This sweet potato coffee cake is a wonderfully delicious and moist cake that is perfect for any time of the day! It's loaded with tasty sweet potatoes, warm baking spices, honey, and vanilla! Finally, this cake is sprinkled with a sweet, crumbly oat topping that is completely irresistible!
Easy Sweet Potato Cake Recipe
If you love sweets as much as I do, you are probably completely thrilled at the thought of enjoying cake for breakfast! This tasty treat has all of the flavors of a sweet potato pie but in cake form!
The cake is moist, delicious, and topped off with an oatmeal streusel that is truly addicting. I can't imagine a better way to start your day than with a hot cup of coffee and a slice of this sweet potato coffee cake!
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Take a look at my coffee cake mug cake, maraschino cherry coffee cake, and Bisquick coffee cake for more brunch-worthy treats!
🥘 Sweet Potato Coffee Cake Ingredients
This recipe is loaded with warm spices, sweet potatoes, and standard baking ingredients! No coffee included, but feel free to enjoy this cake while you drink some!
Sweet Potato Coffee Cake
- Brown Sugar - ½ cup of light brown sugar, packed.
- Honey - ¼ cup of honey.
- Butter - ¼ cup of room temperature butter. Find out the best methods for softening butter here.
- Egg - 1 large egg at room temperature.
- Mashed Sweet Potatoes - 1 cup of mashed sweet potatoes. Take a look at my recipe for mashed sweet potatoes!
- Vanilla - ½ teaspoon of pure vanilla extract.
- Baking Soda - 2 teaspoons of baking soda.
- Cinnamon - 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon.
- Cloves - 1 teaspoon of ground cloves.
- Nutmeg - ½ teaspoon of ground nutmeg.
- Salt - ½ teaspoon of salt.
- Flour - 2 cups of all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled.
Oatmeal Topping
- Flour - ⅓ cup of all-purpose flour.
- Brown Sugar - ⅓ cup of light brown sugar, packed.
- Oats - ⅓ cup of old-fashioned rolled oats.
- Butter - ¼ cup of room temperature butter.
- Cinnamon - 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon.
*Be sure to see the free printable recipe card below for ingredients, exact amounts & instructions with tips!*
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🔪 How To Make Sweet Potato Coffee Cake
Coffee cake is easy to make, and you don't have to bother frosting it! You will need an 8x8 (or 9x9) baking dish, a stand mixer, a mixing bowl, a silicon spatula, and your measuring utensils.
This recipe will make one 8x8 sweet potato coffee cake dish, which can be cut into nine generous servings.
Prepare the Cake Batter
- Preheat. To get started, preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and lightly grease an 8x8 baking dish.
- Beat. In a large mixing bowl (or your stand mixer), beat together ½ cup of brown sugar, ¼ cup of honey, and ¼ cup of softened butter until nice and creamy. Then, beat in 1 egg.
- Add. Add 1 cup of mashed sweet potato and ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract and beat again, stopping to scrape down the mixing bowl as necessary.
- Add spices. Next, beat in 2 teaspoons of baking soda, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of cloves, ½ teaspoon of nutmeg, and ½ teaspoon of salt until all of the ingredients are well incorporated.
- Incorporate flour. In small increments, slowly stir in 2 cups of flour and mix until just combined. You don't want to overmix the batter. Then pour the batter into your prepared baking dish and smooth the top of the batter out with a silicone spatula. *The batter will be very thick.
Make the Topping & Bake
- Mix the topping. In a mixing bowl, mix ⅓ cup each of flour, brown sugar, and oats, and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon until evenly distributed. Add in ¼ cup of softened butter and mix well.
- Top the cake. Sprinkle the oat topping mixture over the cake batter.
- Bake. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Cool. Allow the cake to cool in the pan before serving.
Serve your sweet potato coffee cake with a nice warm cup of your favorite type of coffee! Add on a dollop of whipped cream for an extra special treat! Enjoy!
💭 Angela's Tips & Recipe Notes
- Be careful not to overmix your batter. As soon as the flour is distributed, stop mixing!
- The batter for this cake is very thick (similar to cookie dough). Just use a silicone spatula to spread it into your baking dish evenly.
- If you use canned sweet potatoes, try to find pure unsweetened sweet potatoes. If you use canned yams in syrup, it will be much sweeter!
- The easiest way to get mashed sweet potatoes is to pierce two large sweet potatoes with a fork. Then, pop them in the microwave for 6 minutes or until soft. Slice them open and use a fork to mash them!
🥡 Storing
Keep leftovers tightly covered at room temperature for up to 3 days. There's no need to store it in the fridge! If you want to warm up the cake, just pop it in the microwave for a few seconds. However, it is just as yummy at room temperature!
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❓ FAQ
The term "coffee cake" just means that the cake is meant to be served alongside a cup of coffee as a snack, brunch, or breakfast dish (as opposed to dessert).
There are tons of different flavors and variations for coffee cake, and they do not contain any coffee unless it is specifically coffee-flavored!
The main difference is that coffee cake typically has a streusel-based topping and is not frosted. They are an ideal choice for people who do not like frosting or icing!
This cake tastes delicious warm, at room temperature, or even cold! Store your cake at room temperature (no need to be refrigerated), but feel free to pop it in the microwave if you like it better warm!
🍂 More Sweet Potato Recipes
- Sweet Potato Casserole - A holiday favorite topped off with sweet marshmallows!
- Sweet Potato Cornbread - Mashed sweet potatoes and warm spices give a tasty twist to typical cornbread!
- Southern Candied Sweet Potatoes - Tender sweet potatoes are coated in nutmeg and cinnamon syrup!
- Microwave Baked Sweet Potatoes - Whip up some baked sweet potatoes so much faster than if you used the oven!
- Sweet Potato Tart - A creamy tart with a shortcrust pastry and a marshmallow meringue topping!
- Sweet Potato Sushi - A vegetarian dish with sweet potato, sticky rice, and nori!
📋 Recipe
Sweet Potato Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Sweet Potato Coffee Cake
- ½ cup light brown sugar (packed)
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup butter (softened at room temperature)
- 1 large egg (room temperature)
- 1 cup mashed sweet potatoes
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
Topping
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar (packed)
- ⅓ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- ¼ cup butter (softened at room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- To get started, preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and lightly grease an 8x8 baking dish.
- In a large mixing bowl (or your stand mixer), beat together your brown sugar, honey, and softened butter until nice and creamy. Then, beat in the egg.½ cup light brown sugar, ¼ cup honey, ¼ cup butter, 1 large egg
- Add in the mashed sweet potato and vanilla extract and beat again, stopping to scrape down the mixing bowl as necessary.1 cup mashed sweet potatoes, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Next, beat in the baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt until all of the ingredients are well incorporated.2 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground cloves, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- In small increments, slowly stir in the flour until just combined. You don't want to over-mix the batter. Then pour the batter into your prepared baking dish and smooth it out with a silicone spatula.2 cups all-purpose flour
- In a mixing bowl, mix together your flour, brown sugar, oats, and cinnamon until evenly distributed. Add in the butter and mix well.⅓ cup all-purpose flour, ⅓ cup light brown sugar, ⅓ cup old-fashioned rolled oats, ¼ cup butter, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Sprinkle the oat topping mixture over the cake batter.
- Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool in the pan before serving.
Equipment You May Need
Notes
- Be careful not to overmix your batter. As soon as the flour is distributed, stop mixing!
- The batter for this cake is very thick (similar to cookie dough). Just use a silicone spatula to evenly spread it into your baking dish.
- If you use canned sweet potatoes, try to find pure unsweetened sweet potatoes. If you use canned yams in syrup, it will be much sweeter!
- The easiest way to get some mashed sweet potatoes is to pierce two large sweet potatoes all over with a fork. Then, pop them in the microwave for 6 minutes, or until soft. Slice them open and use a fork to mash them!
- To store: Keep leftovers tightly covered at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
Angela is an at home chef that developed a passion for all things cooking and baking at a young age in her Grandma's kitchen. After many years in the food service industry, she now enjoys sharing all of her family favorite recipes and creating tasty dinner and amazing dessert recipes here at Bake It With Love!
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