Better Than Starbucks Vegan Coffee Cake (Gluten Free)

This is truly the best vegan coffee cake ever! Moist, tender, and deliciously spiced, it’s a wonderful dessert, vegan breakfast option, or afternoon snack. It tastes just like classic coffee cake — and even better than Starbucks’ version — only this recipe is entirely dairy free, eggless, and gluten free, too!

The best dang vegan coffee cake you’ll ever have:

Have you ever had New York style crumb coffee cake? It’s my favorite excuse for eating a big slice of cake (vegan of course) for breakfast. This is one of my all time favorite vegan breakfast recipes (and to be honest, it doubles as an amazing vegan cake recipe to serve after dinner as well!).

Of course, Starbucks has a version, and I can happily declare that this vegan coffee cake is officially better than Starbucks. So even if you’re not vegan, you have to give this coffee cake recipe a go (along with my amazing vegan pumpkin coffee cake! And if you want something more fruity, try this  vegan apple crumb cake or my vegan blueberry buckle cake!!).

You are just going to love this vegan coffee cake! It’s perfectly tender and moist, full of sweet cinnamon, and has that delicious crumb texture.

What’s more, you can also easily make this vegan coffee cake gluten free. So not only do you get the taste, texture, and flavor of a slice of Starbucks coffee cake, but you get it without the eggs, without the dairy, and without the gluten.

That’s pretty amazing, and all in the magic of vegan baking!

This crumb cake pairs wonderfully with a cup of coffee, and along with my favorite vegan cinnamon rolls (and this gluten free cinnamon roll recipe!) and vegan monkey bread, this is the perfect breakfast recipe for your holiday morning!

Does coffee cake contain coffee?

There seems to be quite some confusion as to whether or not coffee cake contains coffee! Traditionally, coffee cake gets its name because it’s usually served with coffee (in fact, I highly recommend it!). Coffee cake is not, in fact, a coffee flavored cake.

Although that would be quite delicious!

Coffee cake is essentially a vanilla pound cake with a cinnamon streusel. If you grew up around the East coast, then chances are, you know coffee cake to be the delicious breakfast treat that contains a layer of cinnamon swirled in the middle, as well as on top.

I’m an East coaster, so that’s how I prefer my coffee cake 🙂 If you’d prefer to make this vegan coffee cake as just the vanilla pound cake base and the cinnamon crumble, you can omit the cinnamon sugar middle!

Although, I highly recommend you do make it!

Ingredients

Now that we’ve gone over what exactly coffee cake is, let’s veganize it!

For this eggless coffee cake, you’ll need:

• Flour: You can use all purpose flour if you don’t need a gluten free vegan coffee cake. I used oat flour for gluten free and all purpose flour for a regular vegan coffee cake when testing. For my recommendations on flours if you’d like to use something other than oat, please see the below FAQ’s section.
• Sugar: You can make this vegan coffee cake entirely refined sugar free by just using coconut sugar! I used a mix of both granulated and coconut sugar (coconut sugar is very similar in taste to brown sugar), but you can use either or here.
• Vegan butter: I used Miyoko’s vegan butter. However, if you’re nut-free, try out Flora Plant Butter, my new favorite nut-free vegan butter. This helps make the coffee cake super rich and decadent. If you’d like a lower fat version, please read the FAQ’s and tips section below!
• Applesauce: The applesauce here replaces the eggs, making this an entirely eggless coffee cake. I used unsweetened here, as this cake is already pretty sweet. You can also swap in dairy free yogurt
• Vegan Buttermilk: I recommend using oat milk, coconut milk, or almond milk here. If nut free, stick with a nut-free dairy free milk! I also added in apple cider vinegar to give the cake a bit of tang and simulate using a “buttermilk” in place of the traditional sour cream.
• Vanilla: since the base of this coffee cake is essentially a vegan vanilla pound cake, we’ll need a lot of vanilla!
• Cinnamon: of course you can’t have coffee crumb cake without cinnamon! I used Vietnamese ground cinnamon here.
• Baking powder and baking soda: to help give this cake a bit of lift.

That’s really it! You’ll also need an 8×8 or a 9×9 square baking pan!

How to make vegan coffee cake (overview)

As with all of my recipes, the full directions and ingredient measurements are found down below in the recipe card. But we’ll go over a brief overview of how to make an entirely vegan coffee cake here!

Essentially for the actual coffee cake, it’s just layers of different ratios of the above ingredients.

Here’s the order of making each component:

1. Cinnamon sugar filling
2. Cinnamon streusel topping
3. Coffee cake batter

I start with making the cinnamon sugar filling first, as this doesn’t require any wet ingredients. This is just cinnamon, flour, and sugar.

The reason I start with the filling first and not the vanilla cake layer is that once the wet ingredients are added to the dry, the leavening agents begin to activate. If we don’t then get the crumb cake into the oven as fast as possible, we risk our coffee cakes not fully rising.

Here’s a quick overview:

1. Make the cinnamon sugar filling: Simple combine all ingredients in a medium sized bowl until mixed, then set aside.
2. Next, make the cinnamon streusel or cinnamon crumble on top: This is just vegan butter, cinnamon, flour, and sugar.
3. Finally, make the vegan vanilla cake base of our vegan coffee cake: Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then whisk together the wet ingredients in another bowl. You actually don’t need any equipment here. Just a whisk and/or a silicone spatula. Then fold in the dry ingredients with the vegan buttermilk. The coffee cake batter should be thick but pourable.
4. Layer the coffee cake batter with the cinnamon sugar filling: When pouring the batter into the prepared pan, you’ll add half of the batter first. Spread it evenly in the pan, then top with the cinnamon sugar filling from the first step. Spread the remaining batter into the pan, and top with the cinnamon streusel.
5. Bake: You can bake your coffee cake in either a square pan or a round springform pan. Either will work! Drizzle with a simple glaze, and serve with a cup of coffee!

Coffee Cake Tips & FAQs

What flours can I use for this recipe?

If you don’t need this vegan coffee cake to be gluten free as well, you can absolutely swap in all-purpose flour here. If you’d like to use a gluten-free 1:1 baking flour blend, such as Bob’s Red Mills or King Arthur Flour, please to swap that in! All of these suggestions can be made at a 1:1 ratio. Please do not swap in almond flour nor coconut flour. They won’t work in this recipe.

Can I make this vegan coffee cake refined sugar free?

As mentioned above, if you’d like to make this crumb cake entirely refined sugar free, you can use coconut sugar. If you’d like to make it lower in sugar, you can use a sweetener like Wholesome Sweets Allulose or Monkfruit.

Can I make this crumb cake low fat?

To make this a low fat coffee cake, simply swap out the vegan butter for applesauce at an equal ratio. This will mean using just applesauce and dairy free milk as the base.

Can I make this in a round 10″ springform pan?

Absolutely! You can definitely use a round pan instead of a square one here if you’d prefer. The baking time will be around the same, so start checking your can after 35 minutes.

You’re just going to LOVE this easy vegan coffee cake! It’s truly so wonderful with a fresh cup of coffee in the morning, especially on a holiday morning or special brunch!

If you tried this recipe, let me know how it went by leaving a comment down below, as well as a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ so that others may find it.

As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there and I’ll re-share them!

Happy crumb cake baking!

Watch how to make vegan coffee cake:

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If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!

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