Gluten Free Sour Cream Coffee Cake
This Gluten Free Sour Cream Coffee Cake recipe is an irresistible take on coffee cake that is fluffy, moist, and topped with a sweet cinnamon streusel topping. Slice and serve for breakfast, brunch, a mid-day treat with a cup of tea, or even an Easter feast.
Growing up, my parents drank a LOT of coffee. Because of this, we often had Irish Soda Bread and lots of coffee cake around. Despite its name, coffee cake does not contain coffee! It’s just meant to be enjoyed WITH coffee but also other hot beverages like Bulletproof coffee, hot chocolate, sous vide coffee, and chai tea.
This coffee cake recipe is made with gluten-free flour instead of all-purpose flour. I’ve found that the best gluten-free flour for coffee cake is Bob’s Red Mill, King Arthur, and Krusteaz because they contain a 1:1 ratio with regular all-purpose flour and include Xanthan gum. You can also use Pamela’s baking and pancake mix.
☕Coffee Cake With Sour Cream
Sour cream plays a crucial role in making coffee cake by adding moisture and a tender texture, preventing the cake from becoming dry. It also brings a light tanginess that complements the cake’s sweetness, enhancing its overall flavor. The acidity in sour cream helps the cake rise better, making it lighter and softer. Using sour cream in coffee cake creates a moist, flavorful, soft dessert! Full-fat sour cream is going to offer a light and moist end result in the cake. If you use a reduced-fat or fat-free version, the texture will curdle a bit and the texture will not be as moist.
🥣How To Make Gluten Free Sour Cream Coffee Cake
- Prepare for baking: Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease an 8×8 square baking pan. Set aside.
- Combine dry ingredients: Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium-sized bowl until fully incorporated.
- Combine wet ingredients: Using a stand mixer or hand mixer beat together room-temperature butter and sugar until creamy. Add in eggs and vanilla extract and mix further. Then add sour cream and mix until all wet ingredients are fully combined.
- Mix coffee cake batter: In 1/2 cup portions, add the dry flour mixture to the wet ingredient mixture until all dry mix is fully incorporated into a cake batter. Pour cake batter into a greased 8×8 square baking pan.
- Make streusel topping: Chop cold butter into squares and add to a food processor along with flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Pulse the mixture until coarse crumbs are formed. Be careful not to overwarm the butter in the mixture. Add topping into a bowl and toss with chocolate chips, nuts, or other add-ins. Sprinkle topping evenly on top of the cake batter in the cake pan.
- Bake and cool: Bake for about 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cake may be a little wobbly when first taken out of the oven and just needs to cool and settle. Let cool COMPLETELY before slicing and serving.
👩🏻🍳Chef’s Baking Tips
- Ensure that the gluten-free flour blend you have, does contain xanthan gum. This will help ensure you get the proper texture of the cake. The xanthan gum adds the elasticity and structure that gluten would do in a traditional all purpose flour.
- You can use two forks or a pastry cutter to cut the cold butter into the flour mixture. You want it to be small crumbles of butter mixed in the flour.
- Make sure to measure the ingredients properly, as when you bake you want ingredient measurement to be accurate. That way you ensure you don’t end up with a drier or crumbly dessert.
- Use the baking time as a guide. The coffee cake is done when you can stick a toothpick in the center of the cake and it comes out clean of wet batter. You do not want to overbake the dessert.
🫐Flavor Variations and Substitutions
- With blueberries: You can mix fresh or frozen blueberries in the batter. Just add a little gluten free flour to coat the blueberries so they don’t sink to the bottom as they bake. Fold in at the end with a spatula.
- With apples: Thinly dice up some apples to mix into the coffee cake batter. I find that any baking apple works great. Granny Smiths will add a tart component, whereas Honeycrisp or even a Pink Lady will offer a sweeter flavor to the cake.
- With chocolate chips: You can sprinkle chocolate chips on top, or mix some in the batter. Milk chocolate, semi-sweet, or even white chocolate works great.
- Bundt cake: If you want to make a bundt cake shape, simply pour the batter into the bundt cake and bake. It will take longer to bake as it is a thicker-shaped cake. When done, allow the coffee cake to cool a bit before you try to remove from the pan.
- Add nuts: Create a crunch by adding some nuts into the streusel topping. Pecans, slivered almonds, walnuts, can be sprinkled on top of the cake with the struesel topping.
- Lemon Zest: Wake up the dessert with a citrus and bright flavor! Add 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice into the batter along with the zest of 1-2 lemons. This also is great paired with blueberries.
- Streusel Middle Layer: Pour half the batter into the pan and create a thin layer of streusel in the center of the cake. Just spread half the streusel mixture in and spread evenly. Then, carefully pour in the remaining batter. Top with the rest of the streusel and bake the same.
- Caramel: Drizzle in some caramel sauce once the cake batter is in the pan. Use a knife and swirl it in, and then top with streusel. It will add more sweetness to the cake. I would do about 1/4 cup of caramel to 1/3 cup.
❄️Storing & Freezing Instructions
Storing: This cake can be stored in an airtight container on the counter for 2-3 days. Or to preserve it longer store the cake in the fridge for 4-5 days.
Freezing: Place in a freezer container or freezer bag. Freeze for 1-2 months. Then when you want to eat some of the cake, thaw cake in the fridge overnight, or let it sit on the counter for around an hour.
❔FAQ
Can you use almond flour instead of gluten free flour?
Unfortunately you do not want to use almond flour to replace a gluten free flour blend. Almond flour lacks the binding ingredients needed to create the proper texture for this cake recipe.
Almond flour is essentially ground almonds, whereas gluten free flour is a mix of flours that are approved for a gluten free diet.
Can you eat sour cream on a gluten-free diet?
Sour cream is naturally gluten free so yes, it is safe to eat when you are on a gluten-free diet.
🍪More Gluten-Free Sweet Treats
- Spiced Apple Cider Muffins
- Gluten Free Lemon Strawberry Bars
- Gluten Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Doubletree Copycat Cookies
Gluten Free Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Ingredients
For Cake:
- 2 cups Gluten Free Flour Blend
- 2 tsp Gluten Free Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
- 1 cup Sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 stick Butter room temperature
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup Sour Cream full fat
For Topping:
- 4 tbsp Butter cold and chopped
- 1 tbsp Cinnamon
- ½ cup Gluten Free Flour Blend
- ½ cup Dark Brown Sugar
Instructions
For Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease an 8×8 square baking pan.
- Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl until fully incorporated.
- Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat together room temperature butter and sugar until creamy. Add in eggs and vanilla extract and mix further. Then add sour cream and mix until all wet ingredients are fully combined.
- In 1/2 cup portions, add dry flour mixture to wet ingredient mixture until all dry mix is fully incorporated into a cake batter.
- Pour cake batter into greased 8×8 square baking pan.
- For Topping:
- Chop cold butter into squares and add to food processor along with flour, brown sugar and cinnamon.
- Pulse mixture until course crumbs are formed. This can also be done with 2 forks or a pastry cutter. Be careful not to over warm the butter in mixture.
- Add topping into a bowl and toss with chocolate chips.
- Sprinkle topping evenly on top of cake batter in cake pan.
- Cook for about 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cake may be a little wobbly when first taking out of the oven and just needs to cool and settle.
- Let cool COMPLETELY before slicing and serving
