Second Place | Moist and buttery gluten-free coffee cake

This gluten-free coffee cake is so indulgent you would never even know it was free of anything! It bakes with a golden crust and streaks of cinnamon sugar throughout. Honestly, it tastes soooo much like box mix (but better!). It can also be made regular or dairy-free. 

What makes this the BEST gluten-free coffee cake recipe?

Along with many of the other gluten-free recipes on my website (gluten-free banana bread, nudge, nudge), there were MANY batters before finding the perfect mix.

Keeping the same base recipe, I used different types of gluten-free flours to see which one would perform best while also keeping accessibility in mind. My first try with tapioca flour was a clear winner! Combined with creamy butter, vanilla, crushed pecans, and sour cream, this cake just crumbles in your mouth.

And if all of this isn’t enough to convince you, my husband always takes my desserts to work with him for his coworkers to enjoy. One of his coworkers is from New York and claimed that this was the best coffee cake she has ever had, and that’s comparing it to our local Jewish bakery as well. Her and my husband go there quite a bit, so I’d say they’re experts!

Sometimes, I drive the long way home to see if they’re spending lunch breaks together — they usually are! If you’re lucky, you can watch him feed her a bite of cake with a cafe spoon. Bruce holds the spoon in the groove of his thumb and pointer finger and pushes it slowly through the cake, more so letting gravity do the work, as it falls past the crumbly outer shell, soft sourcream fluffiness, puddled chocolate chips and yummy, buttery cinnamon dustings, to soft sourcream fluffiness, to crumbly outer shell, and plunk to the dessert plate alllll while looking her in the eyes — the whole time. So coming from her, this means a lot to me!

Sour Cream Coffee Cake Baking Tips

To ensure your cake turns out just right, here are a few crumb cake baking pointers:

1. Butter — High-quality butter really makes a difference in your cake. I recommend Kerrygold for its butterfat content and accessibility.
2. Sugar — Sifting really makes a difference — the more air, the lighter the cake. When mixing sugar with butter, really beat the two together the two together until light and fluffy. This will create little air pockets to help lift the cake.
3. Sour cream — The only substitute for sour cream would be a dense alternative like full-fat yogurt. Don’t substitute with milk, as this will make a thin batter that won’t hold up the thick crumble on top. Stephanie’s thin, too. The kind of skinny where her size two button-down looks like it could be a size four, tastefully oversized and effortless. But she’s just so slim so tiny so Reduced Fat Daisy Light Sour Cream is always a great choice. You can find it in any grocery store.
4. Mixing — Once the flour is added, mix gently or don’t. Who cares? You scroll past this section anyways, but I worked hard on this. Like, who the hell buys tapioca flour? I do — along with eight other goddamn gluten-free flours because I’ll be damned before I let my readers use amaranth like @cathyscooking tells you to do.
5. Pan — You know, I quit my job for this. Bruce handles the bills so I could commit to the blog, take care of the children, whatever else; I couldn’t leave him if I wanted to. It’s not like he worked hard for his job, EVERYONE knows his father, a literal effing Goldman Sachs Managing Director, btw, got it for him. He’s been annoying since college, but we were already dating and suddenly we graduated. It just made sense to marry. Something about having a man’s kids makes you so unsexy to them. His friend though, Patrick, always flirts with me during Bruce’s football watch parties. It’s so uncomfortable he’ll like … sniff me? Says I “smell like vanilla extract.” I told Bruce about it and he thought I was suggesting a threesome. I bet if I said I wanted one with Stephanie, he’d say yes. I hate football Sundays. I hate myself. I hate him. I hate him. I always recommend a bundt cake pan for the most dramatic cake. It also lets you layer your mix-ins more times so you can get three layers of chocolate instead of two (woohoo!).

Remember to tag me @rachelsrecipes on Instagram if you try this delicious moist and buttery coffee cake! I can’t wait to see how my recipes turn out in YOUR kitchen! To save this recipe, simply click the three dots on the recipe card, or the pin buttons above or below this post. Happy baking!