Cinnamon Walnut Coffee Cake
Cinnamon Walnut Coffee Cake, the perfect fall Comfort Cake. Full of the taste of Cinnamon and Walnuts. Eat it for Breakfast, Snack or even Dessert. This is a Cake everyone will love.
I love the combination of nuts and cinnamon and it really is moist and don’t you just love when a cake rises so high that you need to take two bites from one fork full of cake. Don’t forget the yummy centre filling and streusel topping. I have to say this is the queen of Coffee Cakes!
Recipe Ingredients
For the Topping
- Sugar
- Cinnamon
- Walnuts – roasted and coarsely chopped
For the Cake
- Flour – cake/pastry flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt – a pinch
- Butter – softened
- Sugar – granulated
- Eggs – room temperature
- Greek yogurt – room temperature
- Vanilla
How to roast nuts
Place nuts in a single layer on an ungreased baking / cookie sheet. Bake 5 to 8 minutes in a pre-heated 350F (180C) oven or until they are golden brown, remove immediately from pan to cool. Then coarsely chop.
How to make homemade cake flour
For every cup of all purpose flour, remove two tablespoons and replace with two tablespoons of corn starch. Be sure to sift the flour and cornstarch together a couple of times, this way it is sure to be properly combined and lump free. Cake flour in cakes will give you a very tender texture and fine crumb, it will also help the cake to rise.
Why use room temperature ingredients?
With cakes and other baking, it’s always better to use room temperature ingredients. So, take any cold ingredients out of the refrigerator an hour ahead of time or sooner if it’s cool in your kitchen. Room temperature ingredients blend easier, creating a silky batter, which will help to create a light tender baked good.
How to make the Walnut Cake
Pre-heat oven to 350° (180° celsius), grease & flour a 10″ (4 liter) tube/bundt pan.
For the topping
In a small bowl combine the sugar, cinnamon and walnuts.
For the cake
In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar at medium speed until fluffy 2-3 minutes, add the eggs, one at a time, beating until light and creamy, 2 minutes.
Add the dry ingredients alternately with the greek yogurt and vanilla to the creamed mixture, beat until smooth.
Spread half the batter in the prepared tube pan, spoon ⅔ of the topping over batter. Cover with remaining batter and top with remaining topping.
Bake for approximately 50-60 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. After 45-50 minutes if it is not done but is becoming too brown cover with foil until baked. Cool in the pan, then remove to a plate.
What are Coffee Cakes?
Coffee Cakes are meant to be served with coffee and are usually flavored with fruit, cinnamon or nuts. And quite often they have a streusel topping. They can be baked in a round, square or even in a bundt pan.
Why does my cake fall?
- There are a lot a reasons a cake may fall, but the most common ones are, your oven temperature is off, you can always check it with an oven thermometer to check this.
- You open the oven door too early. Never open the oven door before 25-30 minutes of baking.
- Once the batter is mixed it should be baked, letting a cake batter sit too long can cause it to fall. The baking powder or baking soda usually start acting immediately and will only last for a very short period of time, therefore if the cake batter is left to stand before baking then there is always a risk that the baking powder or soda will have expired by the time that the cake goes into the oven.
- Your baking powder or soda has expired and is no long active.
- Use room temperature ingredients.
- The pan size might not be the correct size, sometimes using a bundt pan will help.
FAQs
I would probably substitute with regular yogurt or sour cream. Both with a 1-1 substitution.
As long as the cake is unfrosted it should be kept at room temperature. Keep it in a cake container or well wrapped. It will keep for up to 3 days. If you store it in the fridge, wrap tightly to keep it from drying out. It will keep for up to 5-6 days in the fridge.
Be sure to cool the cake completely then wrap it tightly in either plastic wrap or foil, place it in a freeze safe bag. The cake will keep for up to 2 months. When ready to thaw place the wrapped cake in the refrigerator to thaw before serving.
Oh how I love cinnamon, as far as I am concerned nothing beats cinnamon, ok maybe Chocolate. So if you are looking for a tasty cake to make you won’t be disappointed with this Cinnamon Walnut Coffee Cake. Enjoy!
More delicious Coffee Cakes
Cinnamon Walnut Coffee Cake
Ingredients
TOPPING
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts*
*Approximately 1¼ whole walnuts equal ¾ cup coarsely chopped. You might want to roast them before chopping.
FOR THE CAKE
- 3 cups cake flour*
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt**
- 3/4 cup butter (softened)**
- 1¼ cups sugar
- 3 large eggs (room temperature)
- 1½ cups greek yogurt (room temperature)
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla
*To make your own cake flour, for every cup of all purpose remove 2 tablespoons and substitute with corn starch, whisk together to remove any lumps.
**If you use unsalted butter then add ½ teaspoon of salt.
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350° (180° celsius), grease & flour a 10" (4 liter) tube/bundt pan.
FOR THE TOPPING
- In a small bowl combine the sugar, cinnamon and walnuts.
FOR THE CAKE
- In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar at medium speed until fluffy 2-3 minutes, add the eggs, one at a time, beating until light and creamy, 2 minutes.
- Add the dry ingredients alternately with the greek yogurt and vanilla to the creamed mixture, beat until smooth.
- Spread half the batter in the prepared tube/bundt pan, spoon ⅔ of the topping over batter. Cover with remaining batter and top with remaining topping.
- Bake for approximately 50-60 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean or a few crumbs attached. After 45-50 minutes if it is not done but is becoming too brown cover with foil and continue to bake. Cool in the pan, then remove to a clean plate. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Re published from December 2014.
I checked it at the 40 minute mark and my walnuts were burnt. I picked them off but next time I will just stick to the middle layer only.
Hi Kassie, if you find the cake browning too much, tent it with foil and continue baking. Hope that helps. Take care!
Thank you!
You’re welcome!
Hi, Rosemary, isn’t 3/4 cup of butter almost 170 g? You have 153 grams in the recipe. I would like to know what measurements are you using: cups or grams? so, I can use the same measurements.
Thank you,
Hi Ri, you are correct, the note amount was incorrect but if you click on metric it does show 168 grams. Anyway, since this is a Canadian recipe I used cups to make it, but metric would be fine. I hope you enjoy it. Take care and let me know.
Hello. This sounds delish. But won’t the topping fall off when you turn the pan over to unmold it? Or do you just do this maneuver quickly. Thank you
Hi Vicki, when I make a bit might fall off but it does stay on because it is baked into the cake. The bit that falls off I just put back on when it’s on the plate. Hope that helps. Take care!
Will it work if I double or half double the topping to get a thicker layer?
Hi Amy, I probably wouldn’t double it, it might be too heavy, but maybe half would be ok. Let me know.
Added maple syrup to enhance the breakfast flavor.
Hi,
Planning on making this recipe but want to use a square pan instead of a tube pan. What size would you suggest? 8″ x 8″, 10″ x 10″, 10″ x 13″?
Thanks!
Hi Robin, I would say to use a 9 inch square pan. Let me know how it goes. Take care!
Hi,
If I’m using a bundt form where the bottom of the pan must be the top of the cake, how would you suggest dealing with the walnut topping? Put it in first, then the batter? Many thanks!
Hi Gina, sorry for the late reply, yes I would put the topping first. Let me know how it goes. Happy New Year!
Can I add blueberries to the batter
Hi Aurora, sure if you would like, fold them into the batter at the end before adding to the pan. Let me know how it goes.
Making this today. Was thinking of using brown sugar rather than white. Thoughts?
Hi Judy, sure you could do that, the texture might be a bit different, it could be a bit denser and of course the flavour might change a bit. But I think it would be good. Let me know if you try it. Or you could do half and half. Take care!
Hi Rosemary! i just love your recipes. I noticed above in the note about calculating walnut measurements, it says one and one-quarter whole walnuts equals three-quarter cup chopped walnuts. Should that be one and one-quarter POUND? Thank you for your help. 🙂
Hi Catherine, no 1 1/4 cups whole is correct. Thanks so much, glad you enjoy the recipes. Take care.
Can I use the the1 cup mini Bundt cakes molds and divide up batter. How long would you suggest baking the miniature one cup batter molds?
Hi Pam, yes you can use mini bundt cake molds, I would bake them for about 20-25 minutes, check around 18 minute mark to see how they are, if they are browning too much but not baked you may need to cover (tent) them with foil and continue to bake. Let me know how it goes. Take care!
Made hundreds of these cakes in my teenage years, as a daughter of Italian Restaurant owners. They would always be gone before the lunch hour ended. Still make them for my grandchildren. Going to try with cake flour next time. Other than that this recipe is almost exactly like my grandmother’s. Thanks for the memory…
Hi Mary, thanks so much, it’s so true gone in no time, I made it again this weekend and gone in a day. Take care!
Looks yummy, but do you i could make with oil instead of butter?
Hi Jan, yes you can use oil instead of butter, although you should reduce the oil by 2 tablespoons so use 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons rather than 3/4 cup. Hope that helps. Take care!
You don’t eat any cheese, yogurt or cream cheese or sour cream. any other suggestions? please???
Hi Christine you could try with an almond milk or cashew milk yogurt, but I don’t know how it would taste, I have never made it with either. If you try let me know how it goes. Take care!