Maraschino Cherry Coffee Cake

This Maraschino cherry coffee cake is decked out with juicy cherries, a cinnamon sugar ripple, and a crumbly streusel topping! It's the perfect breakfast treat to enjoy with a steaming cup of coffee and there is more than enough to share!

Easy Maraschino Cherry Coffee Cake

A cinnamon coffee cake with cherry crumb topping is exactly what you need to get your day started off right. The juicy Maraschino cherries are like little pops of flavor in every bite of this moist cinnamon streusel cake, and my easy vanilla icing will satisfy any sweet tooth!

This is a wonderful breakfast treat to bring to the office or church on early Sunday mornings. After all, who can say no to cake for breakfast?

Jump to:

• Easy Maraschino Cherry Coffee Cake
• 🥘 Ingredients
• 🔪 Instructions
• 💭 Angela's Pro Tips & Recipe Notes
• 🥞 More Great Breakfast Treats!
• 📖 Recipe Card
• 💬 Comments & Reviews

🥘 Ingredients

If you are a frequent baker, you may already have all of these ingredients on hand. If not, everything is fairly inexpensive and easy to find!

Coffee Cake

• All-Purpose Flour - 2 cups of all-purpose flour.
• Sugar - ¾ cup of granulated sugar.
• Baking Powder - 2 teaspoons of baking powder.
• Salt - ½ a teaspoon of salt.
• Milk - ¾ cup of whole, 2%, or skim milk - add more as needed to moisten the flour and dry ingredients.
• Egg - 1 large room temperature egg.
• Butter - ¼ cup of butter melted and cooled.
• Cherry Extract - 2 teaspoons of cherry extract, or use almond and/or vanilla extract.

Cinnamon Ripple

• Sugar - ¼ cup of granulated sugar.
• Ground Cinnamon - 1 ½ teaspoons of ground cinnamon.

Streusel Topping

• All-Purpose Flour - ⅓ cup of all-purpose flour.
• Sugar - ¾ cup granulated sugar.
• Ground Cinnamon - 1 ½  teaspoons of ground cinnamon.
• Butter - 5 tablespoons of butter melted then cooled.
• Maraschino Cherries - ½ a cup of cherries rinsed, dried, and cut into halve.

Vanilla Icing (Optional)

• Confectioners Sugar - 6 tablespoons, AKA powdered sugar or icing sugar.
• Heavy Cream - 2 tablespoons of cream or milk. Use more or less to reach your desired drizzling consistency.
• Vanilla Extract - 1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla extract.

*Be sure to see the recipe card below for ingredients, amounts & instructions!*

🔪 Instructions

There are a few steps to this recipe, but as long as you follow them closely you will have no problem baking your own cherry coffee cake! You will need a large mixing bowl and 2 small mixing bowls, a liquid measuring cup, a silicone spatula, and a 9x13 baking pan.

1. Prep. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
2. Mix dry ingredients. Add all of the dry cake ingredients to a large mixing bowl (2 cups of flour, ¾ cup sugar, 2 teaspoon of baking powder, and ½ teaspoon salt) and whisk to combine. Form a well in the center of the flour mixture.
3. Combine liquid ingredients. In your liquid measuring cup combine ¾ cup milk,1 large egg, 2 teaspoons cherry extract, and ¼ cup butter. Whisk the ingredients together and pour the mixture into the middle of the well in your dry ingredients. Mix just enough to combine (it's OK if your batter is slightly lumpy).
4. Add cinnamon ripple. Pour half of your batter into a 9x13 baking pan. In a small bowl combine ¼ cup sugar, and 1 ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top of the bottom half of the batter.
5. Make streusel. Pour the remaining batter over the cinnamon sugar in your baking pan. Mix all of the streusel ingredients (⅓ cup all-purpose flour, ¾ cup sugar,1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, 5 tablespoons butter, and ½ cup Maraschino cherries) in a small bowl. Sprinkle the crumbly streusel topping over the unbaked coffee cake.

Bake & Serve

1. Bake. Set in the center of your oven's middle rack and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30-35 minutes or until an inserted toothpick, knife, or cake tester comes out clean. Then remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool slightly before slicing and serving.
2. Add icing (optional). If adding icing, mix together the icing ingredients (6 tablespoons confectioners sugar, 2 tablespoons heavy cream, 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract) until smooth. If needed, you may add a touch more liquid or a tablespoon more powdered sugar to reach your desired consistency. Drizzle over the cake as desired.
3. Serve. Serve warm (my fave!) or at room temperature. If your cake has been refrigerated, I suggest reheating for a few seconds to take the chill off.

As the name suggests, this cake pairs wonderfully with a hot cup of coffee (or tea) at breakfast time. That's not to say it isn't delicious any time of day! Enjoy!

💭 Angela's Pro Tips & Recipe Notes

• Sliced almonds can be added for more texture! If you would like some extra crunch, slivered almonds may be added to the streusel cherry topping. Walnuts or pecans would also be tasty. Just a handful will do.
• Storing: This cake may be kept at room temperature in a plastic storage container or cake box for up to 3 days, or refrigerated for up to 6 days.
• Reheating: If you wish to enjoy your cake warm, simply pop it in the microwave for 15 seconds.

🥞 More Great Breakfast Treats!

• Coffee Buns
• Apple Banana Bread
• Bisquick Waffles
• Blueberry Pancakes
• Strawberry Buttermilk Crepes
• Sourdough French Toast

📖 Recipe Card