This sweet, creamy, and rich lemon coffee cake is bursting with fresh lemon flavor that has three layers of deliciousness: a moist lemon cake layer, a sweet lemon cream cheese layer, and a delicious crumb topping.

Coffee cake is one of my favorite sweet treats to make. It’s so versatile, and it’s so easy to make. It’s also a classic that almost everyone loves. If you thought you knew coffee cake, get ready to be amazed. I’m sharing an even more delicious version of this classic snack that you’re absolutely going to fall in love with. I love to make this delicious coffee cake for snacking or dessert when my family comes to visit. I also bring it to potlucks and special occasions like showers or holiday gatherings. It’s so easy to make that I also make it just because I’m in the mood. There’s never really a wrong time for this recipe!
Lemon Coffee Cake
This delicious coffee cake starts with a lemon coffee cake base. It’s a classic coffee cake made super moist and full of lemon flavor with the addition of lemon Greek yogurt, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Then, I add a sweet lemon cream cheese layer that’s smooth, creamy, and filled with classic cheesecake flavor. Finally, I add a simple, sweet crumb topping to balance out the tang of the citrus. It all comes together to make a delicious dessert or snack that’s loaded with deep, lemon flavor and the perfect amount of sweetness.
Why You’ll Love This Lemon Coffee Cake
- It’s so moist, and it features three layers of deliciousness.
- It has a sweet, lemon cream cheese layer that takes classic coffee cake to a totally new place.
- It’s absolutely an incredible lemon dessert that the whole family is going to flip over.
Tips
- Bring your egg to room temperature for easy incorporation and the best rise.
- Fully soften your cream cheese for complete mixing. Otherwise, you’ll end up with little raw bits of cream cheese.
- Be sure you hit every surface of your baking dish with nonstick spray to prevent sticking.
- Only mix your wet and dry coffee cake ingredients until just combined. Too much mixing leads to a tough cake.
Variations
- Try adding nuts to the coffee cake batter for more flavor and texture.
- Change the flavor of your coffee cake to another citrus by using pineapple or orange juices.
What to Serve with Lemon Coffee Cake
Coffee cake is a great snack or dessert, but it’s also an excellent sweet breakfast. As a result, you can serve a variety of dishes with it.
- Coffee
- Milk
- Green tea
- Orange juice
- Oatmeal
- Sausage
- Eggs
- Bacon
Recipe FAQs
What flavors go with lemon cake?
Lemon pairs wonderfully with a variety of fruits. Combine your lemon with other fruit flavors like:
- Apple
- Apricot
- Banana
- Berries
- Cherry
- Coconut
- Cranberries
- Grapes
- Kiwi
- Lime
- Mango
- Nectarines
- Oranges
- Peaches
- Pears
- Plums
- Rhubarb
Does coffee cake have to be refrigerated?
Normally, it doesn’t. However, this coffee cake has a cream cheese-based layer, so it should be refrigerated.
What makes a cake nice and moist?
There are a few things that make a cake moist. Sour cream, yogurt, buttermilk, or applesauce all help make a moister, more tender cake. In addition, you can go all-out and use cake flour in place of all-purpose flour for an even moister, more tender crumb.
Can you freeze lemon coffee cake?
You can! This coffee cake freezes beautifully for up to a month.
How to Store Leftover Lemon Coffee Cake
Store your coffee cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. For longer storage, wrap the coffee cake tightly in a double layer of plastic wrap and a layer of aluminum foil and freeze it for up to a month.
Lemon Coffee Cake Ingredients
This recipe only uses simple baking ingredients. You probably have most of them in your kitchen right now, and any that you don’t are easily found at your local grocery store.
- All-purpose flour
- Sugar
- Large egg + egg yolk
- Lemon Greek yogurt
- Cream cheese
- Fresh lemon juice
- Lemon zest
- Vanilla extract
- Butter
For the complete list of ingredients, and actual measurements, see the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
How to Make Lemon Coffee Cake
Making this coffee cake is a snap. It only takes a few simple steps and a few minutes. It’s just that easy.
Step 1: Prep
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9×9 baking pan with non-stick spray. Set it aside.
Step 2: Combine the Dry Coffee Cake Ingredients
Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.
Step 3: Combine the Wet Coffee Cake Ingredients
In another bowl, beat oil and sugar for 2 minutes. Next, beat in the egg. Finally, add the lemon yogurt, lemon juice, and lemon zest, and mix until combined.
Step 4: Make the Batter
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Pour the batter into the baking dish.
Step 5: Make the Lemon Cream Cheese
In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, egg yolk, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla until combined. Then, spoon it over the coffee cake batter and spread evenly.
Step 6: Make the Crumb Topping
In a small bowl, stir the flour, sugar, and butter together until crumbly. Then, add the boiling water and mix until combined. Spread an even layer of mixture over the cream cheese layer.
Step 7: Bake
Bake the coffee cake for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Then, remove it from the oven and let it cool one a wire rack for 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired. Enjoy warm or cold!
Try This Delicious Lemon Coffee Cake Today
This lemon coffee cake is loaded with sweet and tangy flavors that everyone will love. Tender, moist lemon coffee cake topped with a layer of sweet, lemon and cream cheese filling and a layer of sweet crumb topping make a winning combination that people can’t get enough of. Give this recipe a try, and I guarantee you’ll make it all the time!
More Delicious Lemon Desserts
Cream Cheese Lemonade Pie – This creamy, tart and absolutely delicious lemonade pie is one of the most popular dessert recipes on the blog. It’s refreshing and only takes a matter of minutes to whip up and after it’s chilled in the fridge, it is a lemony dessert everyone will want the recipe for. It’s that good.
Luscious Lemon Cheesecake – A creamy, lemony, tart cheesecake with a lemon curb topping that is absolutely delicious and is a family favorite cheesecake recipe.
Lemon Cheesecake Squares – These delicious cheesecake squares are creamy, refreshing, lemony and topping with a homemade blueberry topping. Two favorite flavors in one dessert.
And, here is a Lemon Pretzel Dessert from our other blog, Deliciously Seasoned, that tastes amazing with both sweet and salty flavors.
Lemon Coffee Cake
Ingredients
For the Coffee Cake Layer
- 1 ½ cup all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup lemon Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
For the Cream Cheese Layer
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the Crumb Topping
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ¼ cup cold butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° and lightly spray a 9×9 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
For the Coffee Cake Layer
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together until combined.
- In another bowl, beat oil and sugar together for 2 minutes then beat in egg until light and fluffy.
- Next, add lemon yogurt, lemon juice and lemon zest, and mix until combined.
- Mix dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined.
- Pour cake batter into the prepared baking dish.
For the Cream Cheese Layer
- In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, egg yolk, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla together until combined.
- Spoon cream cheese mixture on top of coffee cake layer and spread evenly.
For the Crumb Topping
- In a small bowl, using a pastry blender, mix flour, sugar, and cold butter together until crumbly.
- Add crumb topping evenly over the cream cheese layer and bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes.
- Remove from oven. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving. Can serve warm or cold.
Notes
Nutrition
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I want to make this for my church fellowship… If I doubled it would a 9×13 pan work?
Hi Ashley, Yes, it should work just fine. I hope you all enjoy it. :)
I made this today, it is delicious, tender, moist and the cream cheese layer is velvet. Highly recommend.
Hi Mary, I’m so glad you enjoyed this lemon coffee cake. That is a great description of the lemon cream cheese layer. Thank you so much for sharing. :)