Sourdough Discard Coffee Cake
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Use up your leftover sourdough discard with this sourdough coffee cake. The cake is moist, fluffy, and topped with a brown sugar pecan crumble. It is the perfect breakfast, brunch, or afternoon treat!
This sourdough coffee cake reminds me of my childhood. No, my mom didn’t bake sourdough bread, but she did make a mean coffee cake.
Midwestern recipe books are stock-full of coffee cake. It’s definitely a cultural dessert and one that reminds me of a warm, cozy home and would pair beautifully with a mug of hot coffee.
For those unfamiliar, coffee cake does *not* actually contain coffee in the batter. It’s a treat that is often accompanied with the hot beverage.
If you’re new here, I love baking with sourdough and have TONS of recipes that use active sourdough starter and sourdough discard. I’ve been baking sourdough bread for years and truly love to get creative with my recipes.
If you’re looking for some more sourdough discard breakfast recipes, check out my popular sourdough discard cinnamon rolls, sourdough discard apple walnut coffee cake, honey lavender sourdough sweet rolls, and these baked sourdough discard doughnuts with chocolate frosting.
Ingredients
A few ingredient notes:
Make sure your ingredients are room temperature: Greek yogurt, eggs, butter, and sourdough discard should not be cold. This helps ensure you get a moist, light coffee cake.
Greek yogurt: If you don’t have Greek yogurt, you can substitute full-fat sour cream instead.
Butter: I always use salted butter. If you only have unsalted butter, add an additional 1/4 salt to the dry ingredients when you add the salt.
Sourdough Discard: This recipe calls for sourdough discard *not* active sourdough starter. You may use the active sourdough starter, but you will still need to add the baking powder and baking soda because they act as the leaveners (what makes the cake rise) for this coffee cake.
For the Crumble: The ingredients needed for the crumble topping are all-purpose flour, brown sugar, chopped pecans, and cold butter. If you don’t like pecans, you can keep them out or substitute another nut.
For the Icing: I topped this coffee cake with icing. It isn’t necessary, but it’s simple: just powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step One: Start by gathering all your ingredients. Make sure the butter is at room temperature, and preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a springform pan or line it with parchment paper.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Step Two: In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy–about two minutes.
Step Three: Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla extract.
Next, mix in the Greek yogurt and sourdough discard. The batter may look slightly lumpy at this stage—this is completely normal!
Step Four: Gradually fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, stirring until just combined. Avoid overmixing to keep the cake light and tender. I like to use a rubber spatula at this point to avoid overmixing.
Step Five: Pour the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly.
Step Six: Make the crumble: combine flour, chopped pecans, and brown sugar in a small bowl. Cut in the cold butter using a fork or your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Step Seven: Sprinkle the crumble evenly over the top of the cake batter.
Step Eight: Bake in the preheated oven for about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If the top starts browning too quickly, loosely tent the cake with foil for the last few minutes.
Let the cake cool in the pan for a bit before running a knife along the edges and removing the springform ring. Allow it to cool slightly before slicing. Top with icing.
Serve warm or at room temperature with a cup of coffee and enjoy!
Tips for Making the Best Sourdough Discard Coffee Cake
- Room temperature ingredients! I say this repeatedly throughout this recipe post and for good reason–the best cakes (i.e., the fluffiest, most moist, softest, *not* dense) use room temperature ingredients. Keep the eggs, butter, and Greek yogurt out for a couple hours before baking this coffee cake.
- Avoid overmixing! I use an electric mixer to cream the butter and sugar and to incorporate the wet ingredients. Once I get to the stage of adding the dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients, I break out my rubber spatula or wooden spoon and mix the cake with them. Mix until the ingredients are just combined, meaning there are no more dry bits in the cake.
- Serve warm or at room temperature. Coffee cake is always best enjoyed the day it is baked. So warm, moist, and fluffy. You’re going to love it!
Sourdough Discard Coffee Cake
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon if using unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup salted butter room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup full-fat plain Greek yogurt room temperature
- 1/2 cup sourdough discard discard or active starter, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the crumble top
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans optional
- 1/4 cup salted butter cold butter, cubed
For the icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk any milk works, whole milk preferably
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease or line a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs one at a time, then mix in vanilla extract, Greek yogurt, and sourdough discard.
- Gradually fold in dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan.
- Make the crumble topping: In a bowl, mix brown sugar, flour, and pecans, then cut in cold butter until crumbly. Sprinkle the crumble topping evenly over the top.
- Bake for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pan.
- To make the icing, add the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract to a small bowl. Whisk together and drizzle over the top of the cake. Serve warm or at room temperature. Enjoy!
This sourdough discard coffee cake is perfect for rainy days and is accompanied by a cup of hot coffee. Let me know what you think if you make it!