New to whole wheat flour? This whole wheat coffee cake will allow your family to fall in love with the flavours of whole grains!

We all love to have a little something to munch on with our cuppa! The kids also think this is quite the special treat with the crumb topping - but it's made with fresh ground flour so it's got a healthy kick!
Whether you lean towards tea, hot coffee, or iced coffee, this is one of the best treats to have alongside. It also comes together in under an hour, so as soon as you know company is headed over you can whip it up to serve. Did you know you can also make cinnamon rolls in an hour? And if you need gluten-free, I've got a favourite cookbook for that.
Why You Need This Recipe
- Mix it up quick with pantry ingredients!
- Introduce your family to whole wheat flour in a delicious, familiar food item.
- Let the kids help measure and mix. It's fun to see the crumbs transform into cake.
Key Ingredients
Flour - I love grinding my own flour. Use a soft white wheat berry here, and grind it as fine as your mill allows, then measure. If you aren't yet up to grinding your own, look for brands that are truly whole grain, so you have the WHOLE grain, versus most whole wheat flours are very denatured. You can also use all-purpose flour.
Buttermilk - This recipe requires a cultured buttermilk. I just don't think the final cake crumb is right when you do the lemon juice trick.
Butter - Use unsalted in baking when you can, so you can adjust the added salt on your own.
Cinnamon - It wouldn't be cinnamon coffee cake without it!
Options - Fancy this up with either nuts or apples.
How to Make Cinnamon Crumb Coffee Cake
***See recipe card below for precise measurements and instructions.***
Step 1: Combine dry ingredients in a bowl, then add the melted butter. Stir until crumbs form.
Step 2: Pull out some of these crumbs to save for the topping. You can add nuts to the topping if desired.
Step 3: Whisk the wet ingredients and then add to the remaining crumb mixture until a batter forms.
Step 4: Spread the batter in a greased baking dish. At this point you can add a chopped apple if you want! Then sprinkle the reserved crumbs on top.
Step 5: Bake until a knife in the center comes out clean.
Tips and Tricks
- Only use actual cultured buttermilk here!
- This is a THICK batter! Don't expect a thin cake batter in this recipe.
- I love this method - so many recipes have you measure and mix the topping in a separate bowl. However, it's the same ingredients as the cake itself so why do that? That's why I mix it all at once and reserve some crumbs for the top!
FAQs
I’m not a fan of the ‘just add vinegar or lemon juice to milk to make buttermilk’
method for when you don't have buttermilk…I don't think it gives you the same
thickness and your batter consistency will be off. I use clabber culture discard
for this or I add water/milk to yogurt or sour cream to make it about buttermilk thickness and use that. It takes about half water/milk half yogurt/sour cream to make the right thickness. If you only have vanilla yogurt, not plain, that will work, as it is a complimentary flavour!
If you’re new to using whole wheat, especially fresh ground wheat, something
like a coffee cake is a great starting point to try it out on your family. I love soft
white wheat for its tender crumb, but you could use a hard wheat here as well.
Grind it as fine as possible on your mill. The biggest mistake I see in grinding
your own flour is people dont let the dough/batter rest for 20-30 minutes before
baking or adding more flour! The whole wheat takes longer to absorb moisture,
so people assume they need to add more flour, and then they end up with a
dense, dry end product.
Definitely! I was aiming to dirty as few dishes and streamline the process. However, this will make about 12-18 muffins. Spread the batter into a paper-lined muffin tin and add topping to each one. Start checking for doneness at about 15 minutes.
Photos by Dante from Shire by the Sea
More Baking Recipes
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Whole Wheat Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups soft white wheat flour or all-purpose flour
- 3 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Topping
- ¾ cup unsalted butter melted
- ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans optional, add to crumbs
- 1 apple diced, optional for on top
Wet Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup cultured buttermilk see notes
Instructions
- Stir dry ingredients together.
- Mix butter into dry ingredients, then set ½ cup of these crumbs aside. If using, stir nuts into the reserved crumbs.
- Whisk eggs into buttermilk.
- Preheat oven to 375°F.(I dont start the oven until I'm mixed and ready to let the batter rest) Grease or butter a baking dish (see notes).
- Combine wet ingredients into dry and let rest for 20 minutes to hydrate.
- Spread this thick batter into the prepared dish.
- If using an apple, sprinkle it over the batter now.
- Top evenly with crumb mixture.
- Bake for 25 minutes, then turn around for 10-15 minutes or until a knife comes out clean in the center.
Notes
- I do not recommend using the "lemon juice plus milk" trick here. Either use cultured buttermilk from the store, or "water down" yogurt or sour cream with milk to the correct thickness.
- For a baking dish, aim for a 9" square or round. Use your glass or metal cake pans or even a cast iron skillet that's the right size. The photos show a 7x11 which is about the same size as well.
- Make these as muffins! You can. make 12-18 or so, depending, and I'd try checking them starting at 15 minutes.
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