A delicious coffee cake perfect for holiday breakfast, brunch or dessert! This cranberry eggnog coffee cake is full of flavor from the cranberries and all the warm spices from the eggnog.
Make ahead of time and reheat to serve warm for Christmas breakfast.
Cranberry coffee cake
Cranberry season continues, at least in my house! I'm telling you, I can't resist those packages every time I cruise through the grocery store. I keep grabbing a few more bags and baking up more deliciousness. This delicious coffee cake is my latest creation.
To make it even more amazing, I've added eggnog to the batter! Talk about delicious!
This coffee cake makes a perfect dessert or a breakfast treat!
Key ingredients
- Cranberries - fresh or frozen. If using frozen cranberries, no need to thaw before using. Increase baking time 5-10 minutes.
- Eggnog - or whole milk if you don't have eggnog
- Sour cream - could substitute low fat plain yogurt
- Butter - I use salted butter
- Spices - ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg
Step by step directions
- Combine butter and sugar together until creamy
- In a separate bowl, combine eggs, eggnog, sour cream and vanilla
- In a third bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg
- Add half of the flour mixture into the creamed butter
- When mixed in, add the egg mixture and mix
- Add the remaining flour and stir until mostly combined
- Fold in cranberries
- Continue folding batter until all flour is incorporated
- Place in a greased baking dish
- Begin make streusel topping by combining brown sugar, flour, melted butter and spices together
- Sprinkle the topping over the top of the unbaked coffee cake
- Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 60 minutes
- Allow cake to cool before serving
Recipe tips
- Make certain butter is softened, not melted before combining with sugar.
- Add half the flour mixture, then the egg mixture and then the flour mixture again.
- Once the final flour has been added, do not overmix. Stir just until most of it is incorporated and then finish mixing when folding the cranberries in
- Fold cranberries in gently with a spatula
- The streusel topping will appear dry when mixing. Use the back of a spoon to really mash the mixture together.
- When adding the streusel, squeeze topping together in your hand and then drop clumps onto the unbaked cake
- Test coffee cake with a toothpick inserted into the center to test to see if it's done
Baking times for different sized pans
Baking times are approximate and will vary from oven to oven and will depend on the type of pan you are using. A glass pan tends to take a few extra minutes while a dark metal pan will take a few less mintues.
Always test your cake to determine if it needs additional time in the oven.
| 8 x 8 inch pan | 55-60 minutes |
| 9 x 9 inch pan | 50-55 minutes |
| 8 x 11 inch pan | 45-50 minutes |
Recipe Faqs
Gently cover with foil, leaving a few gaps open on the side. Place in a preheated 300°F oven for 15 minutes or until heated through.
Once the coffee cake has fully cooled, cover with plastic wrap or foil and leave at room temperature for 3-4 days.
Yes, this coffee cake can be frozen. Allow coffee cake to fully cool and then cover with plastic wrap and then foil. The cake will remain fresh tasting for up to one month. The coffee cake will still be good after that amount of time, but may lose some of its freshness.
To thaw, simply remove from the freezer and allow coffee cake to thaw at room temperature.
More recipes with cranberries
- Cranberry Sweet Rolls
- Cranberry Scones
- Cranberry Muffins
- Cranberry Sauce
- Jellied Cranberry Sauce
- Sugared Cranberries
- Cranberry Bundt Cake
- Cranberry Bread
- Cranberry Swirl Cookies
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment below and snap a picture and tag me on Instagram @beyondthechickencoop
Check out all my holiday recipes!
Cranberry Eggnog Coffee Cake
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter (softened)
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup eggnog
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 ½ cups flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 ½ cups cranberries (whole, fresh cranberries)
Instructions
- Combine butter and sugar together and mix until creamy.½ cup butter, ¾ cup sugar
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.2 ½ cups flour, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- In a third bowl, combine eggs, eggnog, sour cream and vanilla.2 eggs, 1 cup sour cream, 1 cup eggnog, 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Mix half the flour mixture into the butter mixture.
- When mixed in, add the egg mixture. Once it is incorporated, add the final half of flour.
- Fold in cranberries.1 ½ cups cranberries
- Place in a greased 8 x8 inch baking dish.
- Mix streusel together by placing brown sugar, melted butter, cinnamon, nutmeg and flour together. Stir until combined.⅔ cup brown sugar, 2 Tablespoons butter, 2 Tablespoons flour, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- Sprinkle streusel on top of cake batter.
- Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 55-60 minutes.
- Allow cake to fully cool in cake pan
Video
Notes
- Add half the flour mixture, then the egg mixture and then the flour mixture again.
- Once the final flour has been added, do not overmix. Stir just until most of it is incorporated and then finish mixing when folding the cranberries in
- Fold cranberries in gently with a spatula along with any unmixed flour
- The streusel topping will appear dry when mixing. Use the back of a spoon to really mash the mixture together.
- When adding the streusel, squeeze topping together in your hand and then drop clumps onto the unbaked cake
- Test coffee cake with a toothpick inserted into the center to test to see if it's done
- If using frozen cranberries, add frozen and increase baking time by 5-10 minutes
Nutritional Disclaimer:
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and should only be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. To obtain the most precise nutritional information in a provided recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the exact ingredients you are using when preparing the recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Nutrition
Recipe adapted from Taste of Home.
Martha J Kreider says
What kind of cranberries did you use? fresh, frozrn, whole or chopped.?
Kathy says
Hi Martha,
I used fresh whole cranberries. You could use frozen cranberries, but increase the baking time by 5-10 minutes.
Enjoy,
Kathy