This week I attempted to bake my way through another exciting episode of RECIPE?! on the YouTube channel with this vegan coffee cake idea. Don’t forget to subscribe because I post every Wednesday!
Anyway, this was the first time I ever attempted to bake something from scratch on camera with you. I love coffee cake. It brings back lots of childhood memories of my grandma! I think I managed to make a pretty epic vegan version that took care of the nostalgia. Follow along and watch below or keep scrolling for the written recipe.
If you don’t wanna be judged for eating a slice for breakfast, try my vanilla latte smoothie or mocha frappuccino smoothie instead. But honestly, I won’t blame you if you crave this first thing in the morning!
vegan coffee cake
This is a tasty dessert with a crumbly texture and sweet coffee flavor. Serve it up for brunch or dessert (or both!).
Ingredients
coffee cake
- 2 C all-purpose flour
- 1/2 C whole wheat flour
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 C packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 C granulated sugar
- 3/4 C + 2 tbsp coconut oil (soft but still solid)
- 1 C unsweetened nondairy milk
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 C strong brewed coffee
- 1/3 C unsweetened coconut yogurt
vanilla icing
- 1/2 C powdered sugar
- 1/2 tbsp unsweetened nondairy milk (can also use water)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350°F.
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In a large bowl, combine flours, 1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, sea salt, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Then using a pastry blender, cut in the coconut oil until a crumbly mixture is formed. Do not over mix. You could also use your fingers to combine this but using a pastry blender will prevent the coconut oil from melting too much. You want small pieces of oil to remain solid in this mixture. You could also use vegan margarine or butter instead of coconut oil.
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Reserve 1 1/4 cups of this crumb mixture. Add in another 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon to this portion and set aside. This will be your cake topping.
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In another bowl, combine the nondairy milk with apple cider vinegar, vanilla extract, coffee, and coconut yogurt. Stir to combine well, then add to the remaining dry crumb mixture. Fold these together gently, without over mixing, until combined.
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Pour the cake batter into a non-stick 8 1/2″ to 9″ spring form pan. Take the crumb mixture and evenly spread out on top out to the edge of the pan.
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Bake for 60 to 70 minutes. A toothpick should come out clean when inserted in the centre.
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Allow the cake to rest for 10 minutes. Remove the outside of the spring form pan and allow the cake to cool for another 20 minutes before adding the vanilla drizzle on top.
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To make the icing, just whisk together powdered icing sugar, vanilla extract, and nondairy milk. Drizzle it across the cake in a criss cross pattern or however you desire! Store left over cake in an air tight container or covered in plastic wrap at room temperature to keep it soft.
38 thoughts on “vegan coffee cake”
hey lauren! Love hot for food and your cake recipes to DEATH but i live in a tropical climate and my coconut oil never holds up in that solid state! Any substitution recommendations?
you can use vegan butter or keep your coconut oil in the fridge!
I can’t seem to find coconut yogurt or any plant based yogurt in my supermarkets, will the recipe still work if I don’t include it? Or do you have any substitute suggestions? Thanks!
Un sweetened applesauce would be a good substitute. Used it many times in cupcake recipes calling for eggs.
I used flax eggs (1 tablespoon of flax meal+3 tablespoons of warm water. This recipe only requires 1. The trick is to add 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda for every flax egg to help the rise. Turned out amazing. Good luck!
Just made this; it’s in the oven right now ! Instead of coffee I used strong brewed vanilla chai tea and added a few more spices, I’m so excited !! Thank you for all your amazing recipes, you’re my favourite blogger/YouTuber
I made it. It’s a little to sweet for me, and I will ad more coffee next time. But over all it’s a very good cake with a great moist texture.
Hey Lauren! I’m new to vegan cooking and was wondering if I could substitute any of the sugar for Splenda or stevia? Thanks so much! I love your channel!
Hi Lauren, sorry to tell you this but most "coffee cakes" don’t have coffee in them. My husband was devestated when I told him and I have since been looking for one and I am glad to find one here! I think I will make this soon just add in some nutmeg and some pecans into the crumbs cause that would be awesome! Thanks for the recipe?!
well people on youtube were saying otherwise. I know that they don’t normally in the store bought ones, but I decided to add it in. Really it could have just been more of the non-dairy milk.
I made this today and it was fantastic! I’ve tried to make coffee cakes before by veganizing traditional recipes but so far none have prevailed. This I will make again and again! Thanks!
AWESOME! Appreciate the feedback 😀
I made this cake today and I loved it! I brought it to a birthday party and even the most picky meat eaters loved it. I will definetely make this cake again. 🙂
Made this cake today. This recipe is perfection! Sooo so yummy! And I’m not a good baker. haha
OHH YAY! So glad it worked out for you <3
Do you measure out your flour in any particular way? Scoop/whisk and scoop/spoon and level? Thanks!
you always scoop and level off with a knife! that’s the rules of baking 😀
Thanks for the recipe! I made this today and it tastes pretty good except that it is a little oily. Is it possible to reduce the amount of coconut oil?
Any suggestions for a substitute for coconut yogurt?
This is the best cake I’ve ever made, looks and tastes so good!
This was SO good!! I made it as written. Definitely going to make this again and again.
GREAT! So happy you enjoyed it <3
So so good, me and my family ate it so quickly 🙂
I forgot to put the crumble topping on it when i baked it, so i put it on after and put it under the grill for like 5 mins on high and it was all resolved no worries
thank you for the recipe!
I was just wondering if it’s possible to use a gluten free all purpose flour for the entire recipe or if you have any other suggestions.
Can I sub the whole wheat and all purpose flour for Spelt? I’m allergic to wheat :’)
Hi Lauren, I’m a big fan of yours! I’m going to embark on my first vegan bake. I was wondering if there is a substitute for the apple cider vinegar, as I don’t have any left in my kitchen (but don’t want to postpone my coffee cake just because of that). Many thanks!
Hi Lauren, One more question – can you suggest a substitute for coconut yogurt as well? My stores only carry coconut milk. Thanks again!
Could I replace the coconut oil for vegan butter?
she said in the blog that you can use vegan butter or margarine
Could I replace coconut yogurt with soy yogurt?
Hi Lauren,
I made this cake yesterday as I had a craving for coffee cake. Didn’t have coconut Yoghurt so instead I added a mashed banana. It still came out pretty well and was very happy with the result. When serving I drizzled the slice with some Kaluah liqueur for added yummmmmmmm!!
I made this cake with: Gluten Free Flour and Kite Hill Greek Style Yogurt in Vanilla (instead of unsweetened coconut yogurt) and it turned out DELICIOUS! I also put coffee in the the icing mixture. I was a hit in my house.
Cake turned out delicious, but was I missing a trick with the icing? I put the 1/2 tbsp of milk and it was SO THICK so I had to add more until it was drizzle-able.
I’ve made this recipe countless times over the past 3 years, and even get special requests from friends/family to make it again. It’s my go-to when I need to bring something for a special event. I substitute the coconut oil with butter, the yogurt with flax eggs, and alter the baking time, but it still turns out perfect.
NICE!!!!
I swapped vegan margarine for the coconut oil and aquafaba for the yogurt (just what I had on hand) and it is delicious! A definite keeper. The crumb topping is awesome. Perhaps addictive. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for sharing this delightfully easy, mouthwateringly delicious recipe. Have baked this cake several times since I first tried it a few weeks back and it’s been a huge success each time!
LOVE! So glad you go back to it often 😀