Pecan sour cream coffee cake recipe features the ultimate crumble

You're going to want this with your morning coffee!

Food historians believe that the coffee cake originated in Europe during the 17th century as a snack that would complement the bitter hot beverage. But there aren’t any real requirements for a coffee cake, except that it tastes good with your breakfast cup of joe. Some versions are bready, some are braided, some are fruity, some include streusel or nuts, and some are yeast breads while others rise because of baking powder — but generally, they’re sweet, often include spices like cinnamon and come in a single layer. They’re also fairly easy to make.

Now, we’ve found a recipe that’s moist and nutty with a perfect texture that will tempt you any time of day. It was created by Food Wishes blogger Chef John of San Francisco to double or even triple his favorite part of a coffee cake: “the crispy, crunchy, buttery crumbs.”

His recipe for pecan sour cream coffee cake asks you to make two parts: The crumble includes ingredients like butter, brown sugar, chopped pecans and cinnamon, while the cake has sour cream, baking powder, baking soda, flour, eggs and more.

You’ll put your ingredients together — the crumble components go first. Then, you’ll mix the wet and dry cake ingredients, combine them and spread half the cake batter on the bottom of a prepared 8-inch-by-10-inch baking dish. Chef John recommends tapping and shaking the pan to make sure the batter settles properly. Half of the crumble goes on top and gets gently pressed in, and then you’ll add another layer of batter followed by crumble.

Simply cook everything in a 350-degree Fahrenheit oven for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick or bamboo skewer comes out clean. You’ll have a delicious coffee cake that’s both tasty and impressive-looking for guests.

Find the full ingredients list and method at Allrecipes, complete with a video showing you the steps.

If you’re looking for something a little different, King Arthur Baking offers a recipe that adds a chocolate filling into its cinnamon-streusel coffee cake. And Britney Breaks Bread has a brown butter coffee cake with cinnamon swirl recipe that incorporates the rich, nutty flavor of butter that’s had the water cooked out of it. You could also go with a Nutella cream cheese pound cake from Allrecipes for your morning meal, or try Alexandra Cooks’s recipe for blueberry buttermilk breakfast cake.