Lemon Coffee Cake with Lemon Streusel Topping

If you love bright citrus desserts and cozy bakery-style cakes – this Lemon Coffee Cake with a lemon crumble topping and fresh lemon glaze, is the perfect recipe to bake. It’s soft, buttery, and packed with layers of fresh lemon flavor in every bite. Topped with a sweet crumbly streusel and finished with a tangy lemon glaze. This homemade lemon coffee cake is ideal for breakfast, brunch, dessert, or an afternoon treat. 

Do you want more coffee cake recipes? Be sure and try this Banana Coffee Cake, Blueberry Streusel Coffee Cake, and Easy Bisquick Coffee Cake.

Lemon Coffee Cake Recipe with Lemon Crumb Topping & Lemon Glaze

Coffee cake doesn’t usually contain coffee- it’s a soft, sweet cake traditionally served alongside a cup of coffee for brunch or afternoon snack. A coffee cake often includes a buttery streusel topping, cinnamon swirl, and a glaze of some sort. 

This lemon coffee cake gives the classic coffee cake a refreshing citrus twist with layer of fresh & bright lemon flavor. 

It starts with a tender, moist, and soft lemon crumb cake that get’s topped with a sweet streusel crumbly topping and finished off with a simple fresh lemon juice glaze. 

How To Make a Lemon Coffee Cake (Printable Recipe Card)

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Lightly spray a 8×8-inch square baking pan with nonstick spray, and then line it with parchment paper, making sure to leave a slightly overhang for easy removal. 

Make The Lemon Crumble Topping : In a medium bowl, mix together the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, salt, and lemon zest until combined.

Add in the melted butter and mix with a fork until sandy crumbs form, with some larger clumps. Allow the crumbs to sit at room temperature while you prepare the cake. 

Make The Lemon Crumb Cake : In a large mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, using an electric mixer, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar at medium-high speed for 2 minutes, until creamy and just lightly fluffy. 

Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix on low speed just until combined. 

Add in the lemon zest, fresh lemon juice, and vanilla extract and blend until smooth. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda until evenly combined. 

Add the dry ingredients into the bowl of wet ingredients in two additions, alternating with half of the sour cream between each dry ingredient addition, mixing on low speed just until blended until no dry streaks remain. Avoid overmixing the batter to keep the cake tender. 

Spread the lemon cake batter into the prepared baking dish and smooth out the top. Sprinkle the reserved crumble over the batter, making sure to distribute it evenly across the cake, to avoid the cake collapsing in one area. 

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the center springs back lightly when touched and a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean with only a few crumbs (no wet batter!)

Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool for 20 minutes at room temperature. Then lift the cake out using the parchment paper overhang and place it on a cooling rack. Allow the cake to cool completely. 

Make The Lemon Glaze : In a small bowl whisk together the powdered sugar, fresh lemon juice, and vanilla extract until combined. Add a little more lemon juice if it is too thick, or a small amount of powdered sugar if it’s too thin. You want the glaze to be smooth, semi-pourable, and pipeable or spoonable. 

Pipe or drizzle the lemon glaze over the cake. Let the glaze set for a few minutes before slicing into 9 squares. Serve & enjoy!

Pro Tips From The Test Kitchen

• Once you add the flour mixture (in the two parts alternating with the sour cream) be careful that you are not aggressively or overmixing or else the cake can become dense instead of a light and tender cake. Mix on low speed only, and only mix until no flour pockets or streaks remain in the batter. 
• Allowing the cake to cool completely before glazing prevents the glaze from completely melting into the surface, keeping the drizzle pretty and visible. Use a fork or spoon to drizzle the glaze over top, or put the glaze into a sandwich size Ziploc bag with the corner snipped, and pipe it over top the cake in even lines. 
• I highly recommend full-fat sour cream for the best texture, creaminess, and tender crumb. Plain Greek yogurt can be substituted if preferred, however, I much prefer the taste of the sour cream as it has way less tangy flavor than yogurt. 
• Do not substitute the fresh lemon juice for bottled lemon juice – you need lemon zest anyways, so zest the lemons first and then squeeze the juice out of them. 

More Amazing Lemon Recipes

• Lemon Lush
• Lemon Crumb Bars
• Lemon Blueberry Streusel Muffins with Lemon Glaze
• Lemon Zucchini Bread With Fresh Lemon Glaze
• Lemon Yogurt Fruit Salad
• Coconut Lemon Poppyseed Muffins
• Lemon Cake Mix Cookies
• Lemon Blueberry Sheet Cake (Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting)
• Lemon Cheesecake Bars Recipe