Coffee Cake Cookies

This recipe takes two favorite breakfast treats and turns them into one cookie. A soft cinnamon sugar cookie is filled with a buttery cinnamon streusel, then finished with a drizzle of sweet powdered sugar glaze. Each bite has that same crumbly, cozy flavor as a slice of coffee cake, and they’re just as good with a cup of coffee.

Quick facts

Prep time: 15 minutes
Chill time: 30 to 60 minutes
Bake time: 10 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes active (plus chilling)
Makes: 18 cookies
Calories: about 314 kcal per cookie

Why You’ll Love These Cookies

All the flavor of coffee cake, in cookie form. Cinnamon, streusel, and a sweet glaze come together in every bite.
A crunchy-soft streusel center. The topping bakes up crisp on top and soft underneath, just like a good coffee cake.
A glaze that makes them. The vanilla icing pulls the whole cookie together.
Great for breakfast or snacking. They work as a grab-and-go treat or a pairing with your morning coffee.
Freezer-friendly. Both the dough and the baked cookies store well for later.

Ingredients

For the cookies

1 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg (room temperature)
1 large egg yolk (room temperature)
1 Tbsp whole milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp cornstarch
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

For the streusel

1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/4 cup light brown sugar (packed)
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter (melted and cooled slightly)
splash of vanilla

For the glaze

1 cup powdered sugar (plus more as needed)
2 Tbsp milk (or heavy cream)
Pinch salt
1/2 tsp vanilla (or clear vanilla)

A Few Notes on the Ingredients

Butter: You’ll use it two ways here. Room-temperature butter creams properly with the sugars in the cookie dough, giving the cookies a light, thick base. Melted butter is what turns the streusel into good, clumpy crumbles rather than a dry, sandy topping.

Egg and extra yolk: The extra yolk boosts the protein in the dough, which adds to the chewy texture that makes these cookies so good.

Brown sugar: Dark brown sugar in the dough adds moisture and a deep, almost caramel-like flavor. Light brown sugar in the streusel gives that familiar coffee cake topping taste and helps it clump into good crumbles.

Cornstarch: This is a small but important addition. It keeps the cookies tender and helps control spreading in the oven.

Cinnamon: It’s used in both the dough and the streusel, so it shows up in every bite. A good-quality cinnamon makes a noticeable difference.

Flour: Measure it by spooning it into the cup and leveling it off, rather than scooping straight from the bag. Too much flour will dry the cookies out.

Powdered sugar: This is the base of the glaze. Adjust the consistency with a little more milk or sugar until it’s smooth and pourable.

How to Make Coffee Cake Cookies

Part 1: Make the Streusel

1. Mix the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and salt.

2. Add the butter. Stir in the melted butter and vanilla until the mixture turns crumbly and holds together in clumps. Set it aside.

Part 2: Make the Cookie Dough

3. Cream the butter and sugars. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl as needed.

4. Add the wet ingredients. Mix in the egg, egg yolk, milk, and vanilla until smooth, scraping the bowl again if needed.

5. Mix the dry ingredients separately. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda.

6. Combine. Gradually add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, mixing just until combined.

Part 3: Shape and Fill

7. Scoop the dough. Portion the dough into 2-tablespoon pieces, which should give you about 18 to 20 cookies. Roll each into a ball and set them on a parchment-lined plate or small baking sheet.

8. Make an indent. Lightly dip the back of a tablespoon in flour and press a well into the center of each dough ball.

9. Fill with streusel. Spoon about 2 to 3 teaspoons of streusel into each indent.

10. Chill. Refrigerate the filled cookies for 30 to 60 minutes. Make sure you have room in the fridge for the tray, or use a parchment-lined plate that fits.

Part 4: Bake

11. Preheat. Heat the oven to 350°F.

12. Arrange and bake. Place the chilled cookies a few inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet, baking in batches of 6 to 8 if needed. Bake for about 10 minutes, until the edges look set and the centers still look just slightly underdone. Don’t overbake, since they’ll continue to set as they cool.

13. Round them out. As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, gently “scoot” each one into a neat circle using a round glass or biscuit cutter slightly larger than the cookie.

14. Cool. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then move them to a wire rack.

Part 5: Glaze

15. Mix the glaze. Whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, salt, and vanilla until smooth, adding a little more powdered sugar or milk to reach the consistency you like.

16. Drizzle and enjoy. Drizzle the glaze over the completely cooled cookies.

Expert Tips

Mind your butter temperature. Room-temperature butter for the dough and melted butter for the streusel make a real difference in how each one turns out.

Chill the streusel if it’s too warm. Popping it in the fridge until you’re ready to use it helps it hold its crumbly texture. It can also be made up to 3 days ahead and stored in the fridge.

Make extra streusel if you want. Doubling the streusel recipe gives you extra to sprinkle over the finished cookies as a garnish.

Measure flour carefully. Spoon it into the measuring cup and level off the top rather than scooping directly from the bag, which can add up to 50% more flour than you need and dry out the cookies.

Don’t overmix the dough. Stop as soon as the dry ingredients disappear into the wet mixture. Overworking the dough builds too much gluten and toughens the cookies.

Don’t overbake. These cookies look soft and slightly underdone when they come out of the oven, and that’s exactly right. The centers firm up as they cool.

Use the cookie-scoot trick. Right after baking, a round glass or cutter slightly bigger than the cookies helps nudge them into perfectly round shapes.

Wait to glaze. Only drizzle the icing once the cookies are completely cool.

Add texture to the streusel. Shredded coconut or finely chopped pecans or walnuts are a nice addition if you want more crunch.

Storing and Freezing

Room temperature: Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 to 4 days. The brown sugar and egg yolk in the dough help keep them soft. Place parchment paper between layers so the glaze doesn’t stick to the cookies above.

Refrigerator: Not necessary, but you can refrigerate them if you prefer. Let them come back to room temperature before serving so they soften up again.

Freezing baked cookies: Let the cookies cool completely and let the glaze set. Freeze them in a single layer until solid, then transfer to a freezer-safe bag or container for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature, or warm slightly for a fresh-baked feel.

Freezing the dough: Scoop, fill, and shape the cookies as directed, then freeze them on a tray until solid before transferring to a freezer bag. Bake straight from frozen at 350°F, adding 1 to 2 extra minutes to the bake time.

Nutrition (per cookie, approximate)

These values are estimates, so check a nutrition calculator for exact numbers if that’s important to you.

Final Thoughts

These coffee cake cookies bring together everything good about a classic coffee cake in a form you can eat with one hand. The cinnamon cookie base, buttery streusel center, and sweet glaze make each bite feel like a small celebration. They’re worth the little bit of extra effort for the filling and chilling steps. Bake a batch and let me know how they turn out.