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Sourdough Coffee Cake Recipe: How to Use Sourdough Discard

Written by MasterClass

Last updated: May 25, 2024 • 3 min read

Use sourdough discard to make a tangy, sweet coffee cake with a tender crumb. A simple cinnamon-and-pecan streusel topping completes the classic flavors while adding texture to the sourdough coffee cake.

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What Is Sourdough Coffee Cake?

Sourdough coffee cake is a tender, cinnamon-spiced crumb cake made with sourdough starter discard, which lends a tangy flavor that balances the cake’s sweetness and provides a gentle lift to the cake batter. Typical coffee cakes feature a cinnamon streusel crumb topping swirled or layered throughout the cake and sprinkled over the top. You can also add variations such as blueberries in summer for sourdough blueberry coffee cake or pumpkin purée in the fall.

3 Tips for Making Sourdough Coffee Cake

Here’s how to make a tender, cinnamon-spiced coffee cake at home.

  1. 1. Use sourdough discard. While many bread recipes call for an active starter, cake recipes typically call for discard. Discard does not have as much of the active wild yeast needed for leavening sourdough bread loaves but still provides that tangy, signature sourdough flavor. Learn more about maintaining your own sourdough starter.
  2. 2. Use buttermilk. Typical sourdough discard recipes have a slightly sour flavor because of the fermented properties of sourdough, typically fortified with a long overnight rise. For quick cakes, buttermilk reacts with the baking powder and soda in the dry ingredients to leaven the cake and add that classic tangy taste. If you don’t have buttermilk, mix equal parts sour cream and whole milk to achieve a similar consistency and acidity level. Learn more about how to substitute for buttermilk in baking.
  3. 3. Bake in a metal cake pan or muffin tins. Metal pans conduct heat differently than glass or ceramic and are ideal for tender crumbed cakes. If you serve the cake on the same day it’s baked, go for the typical coffee cake style, cooked in a larger square pan or rectangular baking dish and cut into squares. For an easy make-ahead brunch treat, bake the batter in muffin tins, then cool and freeze them so you can quickly reheat individual portions as needed.

Whole-Wheat Sourdough Coffee Cake Recipe

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makes

1 9-inch square cake

prep time

15 min

total time

55 min

cook time

40 min

Ingredients

For the streusel topping:

For the cake:

Note: The total time does not include 20 minutes of inactive time.

Make the streusel topping:

  1. 1

    Melt and cool the butter, then transfer it to a medium bowl.

  2. 2

    Stir the light brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and pecans into the melted butter.

  3. 3

    Mix the streusel topping ingredients until well combined, then set aside.

Make the cake:

  1. 1

    Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

  2. 2

    Grease a 9-inch square metal baking pan with cooking spray or butter.

  3. 3

    In a large mixing bowl, sift or whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda, and set it aside.

  4. 4

    In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugars.

  5. 5

    Beat on medium speed until the butter-sugar mixture is smooth, light, and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

  6. 6

    Add the eggs, sourdough discard, buttermilk, and vanilla extract, and stir on medium speed until combined, scraping the bowl as needed to incorporate the ingredients.

  7. 7

    Use a spatula or wooden spoon to gently stir in the dry ingredients, taking care not to overmix.

  8. 8

    Transfer half of the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula.

  9. 9

    Sprinkle half of the streusel mixture over the batter in an even layer.

  10. 10

    Pour the remaining batter over the streusel layer and gently smooth the top.

  11. 11

    Sprinkle the remaining crumble topping over the top to cover the batter in an even layer.

  12. 12

    Bake the coffee cake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. (If using muffin tins, reduce the baking time by half.)

  13. 13

    Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool completely in the pan, about 20 minutes.

  14. 14

    You can store any leftover cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

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