I was in the mood for something sweet with my morning coffee one weekend. After some thought, I settled on a Greek yogurt coffee cake. The trouble was, I didn’t have a recipe I liked, and most of the small batch recipes for coffee cake I found were the sort of thing you make in a mug, which I didn’t want.
I have tried a few of those and did not like them. I wanted something made from scratch, in a real pan, in the oven. That way, the flavors have time to meld, and the flour/sugar/fat can work their magic.
I found a great recipe for sour cream coffee cake muffins (for two), but that required a muffin pan. I got rid of mine because I never used it and it was taking up valuable kitchen space. The funny thing is, she said she decided to make the recipe as muffins instead of a cake since most people have muffin tins. So, I had to revert to her original plan and make a single small batch dessert coffee cake instead!
I made a few other changes too. The topping sounded delicious, but much too sweet for me, so I decided to cut the sugar she called for in half.
Next, since I have a Kitchenaid mixer, I only mixed the oil and sugar for two minutes, rather than four. Because I usually have Greek yogurt in the fridge, but not sour cream, or heavy cream, I used that instead. You can use the traditional sour cream if you prefer.
Because my mini baking pan is porcelain, and I didn’t want the batter to stick, buttered and floured it before I added the cake mixture.
Since I was baking a single, solid small cake instead of muffins, I also reduced the cooking temperature and increased the baking time slightly.
The result was a delicious, not too sweet, crumbly, cinnamony cake that was just perfect for a weekend treat.
Greek Yogurt Coffee Cake Recipe for One
A small serving coffee crumb cake that's great for a weekend morning treat.
Ingredients
- Crumb Topping
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons. white sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon sweet butter
- 3 tablespoons flour
- Cake
- 1/4 cup neutral oil (I used canola, but vegetable oil is fine)
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- pinch salt
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt (or you can use sour cream)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon flour
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Melt the butter for the crumb topping in a small saucepan or in the microwave.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (you can use your toaster oven for this, since the pan is small)
- Once the butter is melted, pour it into a small bowl and add the rest of the topping ingredients. Stir it with a fork until it gets crumbly.
- If you have a Kitchenaid, add the oil and sugar to the mixing bowl and beat on speed two for two minutes. If you have a standard mixer, or a hand mixer, beat for four minutes.
- Then, add the salt, egg, yogurt and vanilla and beat that for a few seconds (Kitchenaid), or fifteen seconds (hand mixer).
- Add the remainder of the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda and powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg) to the mixture and stir just enough to combine.
- Prepare the baking pan by greasing it with butter and then sprinkling flour along the bottom and sides (this will stop the batter from sticking to the pan).
- Pour the batter into the pan and top with the crumb mixture you made earlier.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick or skewer comes out clean.
- Eat!
Tools and Ingredients for Greek Yogurt Coffee Cake
Farberware Classic Stainless Steel 5/8-Quart Butter Warmer
This mini saucepan is great for melting butter, making a single cup of cocoa, or for filling in (in a pinch) when you’ve broken your French coffee press again (oy!).
Porcelain Round Au Gratin Dish
Great for this cake, for my small batch brownies, and a single serving of apple crisp. And, it’s dishwasher safe, if you have one. If there’s any leftover cake, the dish can also go in the microwave, if you want to reheat it.
More Small Batch Cake and Dessert Recipes
Triple chocolate (cake, chips, and ganache) cake that’s decadent, rich, but not too rich (it’s got yogurt!). The ganache adds extra chocolatey oomph (and it’s easier than you might think).
Banana bread is good. This is even better. Serve as is, or topped with vanilla ice cream. Because you’re worth it.
Small Batch Cinnamon Sugar Apple Bread
This is really snickerdoodle apple bread. Snickerdoodles are cinnamon sugar cookies. This recipe adds apples and transforms the cookies into a quick dessert bread. Much easier to make too.
Transform sweet, juicy summery peaches into a crumble dessert. You only need two bowls and the baking pan.