How to Make a Warm and Crumbly Coffee Cake

Embarking on your journey to create a traditional foods kitchen is exciting and rewarding, and this coffee cake recipe is a perfect place to start! You’ll learn how to choose wholesome, natural ingredients over processed ones, enhance the nutritional value of your meals, and revive traditional kitchen skills.

So watch the video tutorial below to learn how to swap modern flour for Spelt—an ancient, healthier grain—and use Sucanat as a more nutritious alternative to white sugar. You’ll also learn three expert tips for baking a warm and crumbly coffee cake that you can enjoy for breakfast, dessert, or a tea-time treat in your traditional foods kitchen.

Coffee Cake Video

In today’s recipe video, I share three expert tips so you can create a warm and crumbly coffee cake. You’ll also learn about the benefits of using ancient grains, unrefined sugars, and mineral-rich salts with this recipe in your traditional foods kitchen.

A Traditional Foods Coffee Cake Recipe

If you’re planning to make this coffee cake recipe, congratulations! You’re on your journey to create your traditional foods kitchen, where you use more natural foods and ingredients instead of processed foods. Your traditional foods will be more nutritious and tastier than their store-bought alternatives, and you’ll learn lifelong kitchen skills as you make these traditional recipes.

In this coffee cake recipe, we’re using Spelt, which is an ancient grain that is healthier than all-purpose flour made from modern-day wheats. Other ancient grains include Einkorn and Emmer. To learn more about these ancient grains, watch the following videos:

• Wheat Berries FAQ about Einkorn, Spelt, and More
• What is Kamut? And What Are We Supposed to Do with It?

Grind Your Own Ancient Grains Flour

You can buy all-purpose and wheat flour versions of ancient grains in your grocery store. My store in Central Texas carries a wide variety of flours, including both the all-purpose Spelt flour and the whole-grain Spelt flour used in my coffee cake recipe.

If you find that you like the taste of baked goods made from Spelt flour, you may want to store whole grain Spelt berries (yes, grains in their whole form are referred to as berries!) in your extended or Prepper Pantry. Flour can go rancid over time, so storing whole grains gives you the ability to store Spelt (or other grains) for a much longer period of time.

Plus, with a manual or electric grain mill, you can create fresh flour from your whole grains any time you want, and your homemade flour will be cheaper than what you can purchase from your grocery store. And turning your whole-grain flour into its all-purpose version is easy. All you need to do is sift out the bran and germ.

In the following videos, I show you how to make homemade flour from whole grains using my electric Mockmill grain grinder:

• How to Store Whole Grain and Make Homemade Flour (Spelt example)
• How to Make All Purpose Einkorn Flour at Home (Einkorn example)

From these videos, you’ll also learn how to sift out the amount of bran and germ you want using a coarse or fine mesh strainer. You can use a fine mesh strainer to remove all the bran and germ to create an All-Purpose flour, or you can leave some of the bran and germ behind to create a more old world flour that’s between an All-Purpose and Whole Wheat flour—a blend that’s similar to what our ancestors made before modern machinery.

Grind Your Own Flour with the Mockmill

When it comes to electric grain mills, after I did A LOT of research, I decided to buy a Mockmill. And am I so happy I did! The Mockmill is a very affordable but beautifully crafted German-made mill that stone grinds grain with settings ranging from 1 to 10—fine to coarse ground grain.

Learn more about Mockmill electric grain mills for making fresh flour and their Flake Lover’s Flaker that flakes whole grain in minutes. (This is not a sponsored post, I bought the Mockmill products that I show you, and I’m a happy user of their devices in my kitchen.)

• Mockmill 100 Grain Mill unboxing
• Get the Mockmill 100 Stone Grain Mill (Same product I show you in my unboxing video.)
• Flake Lover’s Flaker from Mockmill in action (Using this device, you can flake whole grain in minutes.)

Best Sugar for Coffee Cake

Many recipes use white sugar as the sweetener in coffee cakes. You can certainly use white sugar in this coffee cake recipe, but I’d encourage you to move further along in your traditional foods journey by using Sucanat as your sweetener, which is what I use in this coffee cake recipe.

Sucanat stands for Sugar Cane Natural. It’s more nutritious than white sugar since it is less processed and contains more of the molasses and nutrients from the original sugar cane. Sucanat also has a slightly lower glycemic index and a richer flavor than its more processed counterpart.

Depending on where you live in the world, you may also know Sucanat as Rapadura. It, too, is an unrefined cane sugar, retaining the molasses and nutrients that are typically stripped away when making white sugar.

All the different sugars and their uses in the traditional foods kitchen can be confusing, and that’s why I created the Essential Sugars for Your Prepper Pantry video to help you determine the best sugars for your recipes. (For example, white sugar still has essential uses in water bath canning.)

Also, my crumb topping ingredients use brown sugar to make the topping moist and crumbly. You can get brown sugar from your grocery store or make it your traditional foods kitchen. If you make it homemade, you can determine the level of molasses you add, enabling you to create a lighter or darker brown sugar in your recipes. You can learn more in my How to Make Brown Sugar video.

Best Salt for Coffee Cake

As with the flour and sugar we choose for our coffee cake, we can also choose a better salt for recipes in our traditional foods kitchen instead of the regular table salt we grew up with.

I usually default to using sea salt in my traditional recipes since this ingredient brings the flavor of salt along with additional beneficial minerals. You can also choose from other salts, such as Redmond Real Salt. Learn all about these salts and which ones are best for you in my The Best Salts with the Least Amount of Microplastics video.

Redmond Real Salt

When it comes to using salt in my recipes, I always like to use a real salt that has not been processed and does not contain any extra added chemicals or anti-caking agents. Redmond real salt is perfect! And if you’d like to order Redmond Real Salt from their website, be sure to check out my Shopping Guide for a discount coupon code.

Coffee Cake Ingredients

Find the full printable recipe with ingredients below.

Coffee Cake Ingredients:

• 1 cup All-Purpose Spelt Flour
• 1/2 cup Whole Grain Spelt Flour
• 3/4 cup Unrefined Whole Cane Sugar (Sucanat)
• 2 teaspoons Baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 cup Milk
• 1/4 cup Butter, melted
• 1 Large Egg
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup White Cane Sugar (regular table sugar)
• 1/4 cup Brown Sugar

Note: You can make Homemade Vanilla Bean Extract, and in doing so, you’ll have a virtually perpetual vanilla extract that is always available.

Coffee Cake Topping Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup All-Purpose Spelt Flour
• 1/4 cup Unrefined Whole Cane Sugar (Sucanat)
• 1 tablespoon Brown Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon Room-Temperature Butter, unsalted
• 1 teaspoon Confectioners sugar (icing sugar), optional for dusting the baked coffee cake

How to Make Coffee Cake

Find the full printable recipe with instructions below.

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 9-inch baking pan or a 9-inch springform pan. If using a springform pan, place it on a parchment-lined baking sheet to catch any potential drips. (A springform pan makes it easy to remove the cake while keeping the sides intact for a beautiful presentation.)
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose Spelt flour, whole-grain Spelt flour, unrefined whole cane sugar (Sucanat), baking powder, and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the milk, melted butter, egg, and vanilla extract until combined.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir gently until just combined. A key tip here is to avoid over mixing, especially with spelt, to keep the cake tender and soft!
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, spread it out evenly, and smooth the top.
6. Place the filled pan into the oven and bake for approximately 20 minutes.
7. While the cake is baking, prepare the topping. In a small bowl, mix the Sucanat, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Drizzle the melted butter over this mixture and stir until crumbly.
8. After the cake has baked for 20 minutes, open the oven door and carefully sprinkle the topping on top of the batter. This will create a perfectly golden top and eliminate any chance of burning.
9. Continue baking the cake for an additional 15-20 minutes (for a total of 35-40 minutes) or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
10. Once the coffee cake is finished baking, turn off the oven and transfer the pan to a cooling rack.
11. If using a springform pan, carefully release the sides after about 10 minutes of cooling.
12. If desired, dust the coffee cake with one teaspoon of confectioner’s sugar (icing sugar).
13. Enjoy this cake warm or at room temperature.

Expert Tips to Create a Coffee Cake

Here are three tips to make sure your coffee cake is warm and crumbly:

Storing and Reheating

This coffee cake is best enjoyed the day it is made, but if you have leftovers, wrap them well in plastic wrap and then place them in an airtight container. To rewarm the coffee cake, place it on a baking sheet in an oven preheated to 200°F (93°C) and warm for 10 minutes.

Start Your Traditional Foods Journey

Part of my passion for keeping traditional cooking skills alive—in addition to my online cooking school on YouTube—is writing cookbooks. My first book, The Modern Pioneer Cookbook published by Penguin Random House (PRH), is full of my traditional foods recipes that show you how to create a traditional foods kitchen.

Be sure to order your copy of my bestselling book, The Modern Pioneer Cookbook, to start your traditional foods journey. And stay tuned for my next cookbook that will be published by PRH in 2025!

Download Your Free 36-Page Pantry List

For an extensive list of the traditional foods you can make and purchase to stock your pantry, be sure to download my free 36-page Traditional Foods Pantry List. This comprehensive eBook is full of links to recipe videos, helpful articles, and more!

Join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy

Are you looking for more traditional foods videos? If so, I invite you to join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy. Members of this optional paid YouTube community get access to exclusive videos and other members-only perks. Plus, your YouTube comments include a special members-only badge.

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Stay in Touch with Mary’s Nest

1. Subscribe to My YouTube Channel for Traditional Foods Videos (Free) - When you subscribe, be sure to click on the notification bell that will let you know each time I upload a new video.
2. Subscribe to Mary’s Traditional Foods Newsletter (Free) - Get a free 36-page eBook for signing up: How to Stock Your Essential Traditional Foods Four-Corners Pantry.
3. Join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy (Optional Paid) - For more detailed videos and exclusive members-only perks, join my YouTube membership community.
4. Order The Modern Pioneer Cookbook (Optional Paid) - Get a printed book of Mary's nourishing recipes from a Traditional Foods Kitchen. This bestselling cookbook is published by Penguin Random House with their DK imprint.

I look forward to having you join me in my Texas Hill Country Kitchen!

Shop for items used in this blog post or video

Favorite Coffee Cake Baking Supplies

• Springform Pan
• Glass Bowls
• Silicone Spatula

Favorite Kitchen Supplies

• Favorite Aprons
• Spice Grinder
• Countertop Burner (On my kitchen island in many recipe videos.)
• Handheld Vacuum Sealing System
• Vacuum Lids
• Whisk
• Silica Gel Packets (Helps keep moisture from building up in your mix)
• Cast Iron Dutch Oven
• 8-Quart Slow-Cooker
• Fat Separator (Clever kitchen device to help you decant bone broth)
• Flour Sack Towels
• pH Strips (Helps you check on the acidity of your vinegar)

Amazon Shop and Shopping Guide

• Visit Mary’s Nest Amazon Shop
• Visit my Shopping Guide page
  Get up to 15% off for stocking your Traditional Foods Pantry and equipping your Modern Pioneer Kitchen, including discounts from US Wellness Meats, Farmhouse Teas, Lehman's, Masontops, Cultures for Health, Survival Garden Seeds, Redmond Real Salt, Plan to Eat, and More!

Recommended Reading

• The Modern Pioneer Cookbook
• Nourishing Traditions