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Fresh cranberries and a hint of lemon are combined in this incredibly moist brown sugar streusel Cranberry Coffee Cake.
Cranberry Coffee Cake
There is just something about sitting down mid-morning with a fresh cup of coffee and a piece of coffee cake. It gives me a nostalgic feeling of when times were a bit slower and a neighbor might have stopped by to gossip after the kids left for school.
I know it is a bit of a small-town romantic notion, and perhaps I should turn off the holiday Hallmark movies. Regardless, I will just enjoy my cup of coffee with a piece of cranberry cake and a good book or phone call to catch up with a friend.
Cranberry Coffee Cake is not an overly sweet or fluffy cake. It’s a richly dense coffee cake with a lovely tartness from the cranberries.
When I say rich though, it is not sweet rich. The richness comes from the butter, eggs, and sour cream. Topped with buttery sugar topping it is perfect for a holiday brunch gathering.
If cranberries are not in season, (or if you do not currently have them stashed in your freezer) this cake will work nicely with blueberries as well. Frozen cranberries may be stirred into the batter straight from the freezer.
This coffee cake is really one of the easiest things you can make. Creaming the butter and sugar together smoothly is the first step. Add your remaining liquids and eggs.
Alternate adding the dry ingredients stirring just until combined each time. Take care to not overmix. One or two quick passes with your spatula will incorporate the cranberries.
A coffee cake just isn’t a coffee cake for me without a crumb topping of some sort. The sweet buttery crunchiness of the crumb topping adds just the right sweetness to the tart berries.
Cranberry Coffeecake
The key to a moist coffee cake is sour cream, feel free to substitute greek yogurt, if that is what you have on hand.
- butter
- sugar
- eggs
- fresh lemon juice
- vanilla extract
- all-purpose flour
- baking powder
- sour cream
- fresh cranberries
- brown sugar
To make this recipe:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8″ or 9″ square pan with butter. Beat the butter and the sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Stir in the vanilla, lemon juice. Add the eggs, mixing just until combined.
- Combine the flour and baking powder in a bowl. Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir to combine. Add the sour cream, mix again, and add the remaining dry ingredients. Mix just until combined. Gently stir in the cranberries and pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Place the flour and sugar for the topping in a small bowl and add the melted butter. Stir with a fork to combine. Sprinkle the sugary crumbs over the batter in the pan.
- Bake for 42-46 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean or with moist crumbs. Let cool before slicing.
Cranberry Cake Recipes
Cranberries are quite possibly my favorite fruit to bake with. They can be found in my freezer year around and bake up so deliciously every time!
This Cranberry Christmas Cake is one of those recipes that is an instant favorite every single time someone new tastes it. Tart cranberries, sweet buttery cake, and a fantastic texture all combined to basically beg me to eat another piece.
Cranberry Spice Cake is an absolutely perfect cake that takes very little effort to make. There’s no icing, no topping, nothing else is required. This is one of the easiest cakes you will ever make!
Cranberries are such a delicious meal ending because they give you a great treat without uncomfortable sweetness. Chocolate brownies are generously filled with tart cranberries and crunchy pecans.
Slightly chewy cranberry oatmeal bars are full of cranberries and apples topped with brown sugar and oatmeal crumbs.
Cranberry Coffee Cake
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice about 1 lemon
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup sour cream
- 6 ounces fresh cranberries about 1 cup’s worth
- Topping Ingredients:
- ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup melted butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8" or 9" square pan with butter. Beat the butter and the sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Stir in the vanilla, lemon juice. Add the eggs, mixing just until combined.
- Combine the flour and baking powder in a bowl. Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir to combine. Add the sour cream, mix again, and add the remaining dry ingredients. Mix just until combined. Gently stir in the cranberries and pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Place the flour and sugar for the topping in a small bowl and add the melted butter. Stir with a fork to combine. Sprinkle the sugary crumbs over the batter in the pan.
- Bake for 42-46 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean or with moist crumbs. Let cool before slicing.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
need to know nutritional list
Opps! I missed it before. I just added them for you. Enjoy!
I love cranberries, and I took a yellow cake mix and put cranberries in it. Yours look so yummy ! I’m going to try and make that. I enjoy reading your weekly newsletter and anything cranberries, I try to find in your recipes. <3
Thank you so much, Deborah. I love knowing you enjoy those so much! Have a wonderful holiday season.
Can you substitute orange juice for the lemon juice?
Hi, Kelly. You can substitute orange juice in this recipe. The flavor may be slightly different, but I’m sure the cake will be delicious either way.
Just made this morning as a holiday snack and, may I say, FANTASTIC. The fresh lemon juice, real cranberries, and crumb topping are superb. I am always called upon to make a coffee cake when the family comes together at the holidays, and this one is gone, gone, gone already, and not half an hour out of the oven! So, so good. Thank you! — Eric
Thank you for sharing, Eric. I am so happy it was a hit!
I doubled the recipe as well as the pan size but something went wrong. The amount of time to cook should of been the same in the larger pan but it wasn’t. I added an additional 25 min, did the toothpick test and when it came out clean, I removed from the oven and cooled. Unfortunately, when I cut into it, I found it completely under baked with the exception of the edges. I used the 2x tool and followed the recipe exactly. The overall flavor was good. Crumb topping was awesome. Maybe I’ll try again as a single recipe.
Doubling isn’t always exact on the baking. On a recipe like this I like to still put it in two smaller pans if I can for better baking experience.
Very easy recipe. I substituted the cranberries for blueberries and it was delicious. Next time will try it with cranberries.
Thank you, Nancy.
Can I use dried cranberry. Thanks
Hi, Thelma! While you could probably use dried cranberries in this recipe, I wouldn’t recommend it. The cake would be much more dry; normally that texture is balanced by the fresh, juicy texture of the cranberries.
I just made this delicious cake this morning
It is so delicious
One of the nicest cakes ever
I used fresh cranberries but I would certainly use blueberries
Thank you
I’m glad you love it, Marg!
Can I use a Bundt Pan for this cake?
That should work fine, Marian.
I want to add nuts ! Maybe 1/2 cup in the batter and 1/4 cup in topping! Pecans or Walnuts? I don’t want to change this yummy recipe, so what do you think?
Pecans or walnuts will work fine, Jamie.
can nuts be used in this recipe?
Sure thing, Jamie.
This is my new go to recipe. Everything about this coffee cake is perfect. I’ve made different versions substituting blueberries, raspberries, apples and peaches for the cranberries.
I’m thrilled that you love it!
Am I the only person puzzled by the lack of coffee in this cake? Is it an American thing to call a cake ‘coffee cake’ presumably because you eat it whilst drinking a cup of coffee?
If that’s the case, how about lemon gin cake,
strawberry champagne cake, Victoria sponge tea cake? I could go on for ever!! 🤣
You are correct, Donna. It’s a very American thing (albeit one that apparently is odd to those unfamiliar) to call this type of cake a coffee cake despite the fact there is no coffee in it. Now that you’re mentioning those others though, I’d happily take a fork to a lemon gin cake or a strawberry champagne version. 😉
hello, was wondering if you can freeze this coffee cake. I am not a baker, but want to give this a try, could I use freshly made cranberry sauce I have in fridge. thank you
Yes, it freezes nicely.
I am a big fan of your Cranberry Christmas cake so I knew this would be good. It’s not good, it’s GREAT! Just had a warm slice of it and had to let you know how much I enjoyed it. Hope you enjoy your holidays because I will, thanks to your recipes.
I’m so happy you loved it too!
Best cake ever!!!! So easy to make but I should have used a bigger pan. 9 X 12 It spilled over in my oven. You could also use raspberries if you don’t have cranberries. I only had sour cream so I put one and a quarter cup of that instead of some yogurt. I also changed to 1/2 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup of white sugar instead of 1 cup of sugar in the batter. I like the flavor better and I added 1 Tablespoon of orange zest. I buttered my pan and coated it with a little brown sugar instead of flour. Kept topping the same.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the cake!
This was delicious! I used fresh cranberries and some orange zest. Everyone loved it!
Was wondering if you can use dried cranberries in this recipe?
While technically you “can” use dried cranberries, the result won’t be nearly the same, Valerie. Dried cranberries won’t deliver the same fresh tart bursts of flavor.