I feel like I’ve been haunted by the three bags of fresh cranberries I bought about a month ago.
You’d think I’ve baked enough cranberry filled goodies to make these cranberries a thing of the past. Nope. Between the Banana Cranberry Bread, the All Purpose Cranberry Apple Cake and the Cranberry Sauce, how did I still have a lone back of cranberries dancing around in my fridge?
I’m happy to say, that with this deliciously moist and golden Cranberry Coffee Cake, my days of withering cranberries in the fridge are over. But… um… I kinda miss them. I’m thinking numerous Prosecco and Cranberry Cocktails are in my future, which means… more fresh cranberries! I hope you’re not sick of cranberry recipes yet. It ain’t over, this baker would really like a cocktail.
The thing about this coffee cake. The thing that makes it over the top, crazy delicious is the crunchy streusel topping. And I’ve got tricks. I take a few handfuls of the streusel topping and swirl it into the coffee cake batter. Yea! Awesome! Delicious! I take the rest of the topping, which is seriously ample and layer it on top before baking. The coffee cake bakes up a delicious golden color, the streusel topping is perfectly crunchy, and the cranberries add the perfect bright tartness. For reals.
Cranberry Coffee Cake
bake in a 9 x 13-inch pan
Cake:
4 cups all purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup sour cream mixed with 2 Tablespoons of milk
4 cups fresh cranberries, roughly chopped
Topping:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups lightly packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 stick unsalted butter, well-softened
2/3 cup finely chopped pecans (optional)
1/3 cup quick oats
Put a rack in middle oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9×13-inch pan and set aside.
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Combine butter and sugars in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in almond extract. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture and sour cream mixture in alternate batches, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, and mixing until just incorporated. Fold in cranberries. Spoon batter into baking dish and spread evenly.
For the topping, place the flour, brown sugar, nuts, cinnamon and oats in a large bowl and stir well with a wooden spoon. Work the butter into the mixture with your fingertips until evenly distributed. Take two full handful of the topping and spread it over the cake batter. Use a knife to swirl the topping into the batter. Spread the rest of the topping evenly over the cranberry cake batter.
Bake until golden brown and a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack for 15 minutes. Serve in big warm slices with a cup of creamy coffee.
{ 58 comments… read them below or add one }
That’s an absolutely tantalizing crumb!
This looks sooooo yummy! I have a bag of crans in the freezer and I know how I’m going to use them!!!
Just to clarify please: the sour cream. Is that 1 cup sour cream mixed with 2 Tablespoons of additional sour cream or 2 Tablespoons of something else?
Thanks.
This looks so good. I have to try this recipe. I have you on my g-reader and I look forward to your baking/cooking everytime I see you posted something. Thanks.
Michelle- thanks for catching my mistake. I meant 2 Tablespoons of milk!
Thanks for the clarification and the great recipe. I know what’s for breakfast tomorrow!
Can I just eat the streusel with a spoon? Looks amazing Joy, I’ve been on the hunt for a perfect coffee cake. Martha’s are all so greasy and in the mornings I prefer my grease with my bacon, thanks.
oooh. Could I possibly deviate from tradition and serve this Christmas morning? It is so much like Grandma’s but the idea of having cranberries in it is irresistible! I will have to mull this over.
I will be making this….it looks absolutely heavenly. I am a big fan of cranberries and always look for different ways to use them.
Thanks for the recipe :-)
I haven’t gotten a chance to pop into your site proper lately (have just been reading from RSS feeds), but I have to say: I love the new template/design. It’s perfectly bakery.
This looks like the ultimate coffee cake! I can’t wait to try it, especially the topping!
Joy…
You are an enabler of the best sort!!! xoxo
Also? The Banana Cranberry muffins turned out fabulously!! Thanks!! :)
~Christine
Totally making this this weekend too! You’re stamped all over my weekend!
Ahhh, coffee cakes – my true love. This sounds great, as I usually use cranberries for muffins. Definitely going to give this a try!
Looks delicious. This may seem like a silly question but I’m a novice baker. Is 2 sticks of butter equivalent to one cup or two?
Oh this sounds sooooooooooo yummy- gotta try it!
Putting the streusel IN the cake – just genius!
I love people that say “for reals.” And aren’t you crazy about those steel-handled spatulas? One of my favorite kitchen tools.
I love everything about this one! The streusel topping looks amazing, but to add it into the cake too? GENIUS!!!
I made the Banana Cranberry Bread as muffins last night- very, very tasty. It was something to get me out of bed this morning after a long night with a fussy baby :)
I can practically smell it through my screen. Well done!
I made this last night and already my house has eaten nearly half of it. Except for mine coming out slightly lighter colored inside, it ended up just like the picture. Excellent recipe!
I love that you said “for reals.”
Bookmarked! Tart cranberries would work really well in a sweet coffee cake.
Made it last night and it is wonderful. I’m sure it will be gone in no time. Thanks!
Holy cow… this was the biggest, most moist coffee cake ever!
I’m making it right now….it smells delicious,but isn’t fully baking…uh oh…what did i do wrong? Any tips for this, Joy? What is the correct thing to do? I don’t want it to dry out — I lowered the oven temp and left it i for anohter 1/2 hour — is that right?
Help!
I’m not sick of cranberries…they are one of my favorite flavors. This coffee cake sounds so good. Tart and sweet.
your blog makes me so incredibly happy, just thought i’d share.
This is inCREDible. We hoovered in so much of this on Saturday that we skipped lunch and dinner. I had to put the lefties in the freezer so we wouldn’t gorge ourselves on it all week long. Moist, dense, incredible streusel with the marbeling. I’m in loooooove.
I also bought too many cranberries and have been finding creative ways to use them. This sounds delicious. I can’t wait to try it.
I am 46 years old (as of last week) and I find myself needing a bib.
Drooling… This I can’t believe. Figs OMG yes! Banana Cranberry Bread… must keep control.
My eyes are watering from what I see and want.
Your pictures and your words, ARTIST! All I want to do is find this Magical Bakery, run by Joy the Baker, and Taste everything. I am sure if I could only smell just one of your baked goods I would be over that proverbial edge.
I believe I was a good baker at one time. People would go out of their way for my Peachy Rum Sticky buns. But I feel that I am watching a young master in the making, the way you write, your photos, such passion, love of learning, sharing, So fresh and yet it seems a very wise old soul. Thank you.
I made this but it exploded all over the oven. It expanded and ran over the pan, leading to a lot of smoke in the kitchen and my husband making Ron White jokes. (“My wife became a better cook when she found out the smoke alarm is not a timer.”)
Joy,can I add an orange peel to this receipe? just wondering. Tx
Joy, do you think I could make these into muffins?
Oh ya!! I’m making this one too… and the Mocha Rum Cake… and the… and the ..and the… I wonder if Jenny Craig has a hotline?
I made this and it was delicious! Usually I end up revising recipe’s because I feel they could be improved, but this one is staying the way you made it. Great!
Absolutely the best cake I have ever made!! My family, who does not usually like cake, gobbled this up. The best!
Joy, I made this cake awhile ago for my xmas party, and it was hugely delicious! The only problem I have is that, apparently, I can’t measure to save my life and I put it in a too-small pan. It rose up and baked all over the pan, but it looked rather pretty – kind of like a cascade of cranberry cake over the side. I cut it off so it wouldn’t over bake and feasted on it right away. I differed from yours slightly because I omitted the nuts (don’t like ‘em), and I do think next time I’d put some orange zest in it just because I love those flavours together. But my god, what a wonderful cake. :)
have this in the oven now. i, too, am a tad worried maybe my pan isnt tall enough. i may be in trouble if it seriously rises. i omitted cranberries since i dont have any in stock right now and grated 3 apples on a box grater. we will see how it turns out! much love babe!
Has anyone tried baking this ahead and freezing the whole cake in the pan for later.
I’m travelling Christmas eve and wanted to make and freeze this the weekend before and let it thaw during the nine hour drive home Christmas eve then consume at Christmas brunch.
Anyone think this is a good idea? Either way, thanks for the great site Joy !!!!
So I did bake it ahead and thawed overnight (it was in the car-top carrier for the nine hour drive and stayed pretty cold). Everyone loved it !! Even my husband who doesn’t like cranberries had a few pieces and loved it.
I made these a few days ago and they were amazing!! I upped the cranberries and used less butter to make them a tad healthier and they still came out amazing. They’re already gone!
Could I make this in a bundt pan? Just wondering!
Hi Joy… I love your blog. I was wondering if you still have the all-purpose cranberry apple cake recipe? If so would you be able to e-mail that to me? I made it when you first had it on your blog and my whole family just adored it and want me to make it again, but I can’t find your recipe. Thank you so so much I know you are very busy! Take care & Best of Luck with everything!
I made this for thanksgiving morning and it was devoured. My cake looked completely different than yours though, mine came out very white and ridiculously fluffy! no complaints here!! I used frozen cranberries and added frozen black cherries and subbed vanilla extract for the almond… amazing!!
So I don’t mean to be a bad news bear, but I just made this and have to say I was very disappointed. It tasted like a cheap cake at a bad deli. I used all organic and fresh ingredients, so I don’t think it was what I put into it, but rather the recipe itself This is only my second joythebaker venture (the first being the unbelievably delicious avocado pound cake) so I suppose I had high expectations, but to be honest, I wouldn’t recommend this or make it again.
Joy, This will be the third year I’ve made this coffee cake for Christmas morning breakfast. I think 3 years makes a lasting tradition, don’t you? It’s really quite fabulous. For serious.
i LOVE this tradition!
This was my second year making Cranberry Coffee Cake on Christmas morning but this was the first year using Joy’s recipe. I will DEFINITELY be making this every Christmas morning from now on. It was soooo good!!
Made this this morning to use up a leftover bag of cranberries. It took awhile to put together but it is DELICIOUS. Really nice texture. We did put a powdered sugar glaze on top. :) Thanks for the recipe!
Totally bringing this to my friend’s post-Christmas/”I was stuck in England over Christmas because they don’t know what snow is” party.
{ 4 trackbacks }