Sourdough Discard Coffee Cake (Vegan, Egg-Free)

This delicious sourdough discard coffee cake bursts with cinnamon, brown sugar and vanilla flavor. It is soft, buttery, tender, but also carries a subtle crunch, thanks to its crispy topping. Perfect sweet treat to enjoy with a steamy cup of coffee, this recipe is also made egg-free and vegan!

This sourdough discard coffee cake is one of our favorite sourdough discard recipes to make when we crave something sweet. We love this blueberry sourdough loaf cake in the summer and these vegan carrot cake sourdough muffins for make-ahead quick snacks. But in this coffee cake recipe, there is something so special about the soft & moist white cake that meets a cinnamon sugar and buttery filling, it makes for the most decadent cake!

As a side note, the name of this cake is a little misleading! In the USA, coffee cake DOES NOT CONTAIN COFFEE inside, but instead, it is intended to be enjoyed with a cup of coffee, giving it the name of coffee cake.

Not a coffee-flavored cake, but filled with vanilla, cinnamon, brown sugar and butter yummi-ness, it is so soft and tender, it melts in your mouth. Everyone will love it, adults and kids!

It is perfect for dessert, but we most enjoy it as an afternoon sweet treat with coffee or tea. It can also be enjoyed for breakfast if you love to start your day with something sweet!

New to sourdough baking? Start here by making your own sourdough starter!

Let me know how it turned out! ❤️

❤️ Why you will love this recipe

• Soft, tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture, absolutely addictive!
• Packed with brown sugar, butter and vanilla flavor
• Amazing way to use your sourdough discard instead of wasting it!
• This recipe is 100% vegan, egg-free and dairy-free!

🗒 Ingredient notes (+ substitutions)

• Flour: use all-purpose flour (avoid bread flour) for a pillowy and soft cake texture.
• Sugar: to make the cake, I used cane sugar, but regular granulated sugar would work too. For the cinnamon filling, I used brown sugar, although cane sugar or granulated sugar would be fine too.
• Sourdough discard: you will need 100% hydrated sourdough discard, but you can also use fed and active sourdough starter if that's what you have ready to go. The older the discard is, the more sour the flavor will be.
• Leavening agents: this is a non-fermented cake recipe made with unfed starter, meaning that you will need something to help the cake rise. In this case, we are using both baking powder and baking soda.

⭐️ Full list of ingredients (+ quantities) down below in the recipe card!

📝 Variations

• Nuts: you can easily include nuts in the cinnamon sugar filling. Walnuts, pecans or almonds would be great. Make sure to chop them before incorporating them into the mixture.
• Butter: I used vegan butter to make this cake plant-based, but this recipe will work just as well with regular butter.
• Fermented coffee cake: you can combine the cake batter ingredients, cover it well and place it in the fridge overnight. The next morning, continue with the recipe as described. This will add some extra bonus nutrients, and add a yummy deep flavor to the cake. Fermenting the batter also breaks some of the gluten, making for a cake that's even softer and tender.

🍽 How to make sourdough discard coffee cake

Step 1: Make the cake batter. In a large mixing bowl, add the sourdough discard, milk, oil, sugar and vanilla extract. Whisk until combined.

Step 2: Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir until just combined (do not overmix).

Step 3: Make the cinnamon filling. In a second mixing bowl, add the flour, cinnamon, brown sugar and salt. Mix and then add the cold butter in smaller cubes or chunks.

Step 4: Using a pastry cutter (or a fork), crush the butter into the flour-sugar mix until crumbly and mostly uniform. If not using right away, transfer to the fridge so it stays cold.

Step 5: Pour HALF the cake batter into a parchment-covered 9 x 9 square baking dish and spread it out up to the corners into an even layer.

Step 6: Distribute HALF the cinnamon filling mix over the batter while making sure to be delicate enough not to disturb the cake batter underneath (we want to create layers).

Step 7: Pour the remaining of the cake batter as evenly as possible. I like to pour it into a fine stream all over the surface.

Step 8: Scatter the rest of the cinnamon sugar mix over while making sure to cover the entire surface. Bake at 350ºF for 50 minutes. Let the cake cool down for about 10-15 minutes before unmolding (pull on the parchment paper to take the whole cake out in one piece), slicing and serving.

⭐️ Detailed recipe down below in the recipe card!

❗️ Storage tips

You can keep the cake at room temperature for about 2 days in an airtight container. For longer storage, you may want to keep it in the fridge or the freezer.

If you do freeze it, then make sure to pre-slice the whole cake and separate the squares with parchment paper so they don't stick together for easy grab and go. Simply take it out from the freezer a few hours before you want it or even quicker, warm it up briefly using the microwave until thawed.