Sourdough Discard Coffee Cake Recipe
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This sourdough coffee cake is our favorite way to use up leftover starter! Made with sourdough discard, this breakfast cake comes out incredibly soft and tender with a sweet cinnamon ribbon swirled right through the middle. The buttery crumble topping adds the perfect crunch to every bite. Best part? This sourdough discard coffee cake takes just an hour from start to finish, making it perfect for weekend mornings when you want something special without all the fuss!
It’s not a hard coffeecake to make from scratch, and we give you all the information you need to have the perfect cake ready in less than an hour. No box. Just step-by-step instructions with common ingredients.
You Want Cake? We Can Justify it For You.
Starting the morning off with cake just seems incredibly decadent. But coffee cake. Coffee cake we can accept. It’s breakfast! And it goes with coffee. That makes it literally the best way to start the day.
Our homemade sourdough coffee cake recipe isn’t just easy to make, it’s delicious. We don’t start with a mix – this cake is entirely homemade and it shows. You’ll love the balance between moist cake and crunchy brown sugar and cinnamon. Sourdough discard isn’t just around for the rise, it also adds to the flavor and improves the texture.
This sourdough coffee cake is perfect for potlucks, church breakfasts, or whenever you need to bring something delicious to share! You can bake it the night before and it actually tastes even better the next day after all those flavors have had time to meld together. Just wrap it up tight, and it stays moist and fresh. It travels beautifully too – no worry about spills or complicated serving. Just slice it up and watch everyone come back for seconds!
Ingredients for Sourdough Coffee Cake
While you’ll find the full ingredient list in the recipe card below, I wanted to highlight a few important ingredients:
Sourdough Discard. When your jar starts to get too full with perfectly good starter you have two choices. You can either throw some of it away, or you can make something with it. And let’s face it, we don’t always have time to fold bread. Easy sourdough discard recipes are so fun because they allow us to make something out of our pet and enjoy baked goods without the wait.
Sour Cream or Vanilla Greek Yogurt. Either of these options will work and give the cake a more moist, silky crumb.
How To Make Sourdough Coffee Cake
Please note, that the printable recipe card has the full list of ingredients, quantities, complete instructions, and nutritional information. The following is a quick overview of the recipe.
Butter your baking dish and preheat your oven to get started. Butter adds an extra layer of flavor, but you can use regular shortening if you prefer. Next, make the crumble. Melt the butter and stir in the remaining ingredients with a fork or pastry cutter. Set this mixture aside.
In a new mixing bowl, mix the dry ingredients for the cake batter. Mix the sugar and liquids separately in a different bowl. Then cream the sourdough discard and sour cream with the liquids. Slowly combine these two mixtures (dry and wet) until you have cake batter.
To assemble the cake, add half the batter to the baking dish. Then add half the crumble. Follow this with the remaining half of the cake batter and the remaining half of the crumble on top. Finally, bake and enjoy the cake warm or cool.
Hostess Tips
You don’t *have* to serve coffee cake with coffee. You can enjoy it with cold ice water, hot tea, hot chocolate, or a glass of cold milk.
I have friends who wouldn’t dream of eating this cake without a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a spoonful of whipped cream. This is reminiscent of fried ice cream!
Do not use a hand mixer to make the crumble. It will get too dense and be difficult to crumble nicely.
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Easy Sourdough Coffee Cake Variations
- Use nuts. Lots of people love nuts on their coffee cake topping. It adds crunch and flavor. Add nuts like pecans or walnuts to the crumble.
- Chop raisins and add them to your crumble.
- Spruce up the spices by adding nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, or cloves.
- Drizzle a simple glaze like we do with our cinnamon roll muffins or a chocolate drizzle over the crumble as we do with our chocolate coffee cake.
Frequently Asked Questions
How will I know when the cake is ready?
Somewhere between 35 and 40 minutes, a toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean. You can also check by seeing if the cake bounces back when lightly pressed with a finger. Do not overbake. Overbaking results in is a dry cake.
I don’t have enough sourdough discard, what should I do?
Don’t have enough sourdough discard on hand? No problem! You can save up your discard in a jar in the fridge for up to a week until you have enough for this recipe. Or if you’re in a hurry to bake, you can mix a little extra flour and water into your active starter, let it sit out for a few hours until it’s not bubbly anymore, and use that as discard. Some bakers even keep a separate ‘discard jar’ in the fridge just for recipes like this – it’s a great way to always have some ready when the baking mood strikes!
Can this coffee cake be made ahead of time?
Yes, you can make the sourdough discard coffee cake recipe the night before, or make it a couple of days before it is needed. Make sure to store it covered in an airtight container so it doesn’t dry out or get stale.
How To Reheat & Store Sourdough Coffee Cake
Best way to store coffee cake
Store for 3-4 days at room temperature in an airtight container.
Can I freeze sourdough discard coffee cake?
You can freeze a whole cake or individual slices and thaw overnight to enjoy the next day. Make sure you wrap it in plastic wrap first and then place it in an airtight container so it doesn’t dry out.
How to reheat coffee cake?
If you want warm coffee cake, you can always put a slice in the microwave for ten to fifteen seconds.
Related Recipes We Love
Love this sourdough coffee cake? You’ll want to try our other amazing breakfast sourdough discard recipes too! Our fluffy sourdough pancakes are perfect for lazy weekend mornings, and our sourdough cheese scones make a savory breakfast treat that goes great with poached eggs. If you’re feeling fancy, whip up a batch of our cinnamon sugar sourdough donuts – they’re baked, not fried, so they’re ready in no time! And don’t miss our sourdough blueberry muffins that are bursting with juicy berries. All of these recipes help you turn that leftover starter into something delicious instead of just tossing it out!
I hope you enjoyed this delicious recipe as much as we do. Drop me a comment below, and don’t forget to give it a star rating. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. Your comments and ratings help others decide if this recipe is for them too.
Sourdough Coffee Cake (with Discard)
Equipment
Ingredients
Crumble
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup butter melted
Filling
- ⅓ cup packed light brown sugar
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
Cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup sourdough discard unfed sourdough starter
- ½ cup sour cream it is excellent with vanilla Greek yogurt
- ⅓ cup milk don’t use cream, it dries out the bread
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Butter or grease a 9×13 baking dish. Set aside.
Crumble
- In a medium mixing bowl, add the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter.
- Use a fork until all ingredients are combined. It will look like wet sand. Set aside.
Filling
- To make the filling, whisk the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a bowl. Set aside.
Cake
- In a mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract. Whisk until all ingredients are combined.
- Add the sourdough discard and sour cream. Mix well.
- Add half the flour mixture, mix until the flour is almost incorporated, and add the milk. Mix well.
- Add remaining of the flour and mix to combine
Assembly
- Pour half of the cake batter into the prepared baking dish. Spread evenly.
- Sprinkle the filling evenly on top of the batter. Don’t mix
- Carefully, add the remaining batter on top of the filling. I used a large spoon to add the batter. This way I did not have to spread it as much with the off-set spatula and the filling did not mix.
- Add the crumble on top of the batter.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 38-43 minutes. The cake will be golden and when you insert a toothpick in the middle it will come out clean.
Notes
o Enjoy with coffee, tea, milk, or morning hot chocolate.
o Storage: Store for 3-4 days at room temperature in an airtight container.
o Have fun with the recipe:
▪ Add different spices: Nutmeg, ginger, cloves
▪ Add nuts like pecans or walnuts to the crumble
▪ Drizzle a simple glaze over the crumble.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
This recipe was calculated using the exact brands and measurements I used to make this recipe. If you are following a strict diet please note changing anything will cause the nutritional info to change. My calculations are intended as a guide only.
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