This Lemon Poppyseed Coffee Cake is so moist and buttery, topped with an easy streusel, and drizzled with a sweet lemony glaze! Perfect for breakfast, brunch, or dessert… grab a fork and enjoy!
This is one of my Breakfast recipes I know you’ll want to keep on hand!
![white scalloped plate topped with a slice of lemon poppyseed coffee cake.](https://www.thechunkychef.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Lemon-Poppyseed-Coffee-Cake-recipe-card-680x680.jpg)
If there’s a quintessential breakfast/brunch recipe, it’s the humble coffee cake. A cake with a rich and tender crumb, topped with a buttery streusel and a sweet glaze.
Made to be served alongside a fabulous cup of coffee or glass of cold milk, it’s a great way to start off your day!
However, a great coffee cake is part breakfast/brunch, and part dessert, this recipe is perfect for any time of day.
This version combines the classic coffee cake with a lemon poppyseed muffin!
We like to make this coffee cake to have for special occasions, as it’s every bit as decadent as it is delicious!
What do I need to make this recipe?
![ingredients needed to make lemon poppyseed coffee cake](https://www.thechunkychef.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Ingredients-for-lemon-poppyseed-coffee-cake-680x1020.png)
- Granulated sugar – there’s granulated sugar in both the cake batter and the streusel.
- Lemon zest – lemon zest is where most of the bright lemon flavor comes from.
- Eggs – this recipe was tested with large eggs.
- Vegetable oil – this adds moisture and richness. It’s important to use a neutral oil, like vegetable oil.
- Sour cream – just like the oil, sour cream adds a wonderful richness and moisture to the cake, as well as a slight tang.
- Lemon juice – fresh lemon juice will yield the best flavor, but bottled will also work in this recipe.
- Lemon extract – this punches up the lemon flavor, and can be found in the baking aisle of your grocery store, or online.
- Flour – no fancy flour is needed here, just plain all-purpose.
- Baking powder – baking powder is what makes this cake rise and be light and fluffy, so don’t skip it.
- Salt – in baking recipes, salt accentuates the other flavors and adds a nice balance.
- Poppyseeds – can’t have lemon poppyseed without the poppyseeds!
- Brown sugar – this recipe was tested with light brown sugar.
- Butter – I prefer to use unsalted butter, but salted would also work well.
How to make lemon poppyseed coffee cake?
This is just an overview; the full ingredients and directions are in the recipe card toward the bottom of this post.
![step by step photo collage of how to make streusel topping](https://www.thechunkychef.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/how-to-make-streusel-topping-680x227.png)
- Combine dry ingredients. This is the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and lemon zest.
- Add butter. For this recipe, the butter is melted, which makes this streusel even easier to make.
- Crumble. Use a fork to mix the melted butter into the dry ingredients, and mix until crumbles form.
![step by step photo collage of how to make lemon poppyseed coffee cake.](https://www.thechunkychef.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/how-to-make-lemon-poppyseed-coffee-cake-680x453.png)
- Mix sugar and lemon zest.
- Beat in eggs. Do this until the sugar has mostly dissolved.
- Mix in remaining wet ingredients. This is the sour cream, vegetable oil, lemon juice, and lemon extract.
- Mix in dry ingredients. This is the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Mix until just combined. You’re looking for no flour streaks to remain.
- Stir in poppyseeds. I prefer to do this with a rubber spatula rather than a hand mixer, so the batter doesn’t get over-mixed.
- Transfer to baking pan. I prefer to line my baking pan with parchment paper.
- Top with streusel and bake.
Helpful Tip!
If you’ve never had coffee cake before, you may be looking through the ingredients and wondering where the *#$% the coffee is. However, contrary to it’s name, coffee cake doesn’t traditionally have coffee in it! It gets it’s name because it’s delicious served alongside a cup of coffee.
![This Lemon Poppyseed Coffee Cake is so moist and buttery, topped with an easy streusel, and drizzled with a sweet lemony glaze! Perfect for breakfast, brunch, or dessert… grab a fork and enjoy!](https://www.thechunkychef.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Lemon-Poppyseed-Coffee-Cake-feat-680x884.jpg)
Variations of this recipe
- No lemon extract – if you don’t have this on hand, or would rather not buy some, you can make this recipe without it. You may want to double the amount of lemon zest though.
- Zucchini – this may sound odd, but it’s delicious! Try grating about 1 cup of fresh zucchini, pressing it between two paper towels to remove some moisture, then stir into the cake batter when you add the poppyseeds. I do this in my lemon poppyseed muffins with zucchini, and it’s delicious!
- Streusel layer – if you love streusel, double the streusel ingredients and add a layer in the middle of the cake. Add half the cake batter, top with half the streusel. Then repeat.
- More streusel – this recipe uses a moderate amount of streusel, but if you’re like me, you’ll want as much of that deliciousness that you can get! Feel free to make extra and add more to the streusel layer on top.
- Larger pan – if you’re making this coffee cake for a crowd and would like more than 9 slices, my advice would be to use 2 separate 8×8 pans, rather than trying to fit it all into a 9×13 pan. I’ve not tested using a 9×13 with a doubled recipe, and I wouldn’t want your pan to potentially overflow.
![coffee cake with lemon poppyseed flavor, with one slice showing the inside.](https://www.thechunkychef.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Lemon-Poppyseed-Coffee-Cake-2-680x850.jpg)
FAQ’s
If you’ve never had coffee cake before, you may be looking through the ingredients and wondering where the coffee is. Contrary to it’s name, coffee cake doesn’t traditionally have coffee in it! It gets it’s name because it’s delicious served alongside a cup of coffee.
Absolutely! The instructions for that are written in the “chef tips” section right below the recipe instructions.
Making coffee cake ahead of time
Personally, I think this coffee cake, as with most baked goods, tastes best when made right before serving. Even though it’s fine to make it a day ahead of time, I just prefer it fresh.
However, you can make your streusel up ahead of time, and measure your dry ingredients ahead of time, cutting down on your prep time.
![fork slicing a piece of a slice of lemon poppyseed coffee cake.](https://www.thechunkychef.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Lemon-Poppyseed-Coffee-Cake-6-680x680.jpg)
Freezing
If you’re wondering if you can freeze coffee cake, the answer is yes!
To freeze, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and add to a freezer bag or container. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Thaw in the refrigerator. You can even freeze individual slices, so when you want a little taste of decadence you don’t have to thaw out a whole cake.
When freezing individual slices, I like to double wrap them in plastic wrap before adding to the freezer bag. With a slice, the sides of the cake are exposed, so you want to take extra care that it doesn’t get dried out.
Storage
Leftovers should be covered tightly and stored at room temperature for 1-2 days, or refrigerated for up to 1 week.
If storing in the refrigerator, be sure to make sure the cake is covered well, otherwise it could dry out.
Top Baking Tips for Coffee Cake!
These tips will help you further perfect your baking skills.
- Room temperature ingredients – for the best results when baking, your cold ingredients should be at room temperature so they can incorporate fully into the batter, unless otherwise indicated in the recipe.
- Easy on the stirring – when mixing you want to stir or beat until JUST combined (when you no longer see streaks of flour). If you over-mix, your baked goods could end up tough, bake unevenly, or have lots of large air pockets in it.
- Use fresh ingredients – some of these are obvious, like using non-expired eggs, but did you know using older baking soda or baking powder can affect the way your baked goods bake? Over time, leavening agents (which is what baking soda and powder are) will lose their efficacy, and won’t give your baked goods a good rise.
- How to tell if your leavening agents are still good – If you’re unsure if your baking soda or powder are still good, drop a pinch in some hot water. If it fizzes, it’s still good! If not, then you’re in need of some new ingredients.
- Follow the recipe. This may seem like a no-brainer, but there’s a reason the recipe is written the way it is; because it works that way. With cooking you may be able to swap out ingredients, guess on the measurements, etc, but with baking you really don’t want to do that. Only use any substitutions specifically mentioned, and follow everything to the letter.
![8x8 baking pan](https://www.thechunkychef.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/square-baking-pan-680x549.jpg)
My Favorite Baking Pan!
I’ve been using bakeware from this brand for years now, and I still love them to this day. They have straight edges, are relatively inexpensive, and clean up like a dream!
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Ingredients
Streusel
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp packed light brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp lemon zest
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly
Lemon poppyseed coffee cake batter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp lemon zest
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup sour cream full fat is recommended
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice fresh is best
- 1 tsp lemon extract optional but recommended
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 Tbsp poppyseeds
Lemon glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar whisked to remove any lumps
- 1 Tbsp whole milk
- 1/2 tsp lemon extract or 1 tsp lemon zest
Instructions
Prepare
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8" baking pan with parchment paper, and set aside.
Make streusel
- In a mixing bowl, add the streusel ingredients (1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 2 Tbsp packed brown sugar, 1 Tbsp lemon zest, and 3 Tbsp melted butter).
- Stir with a fork until combined and the mixture is clumped up into pea-sized balls.
- Cover and refrigerate until later.
Make cake batter
- In a different mixing bowl, add 1 cup granulated sugar and 2 Tbsp lemon zest.
- Add eggs and beat until well mixed and sugar is mostly dissolved.
- Add the sour cream, vegetable oil, lemon juice, and lemon extract. Beat until smooth and creamy.
- Add flour, baking powder, and salt, and slowly beat until just combined and no flour streaks remain.
- Gently fold in the poppy seeds (this is best done with a rubber spatula to avoid over-mixing).
Assemble and bake
- Transfer batter to prepared baking pan, then get the streusel out of the refrigerator.
- Sprinkle the streusel over the top of the batter, and bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
Make glaze
- In a small mixing bowl, combine all glaze ingredients (1 cup powdered sugar, 1 Tbsp milk, and 1/2 tsp lemon extract), whisking until smooth and glossy.
Cool, glaze, and serve
- When finished baking, remove coffee cake from the oven and let sit at room temperature to cool.
- Once mostly cooled, drizzle liberally with the sweet lemon glaze, and serve.
Want to save this recipe for later? Click the heart in the bottom right corner to save to your own recipe box!
Chef Tips
- I’ve estimated this recipe serves 9, but the exact amount and size of the servings are up to you.
To make lemon poppyseed coffee cake muffins:
- Make streusel and cake batter as directed.
- Line the wells of a muffin pan with paper liners and scoop cake batter into the wells, filling the liners about 2/3 of the way full.
- Sprinkle the tops with streusel, and bake in a preheated 350°F oven for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
tisha says
Love lemon poppyseed It’s one of my favorite desserts! This coffee cake is amazing
Sarah says
My mom loves lemon and poppyseed together so I made this for her birthday brunch and she was so surprised and happy! Thank you for a great recipe!
Catalina says
I made the Lemon Poppyseed Coffee Cake and it was a hit! The cake was light and fluffy with a lovely citrus flavor. It’s such a refreshing and delicious dessert that I’ll be baking regularly
Sandra says
This is my new favorite cake to make! I really like it for breakfast paired with coffee! Such a perfect way to start my day!
Erin says
I made this cake using a little less sugar, and it was still perfectly sweet! It was so refreshing and light, perfect for a summer day!
Beth says
I love how moist this cake is. The bright lemon and the poppy seeds are such a classic flavor combination, too.
Krystle Smith says
I love it! The streusel topping added a delightful crunch, while the lemony glaze perfectly balanced sweetness and zesty flavor.
Ally O'Connor says
Good morning! The “ingredient list” for the streusel doesn’t list any granulated sugar? Which is correct, ingredients or recipe?
Thanks, Ally
Make streusel: In a mixing bowl, add the streusel ingredients (1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 2 Tbsp packed brown sugar, 1 Tbsp lemon zest, and 3 Tbsp melted butter).
The Chunky Chef says
Morning! Oh lord, I could have sworn I typed it in the ingredients list, but you’re right, it wasn’t there. I’ve corrected my mistake… and thanks for the heads up!
Don says
Love your recipes they are always fast and easy and taste great as well.