baked and cooled cake in a layer of plastic wrap and a layer of foil to prevent freezer burn, then freeze for up to 2 months.
Vegan Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Coffee Cake
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened soy milk
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup canola oil OR melted coconut or avocado oil
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Cinnamon Streusel
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
For drizzling on top, before baking
- 4 tablespoons melted vegan butter
Vanilla Glaze (optional)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons vegan cream or soy milk
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch cake pan.
- Combine the milk and apple cider vinegar. Stir a little, then set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar with a large spoon until well combined.
- To the bowl with the dry ingredients, pour in the milk/vinegar mixture, oil, applesauce and vanilla. Stir until combined. Pour half of the batter into the prepared cake pan.
- Make the Cinnamon Streusel: In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together.
- Sprinkle half of the cinnamon streusel over the batter in the pan, then spoon on the rest of the cake batter, spreading it gently with a spoon. The batter may not reach the edges or cover all the streusel, and that is okay. Sprinkle with the rest of the streusel.
- Drizzle with the melted vegan butter, then place in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. The vegan butter may still look wet in places, but it will harden as it cools and add a nice crunch to the cake.
- Make the Optional Vanilla Glaze: Meanwhile, whisk the powdered sugar, vegan cream/milk, and vanilla extract together until smooth. Drizzle the glaze over the slightly cooled cake.
- Serve with a cup of coffee, if desired and enjoy!
Notes
- May substitute a different milk such as coconut, almond, cashew or oat milk.
- This recipe makes enough for a crowd, so feel free to cut the ingredients in half and make it in a 8 x 8 inch pan if you’d like.
- Oil free: I don’t think it tastes great with no oil at all, but if you must you could use all applesauce in place of the oil, and leave out the vegan butter drizzle on top.
- Gluten free: I haven’t tried it, but I think a quality gluten free all purpose flour should work quite well. Simply subbing almond or coconut flour will not work.
Nora,
Your vegan coffee cake was delicious and a hit at my brunch. As I stated in another review, I am not much of a cook but this recipe was so easy to follow. The only thing I would do differently the next time I make it, is to put more than half the strudel mixture in the middle. I found the top layer to be too sweet. This coffee cake was so good!!!!
I have made this to many times to count at this point. I make a raspberry version by swapping the brown sugar and cinnamon for raspberries. The only change I make to the recipe is that I make a mix of the brown sugar and cinnamon.
Edit: The only change I make to the recipe is that I make a mix of the brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter.
I love this recipe!! I ended up making it twice this week because it was so easy and was delicious.
I didn’t have any vanilla extract left or cinnamon so I subbed some almond extract and pumpkin pie spice and it was magical!
One batch was made in the suggested pan size and one batch was made in a brownie tray and made cute little square muffin tops (only needed 25-30 in the oven)
I’m making them again today. It is such a feel good recipe and perfect for a quiet morning with coffee or to share with some friends.
Definitely try it out, it was everything I hoped for and more
Thank you so much! That sounds so amazing. 🙂
If you can stand it, wait a day to eat this! Make ahead because it is SO much better after a day. This turned out really delicious and I didn’t even have the brown sugar or it probably would have been better. I had about 1/4 cups brown sugar and had to sub the rest with cane sugar. This didn’t last long in our house
One of the best cakes I have ever tasted. So easy to make and it tastes like cinnamon buns but ever better due to how fluffy and moist this cake is!
Thank-you so much for posting this recipe.
You’re welcome!
Delicious!!! Easy to make and was great! The topping turned out crispy while the cake remained soft and the filling gooey! Thanks for the recipe! 🙂
You’re welcome!
I made this today, I love the way my house smells! And I LOVE the taste of this Vegan Coffee Cake. I have tried many and this one by far takes the cake! ( see what I did there? 😉 ) Thank you for sharing Nora! Your recipes never fail to impress.
Yay! I’m so glad to hear it, thank you!
My family loves this recipe. But I generally have to keep the cake in the oven for over an hour to make sure its cooked all the way through and cuts like a loaf bread.
Amazing! I didn’t have quite 1 cup of oil so I did 1/2 cup melted vegan butter 1/2 cup oil and it came out DELICIOUS also my fam isn’t vegan but prefer dairy free deserts do I just used 1 regular egg instead of the replacement
THIS IS THE BEST COFFEE CAKE I’VE EVER HAD!! Nora Cooks does it again!!!!!
Thanks so much!!
Love this cake! Fan-favorite for my vegan and non-vegan friends. Highly recommend!
Thanks so much!
Mine wasn’t fluffy, didn’t seem to rise. Any suggestions?
Make sure your baking powder isn’t bad, perhaps try it with new baking powder just in case. Also, do not over mix or make substitutions. Hope that helps, it should rise quite nicely and be fluffy.
Can I make these into muffins somehow?
Yes, I think you could. Just divide the batter and ingredients into muffins pans and bake for less time, probably 15-25 minutes.
This was delicious! I am always afraid of a vegan recipe being dry but this was dense and moist. I made the coffee cake in a muffin tin, took about 30 minutes to bake. to DIE for
I made this today! I halved the recipe since it’s just me and my boyfriend but now I wish I’d made the bigger version. It’s SO good and really easy, will definitely make this again.
REALLY GREAT !! RECOMMEND 100% VERY WARM AND TOATSY AND SO SO FRAGRANT ! LOVE
OMG, this coffee cake is ORGASMIC!! I have never tasted coffee cake this good…and it’s vegan!
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it!
I made this recipe today and my family of 5 finished most of it within 2 hours! I halved all the ingredients and used an 8×8 pan. It seemed to be done by 30 minutes (toothpicks came out clean) but I left it in for another 7 minutes. I used 1/4 cup brown sugar as filling and then 1/4 c brown sugar, 1/4 c APF and 3 tablespoons of oil (didn’t have vegan butter) to make the streusel topping, because for some reason I just thought brown sugar and cinnamon was too simple to work (i’m sure it would have been fine). This was definitely sugary, but that is to be expected of a treat like this. However if anyone reading this wants to reduce the sugar, I will say that I think you could probably omit the filling or maybe just use less of it. I will probably remake this recipe and that’s what I would adjust for the next time. Lastly, some of the edges (the brown sugar parts) turned out rock hard for me. This wasn’t a huge issue but was this because I used oil or perhaps overcooking? Anyway thanks for this great recipe!
Hi. Can you add chopped or sliced fresh apple to this coffee cake?? I love fruit in my coffee cakes. Thanks.
Sure, I don’t see why not! Enjoy.
Hi, if i dont have vegan butter on hand, do you think oil would work to drizzle on top? should I use the same amount (2 tablespoon)?
Sure, oil should work fine. Coconut oil would be good if you have it, same amount. Or just leave it off.
Fluffy, light, decadent, easy to make! I used vanilla soy milk as that is what I had and it turned out great. We could not stop eating this! Making more right after posting this. 🙂
Wow, that’s so great!!
This coffee cake is so good, no one will believe it’s vegan! I’ve made it twice now and it’s going to be my comfort food and also a go-to dessert to bring to parties to give vegan food a good name. So delicious!!!
I’m so glad, thank you! I know we love it so much in my house.
We made this as printed with the addition of 1/2 cup of chopped pecans to the topping to take to a brunch. It was a hit. Everyone had two pieces!
Wow, that’s so wonderful to hear! Thanks for the comment!
Made this today. I had to use homade unsweetened cinnamon applesauce. Baked it 40 minutes. It came out very dark. I will make this again but will do a few things different. Will use plain unsweetened applesauce, cut down on sugar and only bake it for 35 minutes at the most.
Taste wise it was very good. Reminded me when I made a similar coffee cake at ripe old age of 9. My parents and aunt and uncle ate every bit of it and I did not get any. Needless to say I was not happy with any of them.
This is the best vegan coffee cake around. Loved by the whole family. Thank you!
You’re so welcome!!
I don’t have applesauce… is there anything i can use instead of it?
You might be able to use more oil, or vegan yogurt if you have it. Even mashed bananas might work but it could make it taste like bananas.