Pancake mix isn’t just for pancakes. It can make a slew of other delicious recipes, including this tasty Maple Coffee Cake recipe. Rich, tender and perfect for any occasion. Goes great with a cup of coffee!
Maple Coffee Cake is an easy coffee cake recipe using real maple syrup and pancake mix for a quick and easy breakfast cake recipe.
Pancake mix can be used for so many things beyond pancakes and waffles. Bisquick, Aunt Jemima, Hungry Jack, Krusteaz will work and have the standard combination of flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar.
If you’d like to make your own, check out this homemade pancake mix recipe from Spend with Pennies.
A coffee cake is perfect for breakfast, brunch or even dessert. Add a dollop of fresh whipped cream and scoop of vanilla bean ice cream for the perfect sweet treat. Even top it with warm maple cream sauce.
I crave maple syrup and also crunchy cinnamon and sugar, so this cake really hits all of my bases.
One of the most common things I am asked is how to make the best, moist coffee cakes.
Tips for the best coffee cake:
ONE. Do not overmix the batter. The most commonly made mistake in making a cake is overworking the batter.
This is actually made easier when you are using a stand mixer because we overestimate how long the batter has been beaten. Pay attention!
TWO. Sift the dry ingredients. Even if you are using a boxed cake mix, sift the cake mix to get out any clumps. This will make it blend better, but also make it less likely that you will over mix.
THREE. Eggs. Eggs make a cake moist and yolks make them even more moist. Try adding one or two extra yolks to your favorite cake recipe and watch the crumb get even crumblier. Yes, I made that word up!
FOUR. Don’t over bake your cake! This might seem like it is super apparent, but many folks wait too long before taking the cake out of the oven and presto, dry cake. Whomp, whomp.
FIVE. Measure your flour. You might think you measure your cup of flour, but are you doing it correct? Scoop flour into the measuring cup and level it off with a flat spatula or butter knife.
Don’t pack it down, just let is sit how it did when you scooped it. Additional flour makes cake dry and even have a slight heap on your measuring cup could be the culprit.
Specific to this maple coffee cake, make sure you use a real maple syrup and not maple extract. Many of the syrups on the market are just maple flavored and since maple is really the defining factor here, using the real stuff is imperative.
Real maple syrup is much thicker, has better flavor and will also be more expensive, but it is worth it! I have friends that even travel with their own syrup the way I travel with my own salt.
There are a few types of maple on the market, any will do and this is because they are all the same maple sugar content of 66.9%.
The grades only have to do with the color and unlike other graded foods, olive oil for instance, the color of the syrup is largely based on what time of the year the syrup was produced. The season does impact flavor as well.
Maple syrup ranges from pale golden to caramel brown. As the weather warms, the sap becomes darker in color, producing a darker syrup. Corresponding to color, the darker the syrup is, the stronger its flavor.
Maple Syrup
The State of Vermont, the maple syrup capital, distinguishes four maple syrup grades and colors. All of which are produced by the same process. They are:
- Fancy
- Grade A Medium Amber
- Grade A Dark Amber
- Grade B
Only you’ll be able to tell which is your favorite, so have a taste test and check them out! My favorite is a Grade A Medium Amber followed by Fancy.
Make Coffee Cake
To make this maple coffee cake, you’ll first want to preheat oven to 375 degrees. While the oven is preheating, line your spring form pan bottom with parchment paper, and spray nonstick spray over the paper and on the sides of the pan.
In a small bowl, cut together the pancake mix, brown sugar, ground cinnamon, fine sea salt, maple syrup and cold butter. The mixture should be a little crumbly. Set this aside to use later is your topping.
In a separate bowl (or bowl of a stand mixer,) combine the pancake mix, whole milk, maple syrup and lightly beaten egg. Pour that mixture into your prepared spring form pan.
Grab that topping from earlier and pour on top of the coffee cake batter. Swirl it into the batter with a knife or toothpick.
Then pop it into the oven for a cook time of 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 20 minutes before removing.
And there you have it! You can serve with warm cake topped with a little powdered sugar, whipped cream, or just as is!
Coffee cakes are great for holidays and when you have guests visiting. You can also make it ahead of time, like the night before.
Read on below for instructions on how to freeze coffee cake.
Tools for making Maple Coffee Cake:
Spring Form Cake Pan– great for baking cakes, cheesecakes and also making coffee cake!
Stand Mixer– I lived for years without one and I can tell you with 100% confidence that life with one is easier and it is worth the investment.
Sifter– Sifting makes all of your baked goods smooth and fluffy. No more lumps! I prefer a hand crank so I can switch directions and get more sifted through faster.
Questions you might have about how to make Coffee Cake:
Can I freeze cinnamon coffee cake? Package your cake well, wrapped in plastic wrap with little to no air getting in there and freeze for up to 4 months.
Can I make this coffee cake without strudel? You sure can! But, man, the strudel makes the coffee cake! You can even double the streusel topping if you’d like.
Does coffee cake need to be refrigerated? Not this cake. I would keep it well covered at room temperature. It should stay fresh and soft for up to 4 days.
Does coffee cake have coffee in it? Some coffee cakes have coffee in them, but mostly they are made to be served with coffee. This one has no coffee in it.
Do I have to use whole milk? I prefer whole milk for baking. Let’s be honest, if you are making this cake, I am not sure you are too worried about calories and fat.
Whole milk gives a richer taste. If you use skim or 1% you might want to add a tablespoon of melted butter or vegetable oil to balance it out.
More breakfast cakes to get you going…
- Blueberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
- Sour Cream Coffee Cake
- Cinnamon Coffee Cake
- Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake
- And they aren’t cakes, but Vanilla Biscotti are the bomb!
EASY Fruit Pizza
Apple Coffee Cake Recipe
Cranberry Coffee Cake
Maple Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Coffee Cake:
- 2 cups pancake mix
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 tablespoons real maple syrup
- 1 egg , lightly beaten
- Cooking spray
Streusel Topping:
- 2/3 cup pancake mix
- 2/3 cup brown sugar , packed
- 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 tablespoons real Maple syrup
- 5 tablespoons cold butter , cut into small pieces
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper, coating the parchment paper and insides of the pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, cut together pancake mix, brown sugar, ground cinnamon, fine sea salt, maple syrup and cold butter. Mixture will be crumbly and resemble brown sugar when complete. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine pancake mix, whole milk, maple syrup and lightly beaten egg.
- Transfer coffee cake batter to prepared springform pan. Top with streusel and using a knife or toothpick, swirl streusel mixture into cake batter.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until it passes a toothpick test.
- Remove and allow to cool for 15-20 minutes before removing from pan and serving warm.
- If you’ve tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was!
Both my husband and i enjoyed this coffee cake. i no longer have a springform pan so i used an 8 X 8 with success. I personally felt the batter could have used a bit of sugar even with the streusel layer swirled through but other than that, it was a great recipe using pancake mix.
Thank you for the feedback! Happy new year!
I followed this almost entirely as is except 1. I used 2% milk and 2. I used a plain 9″ round cake pan and some cooking spray in it. I made this tonight and it came out great! In fact my 9″ cake pan was almost too shallow as this cake rose more than I expected. The flavor was very nice and this cake was very light and fluffy but not overly sweet like a dessert style cake. The streusel topping is what brings this cake to the next level. That and pure Minnesota maple syrup which I happily used. Husband loved it too! I used a pancake mix formerly known as Aunt Jemima pancake mix (can’t remember the replacement name off the top of my head). I vaguely recall making an awesome coffee cake recipe off the back of that pancake mix box in the early 1990s but I lost it and I have been on a quest to find that recipe or something similar. This recipe is awfully close as far as the taste I remember. I will definitely make this again!
Thank you for coming back to us know!!! Geez, I love a really good maple syrup!
I have neither parchment paper nor a springform pan in my kitchen (nor am I likely to obtain these any time soon). I have successfully made coffee cake using my primitive, lower-middle class baking utensils. Will my (so far reliable) tools and techniques work with this recipe, or am I destined to make nothing but pancakes from my Hungry Jack powder? I note that your page is all about “experiments” (although I struggle to understand what’s “savory” about coffee cake), but I’m not really that bold. Please help.
You seem pretty bold by the nature of this comment! Over the decade we have been doing this, we have branched out into sweets as well as savory. You are more than welcome to make this cake however you’d like, this was the easier way for us to make it.
What do you think about using coconut milk?
I don’t see why you couldn’t use it, but it will have a coconut flavor. If you are looking milk subs I would think oat or almond milk would be a better swap. If you do use coconut milk, make sure it is light.
I haven’t made it yet, do you have to use a spring form pan?
I don’t have one of those…
Hi Carol, you can make it in a regular circular pan, you just might need to serve out of it instead of popping it out for servings.
Loved the website. Thanks for sharing. You have a new fan.
I made this recipe for the first time today. Seems that 5 Tbsp butter is too much for the topping, as it became quite doughy – not crumbly as described. I ended up with big clumps that I just dropped on top of the batter. It stayed on top, but I don’t think it was supposed to look like it did.
Hi Gertrud, you can certainly cut back on the butter if you wish. The butter should be super cold so it doesn’t make a batter. Was yours straight out the fridge?
I don’t know what I did wrong. But when I took my cake out of the oven, the streusel sort of disappeared..? Like it sunk into the cake. It melted, idk. It was not at the top. It was inside. The flavors are fantastic though.
Huh… I’m not sure either! Do you happen to live at a high elevation or was it particularly humid that day?
I made this coffee cake waiting to taste the taste of my favorite childhood cake. I haven’t had it in years and it tasted just like I remember.
Love to hear that. Thank you for stopping by to let us know <3
Can I use Bisquick Baking mix? I’d love to make this, but I don’t have any actual pancake mix on hand. Everything made with maple is scrumptious, especially if you’re a New Englander.
Bisquick works perfectly!
OMG, this cake looks so beautiful–perfect crumb! And the topping looks perfect. Can’t wait to try.
Coffee cakes are my favorite and loving the use of pancake mix in this recipe. Will try this one soon!
I would have never thought that pancake mix can make such a great coffee cake. Thanks for the inspiration. My family loves this recipe.
This coffee cake is perfection! Love the streusel topping and the crumb looks so soft. I’m making for our weekend brunch!
great idea using pancake mix! it’s so much easier!
Coffee cake is one of my favorite things on earth. And adding Maple to it can only make it better. I love the hint of fall that adding Maple gives to the coffee cake.