One of my fondest childhood memories is having coffee cake on weekend mornings. My younger brother would often make it on his own accord and I think he used Bisquick mix as the base. It was a simple cake but I have always loved the combination of the streusel topping, just a hint of salt, and the soft crumb of vanilla cake below. Guess what these cookies taste like? That very same classic coffee cake. With a very soft bite, a buttery cinnamon streusel topping, and a sweet sticky glaze, these are coffee cake in cookie form, and I can promise you that’s a very good thing.
Despite how these look, they’re actually a very easy cookie. You don’t need to chill the dough, there’s no rolling or cutting out… there’s just a basic drop cookie with a little bit extra on top. It helps to make the streusel first, so you can chill it while you work on the dough, and then it’s nice and firm and holds its shape come baking time.
Then you just make the dough, scoop it out onto your baking sheet, press an indent into each one, and fill it with streusel. You can work on the glaze while the cookies bake, or even while they cool, as it only takes a couple of seconds to stir together. Drizzle it over the cookies and you get to bite in a little handheld version of coffee cake!
Coffee Cake Cookies
For the streusel topping:
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoons butter, softened
For the dough:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cubed
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
For the icing:
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 400°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- First, prepare the streusel topping:
- In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt, then work in the butter (using your fingers or two forks) until mixture is clumpy. Chill until ready to use.
- Next, make the dough:
- In a large bowl, stir together the flour, cornstarch, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugars with an electric mixer until smooth, 1-2 minutes.
- Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla, and blend until well mixed. Gradually add in dry ingredients, and mix until incorporated.
- Scoop dough out into large balls and place on prepared baking sheets. Using your thumb or the back of a tablespoon, make an indent in the center of each cookie.
- Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the streusel filling into the indentation in each cookie, then bake until edges are set and cookie is lightly golden, 9-11 minutes.
- Let rest on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Whisk together butter, heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla for the icing, then drizzle over cooled cookies. Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Krolls Korner.