MOIST Vegan Strawberry Crumb Cake
This is the most MOIST strawberry crumb cake bursting with fresh strawberries and using just a bowl and a whisk to yield the most tender and moist cake topped with a simple vanilla crumble topping. It’s unbelievably vegan and dairy free, and the perfect summer breakfast treat for when you want coffee cake but summery!
Reasons why you’ll love this strawberry crumb cake:
And whether or not you’re vegan, I might add. This ridiculously soft and tender strawberry crumb cake is my favorite summery-twist on the classic coffee cake– and you seriously don’t need any eggs nor dairy.
The cake itself is “buttery” without the butter, moist, and deliciously rich yet light with vanilla and layers of fresh, juicy sweet strawberries and a crunchy vanilla crumble. Basically- HEAVEN.
Here’s what you need to know:
This strawberry crumb cake is seriously easy: Just a bowl and a whisk is needed. No hand mixer, no stand mixer required! This is approachable for both the beginner and the expert bakers (and definitely won’t lead to any boring results).
No one would know it’s vegan: Because I’ve spent yearssss perfecting the swaps to make every bake you make on here taste like it could come from grandma’s kitchen. And the swaps aren’t even complicated! We’re talking ingredients you’ll find in any grocery store.
The combination of textures and flavors will make you believe this strawberry crumble cake is anything but simple: It’s crunchy, soft, jammy, and just so refreshing. Honestly, aside from my blueberry buckle, you won’t want any other summer coffee cake!
A few things to note about this recipe:
- You can use fresh or frozen- BUT I find fresh to be the best. Fresh strawberries create just a bit jammier consistency on top, and when they’re in season, it’s AMAZING. But if you’re in a pinch and you’re craving this, you can use frozen!
- Yes, I really do mean 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract! It seems like a lot, but trust me, the flavor is incredible. So buttery. SO yum!
- Absolutely bake these as muffins if you want single portions of this crumb cake!
Step by Step How to Make a Strawberry Crumb Cake:
For the full written instructions and ingredient measurements, see the bottom of this post in the recipe card. You can also hit the “jump to recipe” button at the top of this post! Here, we’ll go over a brief overview of the steps, along with providing visuals for a better understanding of the recipe.
Does this cake store well?
Because we’re using strawberries, the cake will need to be refrigerated after baking. I would let the cake slices cool and store any leftovers in an airtight container or plastic bag in the fridge. Then it will last for about 2-3 days!
To reheat, simply preheat the oven to 300F, and place a slice onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Warm for about 4-5 minutes, then enjoy!
Any other questions, let me know in the comments section! I’m happy to help 🙂
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MOIST Vegan Strawberry Crumb Cake
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 65
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 9 1x
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This is the most MOIST strawberry crumb cake bursting with fresh strawberries and using just a bowl and a whisk to yield the most tender and moist cake topped with a simple vanilla crumble topping. It’s unbelievably vegan and dairy free, and the perfect summer breakfast treat for when you want coffee cake but summery!
Ingredients
Crumble Top:
- 1 1/3 cup (150 g) all purpose flour or gluten free 1:1 baking flour
- 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (113 g) vegan butter, melted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Strawberry Layer:
- 1 1/2 lbs fresh strawberries, washed and quartered
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
Vegan Crumb Cake Batter:
- 3 cups (375 g) all purpose flour or gluten free 1:1 baking flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 1/4 cup (250 g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (113 g) salted vegan butter, melted and cooled
- 3/4 cup (170 g) dairy free yogurt or vegan sour cream, room temperature
- 2/3 cup (180 g) vegan buttermilk, room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350F and lightly grease and line a 9×9 baking pan with parchment paper and oil.
- Vanilla crumble topping: In another medium bowl, prepare the vanilla crumble. Whisk together the sugar and flour. Use a fork to mix in the melted vegan butter and vanilla into the mixture until it resembles a crumble. Set aside.
- Prep the strawberry layer: Toss the strawberries in the granulated sugar, and set aside.
- Make the vegan crumb cake batter: Prepare the main cake layer. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and soda, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted vegan butter, sugar, dairy free yogurt, vegan buttermilk, and vanilla. Then add in the flour mixture, and stir until there are JUST no more dry streaks of flour.
- Assemble the strawberry crumb cake: Pour the batter into your baking pan, and spread the batter to touch the edges of the pan. Sprinkle the strawberries on top evenly. Then top with the vanilla crumble.
- Bake: Place the pan into the oven to bake for 60-65 minutes, or until the toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven, and allow the crumb cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
- Serve: When ready to serve, it’s best served slightly warm. Slice into 9-12 squares and dust with powdered sugar if desired. Enjoy! Store any leftovers covered in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days, in the fridge for up to 6 days, or in the freezer for up to a month.
Notes
*Gluten Free: You can swap in gluten-free 1:1 baking flour (such as King Arthur’s measure for measure) or oat flour. For gluten free flour blends, please use the cup measurements then convert to gram measurements (so for 3 cups of Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 flour, it will be 420 g rather than 375 g of flour). For oat flour, please use the gram measurements rather than the cup measurements (so you would need 3 3/4 cups of oat flour for 375 g).
See the post for recipe tips and tricks!
Hi Love,
Ok I think I am losing my mind. When I went onto Bobs Red Mill site, they said the GF 1:1 is 148g per cup (148×3 is 444, right?). In the notes section under the recipe it shows 420g. Is my math not mathing? :). Please help (if you have a second)! Your recipes are amazing. Thank you so much for sharing!
Hi Jennifer!! Okay so don’t worry- you’re not losing your mind!! Bob’s isn’t necessarily 1:1 (though they say they are ugh). I use KA which is truly going to be 420 g of GF = 420 g of AP. However, if you’re using Bob’s you can do the 444 g- I personally don’t think the texture is great with Bob’s and prefer KA but I know some readers disagree with me!
Should you use full fat Greek yogurt?
Hi Nicole! So I use dairy free yogurt and have tested with Greek-style dairy free yogurt- it works great!
I swear by all your recipes, this one takes the cake!! I have dozens of allergies and it’s so hard to find stuff that I can eat. This is absolutely delicious and I will definitely be making this again! Thank you for putting together all these recipes, it’s made the transition into being vegan and gluten and nut free so much easier! 🩷
This is SO awesome wow 🙂 Thank you so so much for making these recipes!! And for these reviews!! I so appreciate you being here 🙂
This was absolute perfection!
If I wanted to bake as cupcakes instead, how many cupcakes would the recipe yield and how long would you recommend baking for?
This is awesome 🙂 So so happy you loved it!! You could definitely bake it as 12 cupcakes or about 6-8 larger muffins! They would need about 18-20 minutes as cupcakes and 25-27 minutes as larger cupcakes!
I hope you see and are able to respond to this comment! I have a question.
I just made this and first of all, it is AMAZINGGGGG. After success with your cinnamon roll recipe, I had full faith that this would be phenomenal and it is. But my question is regarding the butter. Do you use salted or unsalted? I know that in the cinnamon roll recipe, you specified and addressed that question and I learned the hard way to use salted butter because overall it tasted “flat” with unsalted.
This recipe didn’t specify in the post so I erred on the side of caution and used unsalted for fear that salted would be too savory.
But this cake also tastes pretty flat. The texture is out of this world, and the flavor itself is delicious…but it feels like the flavor needs to be elevated if that makes sense.
For your cake recipes, what do you suggest? And if I use unsalted for this recipe again, how much salt would you suggest adding to the recipe? Because the 1/4tsp doesn’t seem to have done the trick.
Your blog has helped me to fall in love with baking and you are my absolute go-to for sweet treats, so thank you so much!
Hi Ashley! Oh my gosh so sorry about this!! Definitely use the salted- I just made an update to the recipe card, thank you so much for calling that out!! Also I’m so so happy and grateful to hear this wow- thank YOU so much for being here!! Let me know what you make next!