Cranberry Coffee Cake ~
A light vanilla coffee cake made with fresh, tart cranberries and a cranberry streusel topping.
Perfect for holiday brunches, baby showers, and coffee or tea time at home!
I love cranberries and actually get irrationally happy when they start showing up in stores in the fall.
Every year, as soon as fresh cranberries hit the produce section, I get excited and buy way more than we actually need for holiday dinners.
This year, I found myself with four extra bags of cranberries in the refrigerator. Does that seem like a lot? It seems like a lot to me.
Here’s where this coffee cake recipe comes in.
Three bags of cranberries went into the freezer and the remaining berries were used for cakes. This recipe calls for about 1/3 to 1/2 standard-size package.
Ingredients needed for Cranberry Coffee Cake:
- ground flaxseed and water
- fresh cranberries
- vegan butter
- granulated sugar
- dairy-free sour cream
- vanilla bean paste – or vanilla extract
- all-purpose flour
- baking soda
- salt
- light brown sugar – dark brown sugar also works
- ground cinnamon
How to make Cranberry Coffee Cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Make flax egg substitute. Into a small bowl, add ground flaxseed and water. Stir to combine and set aside.
Prepare the batter. Into a medium-size mixing bowl, add the butter and sugar. Using a mixer, cream the two ingredients together. Add flax mixture and continue beating until incorporated. Add sour cream and vanilla bean paste; mix well. Fold in 1/2 cup of the chopped cranberries. Into a 9×9-inch baking pan, spread batter in an even layer.
Prepare the streusel topping. Into a medium-size mixing bowl, add the remaining 1 cup chopped cranberries, all-purpose flour, light brown sugar, butter, and ground cinnamon. Using your hands, work the mixture into a crumbly texture. Sprinkle the topping mixture over the cake batter to cover completely.
Bake the cake. Bake in preheated oven for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Set on a wire rack until cooled completely.
Serve at room temperature. Store any leftovers, covered in the refrigerator.
More single-layer cake recipes:
Cranberry Coffee Cake
Ingredients
For the batter:
- 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/2 cups fresh cranberries finely chopped
- 1/2 cup vegan butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup dairy-free sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 1 1/2 all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
For the streusel topping:
- 1 cup cranberries finely chopped
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1/4 cup vegan butter softened
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Make flax egg substitute:
- Into a small bowl, add ground flaxseed and water. Stir to combine and set aside.
Prepare the batter:
- In a medium-size mixing bowl, add the butter and sugar. Using a mixer, cream the two ingredients together.
- Add flax mixture and continue beating until incorporated.
- Add sour cream and vanilla bean paste; mix well.
- Fold in 1/2 cup of the chopped cranberries.
- Into a 9x9-inch baking pan, spread batter in an even layer.
Prepare the streusel topping:
- Into a medium-size mixing bowl, add the remaining 1 cup chopped cranberries, all-purpose flour, light brown sugar, butter, and ground cinnamon.
- Using your hands, work the mixture into a crumbly texture.
- Sprinkle the topping mixture over the cake batter to cover completely.
Bake the cake:
- Bake in preheated oven for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
- Set on a wire rack until cooled completely.
- Serve at room temperature. Store any leftovers, covered in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
jenna | the urben life
OH so perfect for brunch or an afternoon snack! What’s your go-to dairy-free sour cream? I usually use plain vegan yogurt in place of it when topping on stuff, but I’d love to find a trust non-dairy sour cream.
thiswifecooks
Thanks, Jenna! I like Tofutti sour cream and use it all the time. I like that it’s thicker than yogurt.
Lauren
I love cranberries so I can’t wait to make these. Do the flax seeds need to be ground or do you think whole would work?
thiswifecooks
I always use ground flaxseed. Not sure whole would work as well.
Sue Lau
This is perfect for the freezer stash! If I manage to see any more berries I will stow some away for this but have forgotten so far.
thiswifecooks
Yes! Keep a few bags in the freezer and you can enjoy cranberries year round!
Dorothy Reinhold
Give me alllll things cranberry! That topping is my favorite part!
thiswifecooks
Yes! Mine too! 🙂
Messy Vegan Baker | Christina
These sound amazing! I’m so excited to make these!
thiswifecooks
Thank you!
tania|mykitchenstories
I wish we could get fresh cranberries here. I’ll have to find a substitute to make this, it looks amazing
Lisa Kerhin
I don’t know what part is my favorite, the topping or the cranberries! LOVE this one!
thiswifecooks
Both! Thank you! 🙂
Valentina | The Baking Fairy
I still have some straggler cranberries left over from the holidays, so this cake will be a great way to use them! It looks absolutely delicious 🙂
thiswifecooks
Yes! This cake is now one of my favorite ways to use up excess cranberries!
Geetha
Cranberry cake looks absolutely irresistible. Lovely treat that my little girl would enjoy too.
Anne Lawton
I have some frozen cranberries in my freezer. Now I have a way to use them up!
thiswifecooks
Yes! I’ve started keeping cranberries in the freezer so I can enjoy them year round. 🙂
Ann Mai | plantcrush.co
I love the sound of this combo, and the colors look gorgeous!!
thiswifecooks
Thank you so much!
FoodTrails
These look so addictive.. fresh cranberries must have added a sweet and tangy taste to this cake.
thiswifecooks
Yes! It’s delicious!
Shelby
Ohh love the topping on this coffee cake but also love the burst of fresh cranberries, so refreshing!
Katie
These cranberry coffee cake muffins are an absolute dream come true! I am so obsessed!!
Nancy
Delicious coffee cake with cranberries. So delicious and satisfying