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Home > Vegan Recipes

Vegan Coffee Cake Recipe (with Cinnamon Streusel)

3/30/21 by Nicole | Leave a Comment

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5 from 2 votes. Leave a review!

This easy recipe for vegan coffee cake is loaded with cinnamon spice. With a crunchy streusel topping and a tasty layer of cinnamon sugar between soft vanilla cake, this dairy free and eggless coffee cake is the perfect way to end any meal!

The 18 decadent slices this cake makes is perfect for large gatherings with family or friends. It also freezes well, so you can also eat half now and save more for the weeks or months when you want the sweet satisfaction this cake provides.

Square board that's half wood half marble topped with nine square pieces of coffee cake with cinnamon streusel with the center piece of cake resting on its side.

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Is Coffee Cake Vegan?

Most coffee cake recipes, either homemade, purchased from a store or restaurant are not vegan. Eggs and dairy are two main ingredients in most traditional cake recipes but can be easily substituted.

To keep this recipe eggless, a simple mix of ground flaxseed and water creates a “flax egg”. This provides structure to the fluffy vanilla cake. Also, to make a dairy free coffee cake, a simple substitution is to use soy milk instead of dairy milk!

You may wonder why the recipe doesn’t call for coffee in the actual cake, and that’s a great question! Coffee cake is meant to be served alongside coffee or tea rather than be made with coffee. This cake certainly tastes amazing alongside a hot mug of coffee!

Close up of a bite of vegan coffee cake on a fork resting on a white plate with the remainder of the piece of cake sitting on the plate. Crossed cinnamon sticks sit behind the plate, blurred in the background.

Ingredients to Make Eggless Coffee Cake

This recipe uses basic ingredients that most bakers have on hand already! To make a coffee cake without dairy or eggs, you’ll need:

  • Ground flaxseed: Mixed with water, ground flaxseed forms a gel that easily replaces eggs in many vegan baking recipes!
  • Soy milk + apple cider vinegar: To replicate buttermilk, whisking apple cider vinegar into soy milk creates a tangy and thick liquid which adds flavor to the vanilla cake.
  • Vegetable oil: This recipe is meant to be basic and classic which means using plain oil as a main liquid ingredient. Oil keeps the cake soft, tender and fluffy. Any plain tasting oil works (avocado, canola, etc.).
  • Granulated sugar: Another classic cake ingredient, white, granulated sugar is used to create a perfect amount of sweetness in the cake. Since sugar dissolves in liquid, it’s considered a “wet” ingredient in most baking recipes.
  • Vanilla extract: The base of this recipe is a vanilla cake which requires vanilla extract for an enticing yet subtle flavor.
  • All-purpose flour: As with our other classic cake ingredients, you’ll use regular white flour for this recipe. It provides a good amount of structure to the cake while keeping it soft and tender.
  • Baking powder: Baking powder creates delicious texture by giving the coffee cake great lift and fluffiness.

Cinnamon Streusel Layer

To create an irresistible cinnamon-sugar layer in the center of the cake and a crunchy streusel topping that makes this simple cake seem fancy, you’ll need:

  • Cinnamon: This delicious, warm spice is perfect to add a great boost of flavor to your vegan coffee cake.
  • Brown sugar: Rather than more granulated sugar, brown sugar combines with cinnamon to create richer tasting top and middle layers.
  • Rolled oats: For a slight crunch in your coffee cake’s cinnamon streusel topping, rolled oats are the perfect ingredient.
  • Ground almonds (almond flour): Ground almonds add another perfect layer of flavor to the streusel. They toast when baking for a truly unforgettable taste!
  • Vegan butter: To mix the streusel together and create a crunchy topping, you’ll need some vegan butter or margarine.
  • Salt: To balance the sweeter notes of the streusel and vanilla cake, a little salt goes a long way. If your vegan butter or margarine is salted, you might not need extra salt.
A fair skinned woman with dark brown hair pulled back in a ponytail wears a blue denim shirt and stands behind a marble countertop, looking at the camera with half a smile. The counter top has many small glass dishes each filled with a different ingredient, arranged around a large glass mixing bowl with a whisk sitting in it.

How to Make Vegan Cinnamon Coffee Cake

This eggless coffee cake is easy to make and assemble, creating an effortless dessert! Follow along with the steps below or join me in my vegan kitchen by watching this video.

Step 1: Prep Flax Egg, Cinnamon Sugar and Streusel

Before starting on the cake batter, it’s helpful to get a few things prepped.

First, mix ground flaxseed with water and set aside. This will thicken and form a gel before being added to the cake batter.

A marble countertop covered in small glass dishes and jars, filled with ingredients to make a cake. A hand holds up a small glass dish filled with ground flaxseed while the person's other hand pours water into the flaxseed.

Next, prep cinnamon sugar to go into the middle layer of the coffee cake. Simply stir together brown sugar and cinnamon, getting out any clumps of brown sugar that may be present.

After that, prep the streusel topping. First, stir together cinnamon, brown sugar, rolled oats and almond flour until evenly combined. Then, add vegan butter or margarine and use a fork (or your hand) to crumble butter throughout until it’s evenly mixed. The mixture should hold together when pressed but also crumble easily.

Hands stir together the dry contents of a medium sized glass bowl. A large bowl filled with cake batter and a wooden spoon sits to the right. Two other small glass dishes sit on the marble counter top.

Step 2: Make Cake Batter

With all that prepped, it’s time to make the cake batter which only requires one large bowl.

Begin by adding soy milk to your bowl and whisk in apple cider vinegar. Allow this to sit for a few seconds, giving time for the vinegar to react to the soy milk. This creates a vegan butter milk. The soy milk will thicken and look slightly clumpy which is expected.

Then, whisk in the rest of the wet ingredients including oil, sugar, flaxseed egg and vanilla extract. Whisk until everything is well combined.

A person wearing a denim shirt whisk liquid ingredients in a large glass bowl. One hand holds the bowl while the other is slightly blurred, in the motion of whisking. Other small glass bowls surround the large one in the center, each filled with different ingredients.

Swap your whisk for a large spoon. Add all-purpose flour and baking powder. Stir until everything is just combined and no clumps of flour remain. Stop stirring at this point since you can overwork the batter and reduce some of the coffee cake’s fluffy texture.

Hands stir a large glass bowl filled with vanilla cake batter. One hand holds the bowl up at a slight angle off the counter while the other is slightly blurred in motion, stirring the batter. The person wears a denim shirt with the sleeves folded up.

Step 3: Assemble Cake

To assemble the cake, grease a 9x13 baking dish.

Spread half the batter as evenly as possible in the baking dish. Work the batter to the edges and corners as best as possible.

A person wearing a denim shirt stands behind a marble counter top and spreads cake batter into the bottom of a large glass baking dish. A large glass bowl filled with additional cake batter along with two smaller glass bowls filled with crumbly streusel and cinnamon sugar, sit to the left of the cake pan.

It will seem like the layer of cake is very thin and it may seem like there isn’t enough batter but trust me, there’s plenty of batter and it’ll rise substantially when baking.

After you spread the bottom layer of cake batter, sprinkle your cinnamon sugar mixture evenly across the batter.

A person sprinkles cinnamon sugar over a layer of cake batter in a large glass baking dish. The person wears a denim shirt with one hand hovering over the cake, releasing sugar, while the other hand holds a small glass bowl with cinnamon sugar in it. The cake pan sits on a marble counter surrounded with a large bowl of additional cake batter and one filled with streusel.

Next, carefully spread the remaining half of the cake batter across the cinnamon sugar. It’s helpful to spoon out the batter evenly before spreading it so that what you’re spreading doesn’t get pushed too far. You want to keep the middle cinnamon sugar layer relatively untouched.

A person stands to the right of the image and is spreading out cake batter in a large glass baking dish. One hand holds a spatula over the cake batter in the baking dish and the other hand holds the edge of the baking dish. The cake pan is on a marble counter top with a glass bowl to the right, filled with a crumbly streusel.

Once the top layer of cake batter is evenly spread, covering all the cinnamon sugar, sprinkle on the streusel topping. Very lightly press the streusel into the cake so the contents of the baking dish are flat on top.

A person wearing a blue denim shirt stands behind a marble counter top with a large glass baking dish on top. One hand holds a glass bowl of streusel while the other sprinkles a handful of streusel onto the top of the raw cake batter in the dish.

Step 4: Bake and Serve

Preheat your oven to 350 °F and, when ready, put the cake in. Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

It’s best to allow the cake to rest for 5 minutes once out of the oven before serving.

A young white woman with long brown hair tied into a pony tail, wearing a blue denim shirt, is looking down at a cooked coffee cake in a glass baking dish in front of her. She is cutting into the cake with her right hand while her left hand holds the cake pan. A white plate sits on the marble counter top to the right of the cake.

Coffee Cake without Eggs Tips, Substitutions and Variations

This cake batter is simple to prepare. Just remember to add that flaxseed egg (I can’t be the only one who has forgotten to do this on occasion!).

The most difficult part of this recipe is assembling the cake. Its batter is quite thick and can be hard to spread an even layer in the baking dish. Take your time and work the batter into the edges and corners. Don’t worry if it’s not a completely even layer as there’s nothing terribly wrong with a wavy layer of cinnamon sugar in the center of the cake.

Close up of cinnamon coffee cake slice sitting on white plate. Blurred cinnamon sticks, glass baking tray filled with remaining cake and small glass jar sit blurred in background.

I love this recipe as-is, but if you’d like to add additional spices to boost the flavor, go for it! Nutmeg, allspice, cloves, mace or a pumpkin pie spice blend are all delicious additions. I love those warm flavors alongside coffee.

The only other substitution that I’d suggest is the option to use other types of flour in the streusel. I love the flavor of almond flour (ground almonds) especially since it toasts beautifully in the oven. However, if you don’t have that ingredient, all-purpose flour (or whole wheat flour) certainly works in its place.

White plate with slice of coffee cake and forkful of cake in front of the slice sits in front of a slightly blurred background including two crossed cinnamon sticks in the center, a small mason jar of soy milk and even smaller jar of cinnamon sugar to the left, a grey elephant shaped mug filled with lightened coffee to the right and a large glass baking tray filled with cake minus one slice in the center back.

How to Refrigerate and Freeze Leftovers

Cool leftover cake on your countertop before transferring into an airtight container. Store on the countertop for up to 3 days or refrigerate for up to a week.

If the baking dish you use has a tight-fitting lid, you can store it that way instead of transferring to another container.

This cake freezes well if stored correctly. Wrap leftover pieces of cake tightly in plastic wrap or tin foil, then transfer to a freezer safe bag. The cake should be fine in the freezer for up to 3 months.

To reheat, either allow the cake to thaw in the fridge overnight or use a defrost setting on a microwave to warm through.

This cake is delicious when reheated before serving; just pop it into the microwave for about 15 seconds and enjoy!

Square piece of vegan coffee cake with cinnamon streusel sitting on marble counter top with crossed cinnamon sticks set to the left. Behind is a half wood half marble board topped with nine other pieces of cake with the center piece on its side. To the back right sits a small mason jar of milk and clear mug of black coffee.

If you make this recipe, please rate and comment below to help others benefit from your experience!

Close up of a board topped with square pieces of coffee cake topped with cinnamon streusel.

Vegan Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Streusel

This vegan coffee cake recipe is easy to make and creates a delicious vanilla cake with cinnamon sugar layer in the middle and crunchy streusel on top! It has a delicious, moist and slightly spongy texture while remaining egg free and dairy free.
5 from 2 votes. Leave a review!
Prevent screen going dark
Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 40 mins
Total Time 55 mins
Servings 18 Slices
Calories 310 kcal
Cuisine Vegan

Equipment

  • 9x13 Baking dish
  • Large bowl
  • Whisk
  • 3 Small bowls

Ingredients
  

Cake

  • 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
  • 4 tablespoons water
  • 1 ½ cups soy milk
  • 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1 cup vegetable oil (avocado or canola work great)
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder

Cinnamon Sugar Layer for Middle

  • ⅓ cup brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Cinnamon Streusel Topping

  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup rolled oats
  • ½ cup ground almonds (almond flour)
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ¼ cup vegan butter (or margarine)
  • ¼ teaspoon salt (if butter/ margarine is unsalted)
Prevent screen going dark

Instructions

Prep Flaxseed Egg

  • In a small bowl, mix ground flaxseed and water. Set aside.
    2 tablespoons ground flaxseed, 4 tablespoons water

Prep Cinnamon Sugar Filling

  • In a separate small bowl, mix brown sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
    ⅓ cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Prep Cinnamon Streusel Topping

  • In the third small bowl, mix brown sugar, rolled oats, ground almonds, cinnamon and salt (only use salt if butter/ margarine is unsalted).
    ½ cup brown sugar, ½ cup rolled oats, ½ cup ground almonds, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon salt
  • Cut in vegan butter or margarine until a crumbly mixture forms and there are no large pieces of butter visible. Set aside.
    ¼ cup vegan butter

Prep Baking Dish and Oven

  • Preheat oven to 350 °F.
  • Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.

Make Cake

  • In a large bowl, whisk soy milk and apple cider vinegar. Let sit for about 30 seconds.
    1 ½ cups soy milk, 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
  • Next, whisk in vegetable oil, granulated sugar and vanilla extract along with the flaxseed “egg” mixture prepared earlier. Whisk until everything is well combined.
    1 cup vegetable oil, 1 cup granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • Stir in all-purpose flour and baking powder until just combined and there are no longer visible clumps of dry ingredients.
    3 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder

Assemble Cake

  • You should now have a large bowl of cake batter, a small bowl with cinnamon sugar, and another small bowl of streusel topping.
  • Spread half the cake batter into an even layer in the bottom of the 9x13, greased baking dish. The batter is thick but do your best to spread the batter to the edges and corners (it helps to pick up and shake the pan). The batter layer will be quite thin.
  • Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture over the cake, in an even layer.
  • Next, spread the rest of the cake batter over the cinnamon sugar layer. Again, do your best to spread in an even layer, getting to the edges and corners.
  • Next. Sprinkle the streusel mixture evenly over the top of the cake. very lightly press the streusel in.

Bake

  • Bake the cake for 40 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of the cake should come out clean.
  • Let the cake cool for at least 5 minutes before cutting to serve. The cake can stay in your baking dish to cool.
  • Store leftover cake in an airtight container for up to 3 days on the countertop or place into fridge for up to 7 days.

Video

Notes

Accuracy of nutrition information cannot be guaranteed (certain ingredients may not have all nutrients listed in the database); amounts may vary (and will vary depending on brands of ingredients used); all nutrition fact values rounded to the nearest whole number.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 Slice (1/18 of recipe)Calories: 310 kcalCarbohydrates: 36 gProtein: 4 gFat: 17 gSaturated Fat: 3 gPolyunsaturated Fat: 8 gMonounsaturated Fat: 5 gSodium: 148 mgPotassium: 95 mgFiber: 2 gSugar: 17 gVitamin A: 42 IUCalcium: 91 mgIron: 1 mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

More Vegan Dessert Recipes

Like this recipe? You should also try:

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    Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (with Banana)
  • Close up of small jar of chocolate pudding with bite scooped out.
    Vegan Avocado Chocolate Pudding Recipe

About Nicole Stevens

Nicole is a vegan Registered Dietitian (RD) and founder of Lettuce Veg Out.

She helps people thrive on a vegan diet with balanced recipes and easy-to-understand nutrition science.


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Hi, I'm Nicole! As a vegan Registered Dietitian, I empower vegans to live a balanced life and gain confidence in the kitchen.

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