The best Vegan Coffee Cake ever, and it’s SO easy to make! Perfect for holiday celebrations or weekend breakfasts.
Along with my 1 Hour Vegan Cinnamon Rolls and Vegan French Toast Casserole, this Vegan Coffee Cake should be at the top of your list to make for holiday mornings!
It’s such an easy recipe with no fuss at all! It’s moist, fluffy and full of cinnamon streusel goodness.
How to make vegan coffee cake
The full recipe is at the bottom of the post, but let me show you how easy it is.
- Make the coffee cake batter, and pour half into a lightly greased cake pan. It doesn’t have to be exactly half, just estimate half.
- Make the streusel (it’s just combining cinnamon and brown sugar). Sprinkle half of it on the batter, then pour the rest of the cake batter on top. It won’t cover the streusel completely, and that’s okay.
- Sprinkle the rest of the streusel on top.
- Drizzle 2 tablespoons of melted vegan butter on top of the streusel, then bake for 40-45 minutes.
That’s it! The vegan butter may still look wet, but it will get crunchy with the brown sugar/cinnamon in just a couple of minutes of cooling. Serve warm with a cup of coffee!
Special Tips & Substitutions
- This recipe makes a lot (about 16 servings) so if you don’t want that much, cut the ingredients in half and make it in an 8 x 8 inch pan.
- Oil free option: Replace the oil with applesauce in the cake, and leave out the vegan butter drizzle.
- Whole grain: Use white whole wheat or whole wheat pastry flour instead of white flour.
- Gluten free: Use a quality gluten free all purpose flour blend.
Want more vegan holiday breakfast ideas?
- 1 Hour Vegan Cinnamon Rolls
- Vegan Caramel Monkey Bread
- Vegan Blueberry Scones
- Easy Vegan Quiche
- Vegan French Toast Casserole
- Cinnamon Sugar Vegan Donuts
- Best Ever Vegan Waffles
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Vegan Coffee Cake
The best Vegan Coffee Cake ever, and it’s SO easy to make! Perfect for holiday celebrations or weekend breakfasts.
Ingredients
Coffee Cake
- 1 1/4 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
- 1/2 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
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch cake pan.
- Combine the non-dairy 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 pour the rest of the cake batter on top. Sprinkle with the rest of the streusel.
- Drizzle with melted vegan butter.
- 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.
- 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.
Nutrition
Calories: 297kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 98mg | Potassium: 157mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 33g | Vitamin A: 106IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 82mg | Iron: 1mg
Did you make this recipe?Mention @nora_cooks_vegan_ or tag #noracooks!
Rocks! Made it a few times a d everyone just raves! Snuck in some chocolate chips and hazelnuts for a twist!
Your additions sound delicious! Thank you for sharing your great review!
SO AMAZING
Thank you for sharing your great review!
I made this today 🙂 It i’s divine and I absolutely love and “go to” all of your recipes Nora!!! Thank you
Hi Lisa! Thank you for sharing your great review! I’m thrilled you are loving my recipes!
This coffee cake is so delicious and has taken the place of our old sour cream version! I’m wondering if it freezes well?
I’m so glad it’s replaced your old version made with sour cream and that you love it. Yes, it does freeze well. Thanks!
Wonderful! Thanks so much!
I made these last week and they were incredible. The recipe was perfect! Thank you! I will make these again!
Thank you for sharing!
I made this cake this weekend. The cake tasted great, but the brown sugar sank to the bottom of the cake and stuck to the pan 🙁 I did half the recipe and put in a 9×9 pan, and only did the top layer of sugar. Do you think that’s why it sank?
Hi Isabel. I think it may have had something to do with the size of your pan and the fact that you cut the recipe in half. I’m also trying to understand what you mean by “only the top layer of sugar”. Does that mean you put all the cake batter in, then the brown sugar topping without layering? That may have also caused it to sink, I’m not sure. Mine has never sunk like that, but also make sure you grease the pan well or use parchment paper to help with sticking. Hope that helps somewhat!
Thank you Nora for another flawless recipe!! My whole family absolutely LOVED this coffee cake!
Thank you! I appreciate you taking your time to share your terrific review!
My teenage son has been making this cake for us often. That says it all: it is that good and that easy.
For a family of three, we half the recipe. Walnuts added to the streusel compliment the flavors well.
I love it! Thank you for taking time to share your great review, Izzy!
This looks amazing can’t wait to try! So as an oil replaced in total I’ll need to use 1 full cup of applesauce for the mix? Thanks!
Yes, if you want to try it oil free. Thanks, hope you enjoy it!
How did it turn out to substitute the oil for applesauce?
Hi! This looks amazing!
I have a bunch of cake flour I’m wanting to use before it goes bad, would substituting the all purpose flour out for cake flour be a good option?
Yes, I think cake flour would be good here!
This is a wonderful coffee cake and I’ve made it several times. I tried something different the other day. Instead of putting any of the streusel topping in the center, I put dollops of seedless raspberry jam and swirled the jam through the batter. I just used all the cinnamon streusel for the top. Another option for people who love coffee cake! I imagine apricot, peach, or strawberry jam would also be good. .
This sounds incredible Rebecca! Thanks for sharing.
Hi Nora! Ive made tons of your recipes and we love them all! For some reason this particular cake always turns out really dense and kinda hard for me. I even tried using cake flour last time but it was the same. Any ideas for how to get it a bit more moist and spongy? Not sure if I should cook it less or add more applesauce or coconut milk? Thanks!
Thanks, Krystal, I’m glad you enjoy the recipes! It could be a couple of things making your coffee cake dense and hard. First, it’s very important that you stir the batter gently and not over mix, which can definitely lead to dense cake, especially because this cake is a little more like muffin batter, extra sensitive to over mixing. Also, don’t over bake it. Maybe you are simply baking it for too long, as oven temperatures can vary. Next time, don’t over mix at all, and only bake until it’s done. It should be lightly, fluffy and not dense. Hope that helps!
Do you think I could make this a couple days ahead of time, refrigerate it, then bake it when time to serve?
I don’t think I would leave the batter in the refrigerator for more than a day. But up to a day might work.
Do you think that i can substitute half of the all purpose flour for oat flour?
It might work but I haven’t tried it.
This was delicious! I had no apple sauce so I substituted an over-ripe banana, creating a muffin-like batter. It came out super moist but still spongy. Perfect.
Thank you for sharing your review, Annette! I’m glad the coffee cake turned out great for you!
Is the uncooked batter supposed to be more pourable like a cake or thicker like a muffin batter? Mine is muffin like so was hard to spread the batter out over the full pan. It’s in the oven now and I can’t wait. It smells amazing!
It’s quite pourable but not as thin as cake batter. A little muffin like for sure. It can be messy and sometimes not seem perfect but it always works out! Hope you love it. 🙂
Why is there no coffee involved in the cake mix ?
There isn’t usually coffee in coffee cake (at least not in the U.S.) but rather it’s perfect for serving with a cup of coffee or tea. 🙂
Hi Nora! I have enjoyed many of your recipes, so I’m sure this one won’t disappoint! Just wondering, before I make it, do you think unsweetened rice milk would work for this recipe? As well, what do you think would happen if I were to add some small apple chunks into the batter? Obviously I don’t have to but it seems like it might be a nice addition! Thank you!
I think rice milk should work yes, though I don’t usually use it. I think you could add some apple chunks and it would be fine, that sounds good. Hope you love it!
This recipe is absolutely delicious! I would highly recommend not modifying if you can help it. It is creamy, spongy, and perfectly crunchy on top ? thanks for the awesome recipe!
Hi Meghan. Thank you for sharing your wonderful review! I’m glad you love the coffee cake!
I bake a lot of vegan/gluten free treats, but this was the BEST vegan/GF coffee cake recipe I’ve ever made (and I’ve tried loads!). Thank you, Nora!!
You review means a lot to me! Thanks Rachel!
Can I use vegan butter instead of canola oil, can I use almond milk instead of soy?
Yes, you can use melted vegan butter and almond milk is fine.
Hi. I didn’t have applesauce so I used 2 flax eggs per a comment below. The cake batter was thick. The cake is dense but my family is eating it. I guess I need to try again and make sure I have applesauce.
Ps. The strudel got really crunchy along the edge and that is my favorite part.
It should be light and fluffy, not dense, I wonder if you made any other substitutions? Make sure to carefully measure the flour so you don’t accidentally add too much. That would make for a dense cake. The flax eggs probably did make it more dense though, applesauce is a bit lighter and makes for a softer texture in cakes. Hope that helps!
So delicious! I halved the recipe and baked in an 8×8 glass dish for 35min & it came out perfectly! So cozy and comforting for our first snowy morning of the winter here in Seattle.
How fun, Kim! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Thank you!
Wish I could give this 6 stars. The best coffee cake I’ve ever had! The 9×13 disappeared in a matter of hours between 4 college kids. Thanks so much for the continuously great recipes, Nora! My family has a joke that every time we find a good vegan recipe its most likely Nora’s, and its always true!
Hi Katie! I’m glad everyone loved the cake! Sounds fun! Thank you for sharing your encouraging comments, and for faithfully using my recipes! I’m so glad that you love them!
I tried to replace applesauce with mashed bananas and used 100% wheat flour, it came out flat because I over beated the batter maybe. Other edges are well crumvky baked and I know it’s not the ingredients fault. I put in two teaspoons of instant coffee to make it a real coffee cake but I guess when coconut milk and coffee go together, it gives off a bad plasticy burning smell so next time I should use banana milk. Also, I used jaggery in place of granulated sugar. My question is, is it not possible to get good results with this recipe if using 100% wheat flour?
Whole wheat flour is so dense, it’s really not possible to get it to taste like the original using whole wheat flour. However, whole wheat pastry flour would likely work quite well, and help it be more light instead of dense.