This is the classic coffee cake recipe with a yummy streusel topping that I've been using forever. I would recommend trying this recipe if you are avoiding white flour. You'll love the use of oat flour!
Can I make my own oat flour with oats?
Yes! And it's easy. Pulse the oats in a blender or food processor until they are ground into a powder-like consistency. Done!
Looking for a classic coffee cake? Check out my Classic Buttermilk Blueberry Coffee Cake...lick your fingers yummy!
Buttery, moist cake with flavorful cinnamon streusel filling throughout. This recipe is quick to put together and everyone loves it! Great for a quick weekend brunch item served with a mug of coffee and the crossword puzzle.
Can I use regular all-purpose flour instead of Oat flour?
Yes, absolutely you can!
Is there any coffee in coffee cake?
Nope. The name is kind of silly. There's mixed info about if the original coffee cake truly had coffee in it. Most information says no. Either way, coffee cake is simply cake meant to be eaten with coffee. Which, in my book, is still crazy awesome!
Trying to avoid gluten can be very, very difficult at brunch. And, of course, many of the favorite classic coffee cake recipes (like my Buttermilk Blueberry Coffee Cake) uses traditional flours. Obviously a problem for those that are trying to avoid gluten.
I've been on a mission to find a way to utilize alternate ingredients in my favorite recipes without making any other changes, if possible.
This recipe, made with oat flour instead of white flour, is simply delicious. And easy. I love making this every weekend I possibly can. I get to join in on all the carby and delicious treats that are for brunch without the need to have white flour.
The best part? I can make the SAME EXACT recipe with white flour, instead, for the rest of my family. Same one. One pan is oat flour and the other is white flour. Nope, I am not known for sharing mine :).
Why do I make two pans? Oat flour is quite expensive so, if I have time and energy, I'll make an oat flour version with more nuts and seeds and such in it...for me. And then an AP version with blueberries in it...for them. Saves on the budget, a bit.
The cinnamon streusel:
In my opinion, nothing is more important than the crumble on a coffee cake. It makes the whole thing. Frankly, I usually double the crumble topping on this. And a tip, be sure not to over mix the streusel. You want some larger bits left to be a bit crunchy after baking.
Anyways, give this recipe a try...you'll be pleasantly surprised at how easy and flavorful it is. Without the need for traditional white flour. Instead, I think the oat flour adds to the oatmeal flavor that good coffee cake already has. Oatmeal, cinnamon, vanilla, and butter are cornerstones of good coffee cake.
Swap out buttermilk for the milk and vinegar. Mixing milk and vinegar together creates a homemade buttermilk that is obviously not needed if you use the real deal.
Try adding chopped nuts, chocolate chips, dried fruit, or additional spices to amp up the flavor and nutrition.
This coffee cake recipe has it all. Oatmeal, cinnamon streusel, great vanilla flavor, and a buttery cake. It also stores well for several days. Warm it a bit before serving, though, for the optimal coffee cake experience.
Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake (with oat flour)
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk If you sub buttermilk, skip the vinegar.
- 1 ¼ tablespoon vinegar If using buttermilk, skip this.
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoon oil any mild veggie oil will work fine.
- 2 cup oat flour (white also works)
- 1 cup sugar You can use part sugar and part honey, if you like.
- 1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
For the streusel
- ¼ cup oat flour
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons oatmeal
- ¼ cup oil or melted butter.
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Spray an 8 by 8 baking pan and set aside.
- In a large bowl whisk together the milk, vinegar, vanilla, and oil. Set aside. (the vinegar and milk sitting together will make a buttermilk, skip this if using buttermilk)
- In a small bowl, stir together the ingredients for the streusel...until crumbly.
- After the milk mixture has set for about 10 minutes, add the rest of the ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and sugar). Stir just until mixed.
- Pour batter into the baking pan.
- Drop the streusel into the pan by the spoonful and use a knife to drag it around, a bit, in swirls. Or, spread it on the top of the batter. (really, how you do your streusel is a personal preference :). Some people even double the streusel and do both the swirl and top)
- Bake for between 35-45 minutes, checking after 35. It is done when a knife inserted comes out clean. Serve warm, with butter.
Nutrition
Other coffee cake recipes to try:
- easy Blueberry Coffee Cake with cinnamon streusel topping
- Apple Studded Coffee Cake
- Pineapple yogurt coffee cake with coconut crumble
Not going to lie, I was worried about how wet it was going into the oven, but it came out perfect. My husband had to switch to a gluten free diet recently, so I'm trying to find the right recipes for us. This was so delicious! I will be making it again.
Can you please be more specific? Where do we have to add the xanthan gum? I am a rookie in cooking and I will need some help! Thank you!
I doubled for a morning walk group. I did add two large eggs because I wanted to make sure it rose. I think I will leave them out next time. The cake texture was perfect. The two "gfers" were thrilled out of their minds to have such a wonderful cake. Thank you. I will make again and again.
I doubled for a morning walk group. I did add two large eggs because I wanted to make sure it rose. I think I will lave them out next time. The cake texturr was perfect. The two "gfers" were thrilled out of their mindd to have such a wonderful cake.Thank you. I will make again and again.
Excellent flavor! I used chopped apples tossed in cinnamon and brown sugar as a topping. The only addition I might make is to add 1/2 -1 tsp. of xanthan gum to help it bind.
Sure!!
Can I use half all purpose flour and half oat flour?
Thanks for the note about the instructions, I'll get that updated right away. Appreciate it! you are so right about the texture. It is hard to find an oat flour cake at actually has a "cake" texture. I love this recipe for that reason. Thanks for commenting!
This is one of the few oat flour based cake recipes that had the texture of cake. I can see myself using this recipe to make a vanilla or chocolate cake for variety and I would definitely be making a cinnamon coffee cake in the future. I would cut back on the amount of cinnamon in the batter because for the amount of batter, I think 2 Tablespoons is too much. Also, your instructions on the batter (#5) states to add "brown" sugar whereas the batter ingredients says just "sugar" which I took as white sugar. You might want to change that. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
I would use soy milk to create the homemade buttermilk. You need the vinegar to curdle the milk and not all of the nut milks (definitely not coconut) will curdle the same way that soy and dairy milk does. Instead of vinegar you could also use lemon.
hi - this looks awesome.
Can i use Almond milk instead?
If I sub out milk with Almond milk do I still need to use the vinegar?
thx
This came out perfect! I did add 1 egg. I will make it again and again.
Buttermilk is the binding agent in this coffee cake. And let me know how you like it!!
Hi. I would like to try this. But I notice it does not call for eggs. What binds it? I am looking forward to making this!
Using monk fruit...amazing!! I'm glad you loved this. I do too.
So delicious! At first I was hesitant because my batter was very runny, I've added + 1/4 cup oat flour, which turned out to be unnecessary, but it was still amazing! I mixed monk fruit 1:1with sugar and added 8oz frozen strawberries rolled in 1 tsp oat flour. Definitely will be making again ❤
I sub non-dairy milk with success. Haven't tried all of the other subs at the same time and am wondering how that works out. Be sure to let me know!
Dying to try this recipe. Recently went refined sugar, white flour, white rice, and dairy free to help arthritis issues I’ve been experiencing and have been looking for oat flour recipes instead. I plan to sub non dairy milk, coconut sugar, and non dairy butter and can’t wait to see how this turns out. I will report back!
Oh I am so glad...thanks! I'm gluten-free and this coffee cake has been so wonderful for me to make on weekends. The whole family loves it and I don't feel like I'm missing out.
Five stars, SIX!
Had to come back here to say this came out so perfect! thank you! This morning I was looking for a recipe for coffee cake , wheat-less. This will stay in my recipe rotation.