These coffee cake cookies are made with a cinnamon sugar cookie, topped with a buttery crumble topping, and cream cheese glaze.
These cookies are made with ingredients like cinnamon, and brown sugar, giving them a rich and aromatic taste.
They are topped with a crunchy and buttery streusel topping and topped with a deliciously sweet but slightly tangy that goes perfectly with the soft cinnamon sugar cookie.
These cookies are perfect for enjoying with a cup of tea or coffee, and they make for a delicious snack any time of the day.
For more cookie recipes check out my danish butter cookies, buckeyes cookies, double chocolate cookies, and pecan crescent cookies.
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Why this recipe works
- Crumble topping- these cookies are topped with a delicious crunchy, buttery, and flavorful crumble topping that adds a delicious texture to these cookies.
- Cream cheese glaze- these are topped with a cream cheese glaze that is made with a few simple ingredients that is sweet and slightly tangy and goes perfectly with these cookies.
- Texture- these cookies are made with a soft cookie that is topped with a crunchy crumble topping which will create a delicious buttery bite that will melt in you mouth.
- Flavor- these are sweet and spiced with cinnamon and have a warm and delicious flavor that goes perfectly next to a cup of coffee or tea.
- Time- these cookies are a no chill cookie recipe, so you can make these in under an hour from start to finish!
Ingredients
Before you start to make this recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
Full measurements are in the recipe card below.
For the cookie dough
Butter- use unsalted butter for this recipe. Only butter will work for this recipe, no margarine, and no coconut oil. Margarine has a weird taste and can ruin the flavor of these delicious cookies.
Flour– we used all-purpose flour for this recipe. cake flour will work great as well.
Baking powder and baking soda- to allow the cookies to spread. Make sure that your baking powder and baking soda are not expired.
Cornstarch- cornstarch helps to create a tender texture for these cookies, plus, it keeps the cookie thick and soft.
Granulated sugar– we like to use granulated sugar, also the most common sugar used in baking. Caster sugar will work great as well.
Brown sugar- adds a caramelly flavor and chewy texture to the cookies.
Cinnamon- gives these cookies an amazing taste and compliments the apples perfectly.
Eggs- you will need 2 large eggs for this recipe. Make sure that your egg is at room temperature.
Vanilla extract- adds extra flavor.
Kosher salt- you will need about ½ teaspoon of kosher salt for this recipe.
For the crumble topping
Sugar- we used granulated sugar for this recipe. You can use brown sugar as well.
Cinnamon- we love adding cinnamon to the topping, you can add a pinch of nutmeg for extra flavor.
Pinch of salt- we used kosher salt.
Melted butter- use unsalted butter for this recipe. melt your butter in the microwave or on the stovetop. Melted butter adds to this banana bread lots of moisture.
For the cream cheese glaze
Cream cheese- make sure that you are using whole-fat cream cheese that is at room temperature. We highly recommend using the famous Philadelphia cream cheese.
Powder sugar- you don’t have to buy powdered sugar, you can simply make it at home by blending granulated sugar in a blender or food processor.
Instructions
Make the crumble topping
In a medium mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, and cinnamon, and mix it with a spoon until well combined.
Add the melted butter and mix with a spoon until it's mixed. Do not overmix it. Place it in the fridge while you make the cookie dough.
Into a large mixing bowl, add the room temperature butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and kosher salt. Mix with an electric hand mixer until smooth.
Add the eggs and mix until well combined.
Add the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and baking soda, and mix until just combined. Don't overmix for moist cookies and not dry cookies.
Use a cookie scooper to scoop out the cookies or scoop the cookies with a tbsp, 2 tablespoons at a time. Roll the cookie dough balls into balls using your clean hands.
Dip a tablespoon in flour and create a thumbprint pattern where you will add the crumble topping.
Fill each indent with a generous amount of the crumble topping and press it onto the cookie to make it stick.
Bake the cookies in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for 10-12 minutes until the cookies look baked. They will look pale do not overbake them to keep them soft!
Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes and then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Make an easy cream cheese glaze by mixing cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and kosher salt in a small mixing bowl and drizzle the cookies with the glaze. Serve and enjoy!
Expert Tips
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and butter. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly.
- Don’t overmix the dough, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have moist cookies and not dense and dry cookies.
- Make sure that your butter is at room temperature. An hour or two before making these cookies, take the butter out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. The butter should be soft to the touch. If your butter is too cold, it will be harder to mix and there will be lumps of butter in the dough.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with the back of a knife.
- Line your sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat! This step helps the cookies to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your brown butter chocolate chunk cookies release easily from the pan.
- Use a cookie scoop to scoop out the cookies, that way you will have even-sized cookies, plus it ensures that your cookies bake evenly.
- Be patient! I know it’s incredibly tempting to eat these cookies as they are pulled out of the oven, but let these cookies cool for at least 15 minutes so they will be firmer and won’t crumble up.
- Let these cookies cool for 5 minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool for at least 10 more minutes. This step ensures that the bottom of your cookies will not be soggy from the steam.
Faq's
Coffee cake cookies are made with a cinnamon sugar cookie base, which is topped with crumble topping just like coffee cake does, and topped with either a simple glaze or a cream cheese glaze.
This usually means that there is too much flour in the dough. It is very important to measure your flour correctly. Check out our expert tips for how to measure flour correctly.
These cookies will last for up to 5 days stored at room temperature in an airtight container.
The term "coffee cake" can be a bit misleading, as it doesn't actually contain any coffee in its ingredients.
The name originated from the fact that this type of cake is traditionally served alongside a cup of coffee.
Coffee cakes are typically sweet, moist, and often topped with a crumbly streusel or glaze.
Storing
Store these cookies at room temperature. Make sure that you store them in an airtight container so they won't dry out.
Freezing
Simply, follow the instructions as written and make the dough balls, then transfer the dough balls into a freezer-friendly airtight ziplock bag, and freeze the cookie dough ball for up to 3 months.
When ready to bake the cookies, let them come to room temperature, make the crumble topping, and bake according to the instructions.
Make these ahead of time
In order to make these cookies ahead of time, you will need to make the cookie dough and crumble topping and store them in the fridge in an airtight container until you are ready to use.
You can store them in the fridge for up to two days, and when you are ready to bake them, follow the rest of the instructions and bake as written.
Substitutions
Dairy-free - If you are dairy-free, replace the butter with vegan butter or plant-based butter. Also, swap the cream cheese with vegan cream cheese and the heavy cream with vegan heavy cream.
Gluten-free- you can swap the flour with gluten-free flour to make these gluten-free. I have not tested this recipe with gluten-free flour, but it should work.
Variations
Spices- add your favorite spices for cinnamon-spiced desserts! Like nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin spice, ginger, etc.
Nuts- add chopped nuts to the cookie dough or to the streusel topping for an added crunch.
Glaze- top these cookies with a simple glaze, maple glaze, or caramel sauce instead of cream cheese glaze.
Powdered sugar- instead of topping these cookies with a glaze, top these with powdered sugar.
Equipment
- Baking sheet and rack set (our fave)
- Cookies scoop set of 3 (the best cookie scoop we used)
- Whisk Set (pack of 3) to whisk the ingredients together
- Saucepan
More coffee cake recipes
Cherry coffee cake- This cherry coffee cake is made with fresh or frozen cherries, and lemon zest, and topped with a buttery crumble topping.
Blueberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake- This blueberry coffee cake is made with a moist and soft cake filled with blueberries, and cinnamon filling, and topped with a buttery and crunchy crumble topping.
Banana Coffee Cake- This banana coffee cake is made with soft cinnamon banana cake, filled with a cinnamon swirl filling, cinnamon crumble topping and a delicious glaze.
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If you liked this recipe
📖 Recipe
The Best Coffee Cake Cookies
Ingredients
For the cookie dough
- ⅔ cup Butter softened, unsalted
- ⅔ cup Granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup Brown sugar light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 Egg
- 1 Egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon Baking powder
- ½ teaspoon Baking soda
- 1 tablespoon Cornstarch
- 2 cups Flour AP
For the crumble topping
- ¼ cup Butter unsalted, melted
- ⅓ cup Brown sugar light brown sugar
- ⅔ cup Flour AP
- ⅓ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
For the cream cheese glaze
- 2.1 oz Cream cheese softened
- ½ cup Powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ⅓ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 5 tablespoon Milk
Instructions
Make the crumble topping
- In a medium mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, and cinnamon, and mix it with a spoon until well combined.
- Add the melted butter and mix with a spoon until it's mixed. Do not overmix it. Place it in the fridge while you make the cookie dough.
- Into a large mixing bowl, add the room temperature butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and kosher salt. Mix with an electric hand mixer until smooth.
- Add the eggs and mix until well combined.
- Add the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and baking soda, and mix until just combined. Don't overmix for moist cookies and not dry cookies.
- Use a cookie scooper to scoop out the cookies or scoop the cookies with a tbsp, 2 tablespoons at a time. Roll the cookie dough balls into balls using your clean hands.
- Dip a tablespoon in flour and create a thumbprint pattern where you will add the crumble topping.
- Fill each indent with a generous amount of the crumble topping and press it onto the cookie to make it stick.
- Bake the cookies in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for 10-12 minutes until the cookies look baked. They will look pale do not overbake them to keep them soft!
- Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes and then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Make an easy cream cheese glaze by mixing cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and kosher salt in a small mixing bowl and drizzle the cookies with the glaze. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and butter. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly.
- Don’t overmix the dough, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have moist cookies and not dense and dry cookies.
- Make sure that your butter is at room temperature. An hour or two before making these cookies, take the butter out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. The butter should be soft to the touch. If your butter is too cold, it will be harder to mix and there will be lumps of butter in the dough.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with the back of a knife.
- Line your sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat! This step helps the cookies to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your brown butter chocolate chunk cookies release easily from the pan.
- Use a cookie scoop to scoop out the cookies, that way you will have even-sized cookies, plus it ensures that your cookies bake evenly.
- Be patient! I know it’s incredibly tempting to eat these cookies as they are pulled out of the oven, but let these cookies cool for at least 15 minutes so they will be firmer and won’t crumble up.
- Let these cookies cool for 5 minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool for at least 10 more minutes. This step ensures that the bottom of your cookies will not be soggy from the steam.
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