Made with simple ingredients, this Best Ever Coffee Cake is a traditional yellow cake with a classic cinnamon & brown sugar swirl and topping.

Cake mix coffee cake is the best and easiest way to make a sweet breakfast cake! This is one of our favorite family recipes you’ll want to make again and again.

Coffee Cake up close slice on a metal spatula, being held over pan

A tender, soft coffee cake does not need to be challenging to make friends. Use a yellow cake mix and add a homemade topping; no one will ever guess you didn’t make it from scratch. Trust me – everyone will want a second slice of this breakfast treat.

Recipe Inspiration

I call this recipe “Shelia’s Breakfast Cake” because my mom’s dear friend Shelia always made it for us and gave my mom the recipe. I had the best childhood, and many of those memories were with my parent’s dearest friends: the Augustines, Vilhauer, and Gotschall. We were all like family.

Shelia Augustine was a gem, and on top of that, she made the best sweet treats EVER! Every camping trip was adorned with her goodies, half of why I loved going.

But their most coveted recipe of hers was this one. From the taste of it, one would have assumed she worked on it for hours, slaving away in the kitchen till the wee hours of the night making this delicious treat. Oh, were we wrong! Shelia gave the recipe to my mom, and we were shocked to find out how simple and easy it was.

What is coffee cake?

Coffee cake is a sweet, dense cake with a cinnamon sugar crumb topping. There are many variations, and this recipe is made easy with a cake mix.

It is usually served with coffee or tea for breakfast, but I love it as a snack cake.

Ingredients

  • Yellow cake mix – I like Duncan Hines
  • Eggs
  • Canola or vegetable oil
  • Water
  • Instant vanilla pudding mix
  • Vanilla
  • Brown sugar
  • Cinnamon

I can promise with just a few simple ingredients, you are on your way to cake perfection.

sliced coffee cake squares on wax paper

Anytime I give this recipe to a friend or neighbor, they always, and yes, I mean always, say, “this is the best coffee cake” or “I never knew it was this good.” I have given away the recipe more times than I remember.

How to make this recipe

  • Preheat oven to 350; grease a 9×13 metal pan.
  • Mix all the ingredients for the cake in a mixer for 7 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, mix brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.
  • Once the cake is made and mixed for 7 minutes, pour half of the batter into the greased 9×13 metal pan.
  • Sprinkle ½ of the brown sugar mix over the cake in the pan.
  • Pour the remaining batter on and sprinkle with the remaining sugar.
  • Place in oven and bake for 25-35 minutes.
  • Or until the cake is set and is pulling away from the edges.
  • Let it cool completely, so it doesn’t crumble when you cut and serve.
Coffee Cake in metal 9x13 pan with a tablespoon of cinnamon on the counter

What to eat or drink with coffee cake?

  • I love having a slice of coffee cake for breakfast, along with my mini ham and cheese quiche.
  • It goes perfectly with any hot drink like coffee, tea, etc…
  • A personal favorite is a hot cup of tea and a slice of cake on a cold winter morning!

Browse all of my breakfast recipes to find a delicious dish to serve with it. There are a lot of ideas to try.

Best Ever Coffee Cake square on pie spatula

This Best Ever Coffee Cake will be known to the masses thanks to Shelia and her willingness always to share her unique recipes. However, Shelia is no longer with us today. Her love and laughter will never be forgotten, and her recipes will be passed on for generations. Love & miss you, Shelia.

Cheers to recipes that create memories and the dear friends who “bake” them. Enjoy! XOXO San

More Coffee Cake Recipes

If you would like to enjoy some more recipes, be sure to check these out: 

Maple Pecan Coffee Cake
Copycat Starbucks Coffee Cake
Coffee Cream Cake

Don’t forget to pin this to your favorite Pinterest board.

Shelia’s Coffee Cake

Prep: 12 minutes
Cook: 35 minutes
Total: 50 minutes
Servings: 12
Calories: 379 kcal
Made with 7 simple ingredients this BEST EVER COFFEE CAKE is a traditional yellow cake, with a classic cinnamon & brown sugar swirl and topping.

Ingredients
 

Cake Ingredients

  • 1 yellow cake mix I like Duncan Hines Just use the mix, don’t not follow the directions on the back!
  • 4 eggs
  • ¾ cup canola or vegetable oil
  • ¾ cup water
  • ½ cup instant vanilla pudding (just the dry mix, not prepared)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Cinnamon Swirl & Topping Ingredients

  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon of cinnamon

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350; grease 9×13 metal pan.
  • Mix all the ingredients for the cake in a mixer for 7 minutes (this is key to make the pudding set). I love to use my Kitchen Aid mixer for this!
  • Meanwhile, mix together brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.
  • Once the cake is done mixing for 7 minutes, pour half of the batter in the greased 9×13 metal pan. Sprinkle ½ of the brown sugar mix over the cake in the pan.
  • Pour the remaining batter on and sprinkle with remaining sugar.
  • Place in oven and bake 25-35 minutes. Or until the cake is set and is pulling away from the edges. Let it completely cool so it does crumble when you cut and serve it.
Calories: 379kcalCarbohydrates: 55gProtein: 3gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 54mgSodium: 346mgPotassium: 64mgSugar: 37gVitamin A: 80IUCalcium: 121mgIron: 1.3mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know what you think!

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99 Comments

    1. My parents were huge coffee cake lovers too!! It’s ALWAYS been my favorite, anytime desert! Coffee cakes just bring back great childhood memories!!!!

  1. I just ran across this post. What a beautiful tribute to my sister. Still miss her every day so thank you for an unexpected smile. Going to check out the other post above also.

  2. Looks so yummy and can’t wait to try!!! Mine definitely took longer to bake-so don’t be alarmed if yours does too! Smells so good. Thx

      1. Two questions – does this freeze well? And when I made it, the first layer of brown sugar mixture kind of came to the top. Should I swirl that in? It was absolutely delicious, though! I will be making it again (and again)!!

        1. I haven’t tried freezing this exact coffee cake, but I’m sure it would! Be sure to wrap it tightly and then store in a air tight container. It should keep for a couple months at least. Definitely try swirling it in if it was a problem! I’m so glad you liked it!

    1. You don’t have to swirl it in, it sinks a little when baking, but you can swirl after each layer if you would like!

  3. This coffee cake looks so amazing and delicious, I will definitely gonna try it . One thing I want to ask is , coffee is hot in nature is it good for cake like stuff??? BTW thanks for sharing this content

  4. 5 stars
    This Best Ever Coffee Cake seems so delicious and amazing , love this coffee cake and amazing one . My little one gonna love this recipe.

  5. 5 stars
    Seems delicious , will love to try this one . Thanks for sharing this Coffee Cake recipe with us. Just waiting for week end to make this delicious recipe .

  6. 5 stars
    Love this Best Ever Coffee Cake, this one seem super delicious , will love to try this delicious coffee cake . I love dark cake btw !!!, thanks for sharing this recipe .

  7. 5 stars
    Love this Best Ever Coffee Cake, this cake seems super delicious and amazing . Super excited to try this delicious cake, hope my kids gonna love this .

  8. 5 stars
    Love this Best Ever Coffee Cake, this one seems super delicious and amazing . Super excited to try this one, thanks for sharing this recipe with us.

  9. 5 stars
    Love this delicious Coffee Cake ,this coffee cake seems delicious and amazing . Super excited to try this amazing one, thanks for sharing with us.

        1. Yes, I would use a yellow or butter cake mix, but a white one would also work, just a little bit different in flavors. Yes, glass works just as great!

  10. 5 stars
    OMG! Just made this (used white cake mix because that’s what I had)and it tastes awesome!! I could eat the whole cake!!! Thank you so much for sharing!!

  11. 5 stars
    Made 9 of these in a bundt pan for neighbors for Christmas and they all said it was the best coffee cake they ever had!
    Even greasing bundt pan, some didn’t come out clean so I poured the dough and cinnamon crumbs in two loaf pans and it worked great.
    Thank you!

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