Bisquick Cinnamon Coffee Cake
A $3.15 Coffee Cake That Beats Starbucks Every Time
This Bisquick cinnamon coffee cake is the kind of breakfast that makes you wonder why you ever paid coffee shop prices in the first place. I made this for my family on a Saturday morning — along with scrambled eggs, sausage patties, and fresh blackberries — and the whole plate came out to $2.19 per person for nine servings. The entire coffee cake cost $3.15 to make. A single slice of cinnamon coffee cake at Starbucks runs $3.75 to $4.75. Do the math and then make this instead.
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Watch me make this Bisquick cinnamon coffee cake from start to finish — or scroll down for the full printable recipe card.
Featured Tools & Ingredients
- Included : (1) Pyrex 222 Basics Square Glass Baking Dish
- Function / Purpose: Perfect for baking brownies, cakes, sweet rolls, casseroles, and small family...
• My go-to 8x8 for brownies, coffee cake, and everything in between. Glass bakes evenly and I can see the bottom browning through the sides — that tells me exactly when the cake is done without guessing.
- SET INCLUDES: 4.5 quart, 3.5 quart, and 2.5 quart sizes
- NONSLIP BASE: keeps bowls stable while in use
• Two bowls do all the work for this cake — one for the batter, one for crumbling cold butter into the streusel. These are the bowls every Stephanie recipe runs through.
- PANCAKE MIX AND MORE: Craft deliciously fluffy pancakes, waffles, biscuits, and beyond; An ideal...
- ORIGINAL BISQUICK: Make it your go-to mix for pancakes, waffles, biscuits, and more - so many ways...
• The big yellow box that does the heavy lifting. Bisquick already has the flour, leavening, and fat built in — that is why this whole cake comes together in one bowl with four ingredients.
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Bisquick Cinnamon Coffee Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups Bisquick mix
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ⅔ cup milk
- 1 egg
- 1 cup Bisquick mix
- ⅔ cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 stick ½ cup cold butter, diced
Method
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8×8 baking dish.
- In a mixing bowl, combine Bisquick, sugar, milk, and egg. Stir until just combined — a few lumps are fine. Scrape bowl and pour batter into prepared pan, smoothing the top.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together Bisquick, brown sugar, and cinnamon for the streusel. Add cold diced butter and use your hands or a pastry blender to crumble the butter into the dry mixture until pea-sized clumps form.
- Sprinkle streusel evenly over the batter.
- Bake for 20–25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool at least 10 minutes before cutting. Serve and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Why This Bisquick Cinnamon Coffee Cake Works
Bisquick cinnamon coffee cake works because Bisquick does the heavy lifting. The mix already has the flour, leavening, and fat built in, so the cake batter comes together in one bowl with four ingredients and about three minutes of your time. You’re not making a cake from scratch — you’re assembling one, and that is exactly the point on a Saturday morning when you have a family to feed and no desire to dirty every bowl in the kitchen.
The streusel topping is where this cake really earns its keep. Brown sugar, cinnamon, and cold diced butter crumbled together and piled on top — it bakes into this crispy, caramelized crust that makes the whole house smell like a bakery. That topping is what people are always asking about. It is not complicated, but it looks and tastes like it is, and that is my favorite kind of recipe.
I served this style of cinnamon streusel coffee cake that has been beloved for generations alongside scrambled eggs, sausage patties, and fresh blackberries I grabbed on sale at my grocery store. Nine servings, $2.19 per person. That is a full homemade breakfast for less than a drive-through biscuit.
A Few Things That Make This Bisquick Cinnamon Coffee Cake Even Easier
- Use cold butter for the streusel. This is not negotiable. Cold butter crumbles into the dry mixture and stays in pea-sized pieces that bake up crispy and caramelized. If your butter is soft or melted, the topping turns into a paste and sinks into the batter. Dice it, keep it cold, and use your hands or a pastry blender to work it in quickly in a separate mixing bowl from the batter.
- Don’t overmix the batter. Stir until things just come together — lumps are fine. Overmixing Bisquick batter develops the gluten and makes the cake tough. A few strokes with a spoon and you’re done.
- Grease your pan well. The 8x8 Pyrex is my go-to here. Glass bakes evenly and I can see the bottom browning through the sides, which tells me exactly when this cake is done without guessing.
- Let it cool before you cut it. I know. It smells amazing. But this cake needs at least 10 minutes to set up after it comes out of the oven or it falls apart when you slice it. Worth the wait.
- Make it the night before for a weekday breakfast. Bake it on Sunday, cover the pan, and you have breakfast for the week. It reheats beautifully in the microwave for 20 seconds and the streusel stays crispy.
Bisquick Cinnamon Coffee Cake FAQ — The Questions I Get Every Time
What temperature and how long do I bake Bisquick cinnamon coffee cake?
Bake at 350°F for 20 to 25 minutes. Start checking at 20 minutes by inserting a toothpick in the center — it should come out clean with no wet batter. Every oven runs a little differently, so don’t walk away at 20 minutes. The streusel top will look deeply golden brown and the edges of the cake will start to pull away from the sides of the pan when it’s done.
Can I make Bisquick cinnamon coffee cake ahead of time?
Yes — and I actually think it’s even better the next morning. Bake it fully, let it cool completely, cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap or foil, and store at room temperature for up to two days. The streusel softens slightly overnight but stays delicious. For longer storage, refrigerate for up to five days and warm individual slices in the microwave for 20 to 30 seconds.
Can I freeze Bisquick cinnamon coffee cake?
Absolutely. Let it cool completely, slice it into individual portions, and wrap each slice in plastic wrap then foil. Freeze for up to three months. To reheat, unwrap and microwave from frozen for about 60 seconds, or thaw overnight at room temperature. This is one of my favorite things to batch-bake and freeze for busy mornings.
What size pan do I use for this coffee cake?
An 8×8 inch baking dish is the right size for this recipe and gives you nine generous squares. I use my Pyrex 8x8 every time. You can use a 9×9 if that’s what you have — the cake will be slightly thinner and will bake a few minutes faster, so start checking at 18 minutes. Don’t use a 9×13 for this recipe — the batter will spread too thin and you’ll end up with a very flat cake.
Why is my Bisquick coffee cake streusel sinking into the batter?
Almost always a butter temperature problem. If your butter was too warm or too soft when you made the streusel, it melted into the dry ingredients instead of crumbling. The fix is simple: start with butter straight from the fridge, dice it into small cubes, and work quickly so it doesn’t warm up from the heat of your hands. Cold butter = crumbly streusel that stays on top where it belongs.
How do I make the full $2.19 budget breakfast?
The full plate I made was coffee cake (one slice per person from this recipe), two scrambled eggs per person, two frozen sausage patties per person reheated on a griddle, and a handful of fresh blackberries I found on sale for $2.00 a pint. For nine servings the total cost came out to $19.71 — or $2.19 per person. That’s less than a single Sausage Egg McMuffin on sale at McDonald’s. Serve it all at once and watch your family’s faces.
Can I double this Bisquick cinnamon coffee cake for a crowd?
Yes — double the recipe and bake it in a 9×13 pan. The bake time will increase to about 30 to 35 minutes so start checking with a toothpick at 30 minutes. A doubled batch in a 9×13 gives you about 18 squares, which is perfect for a brunch crowd, a church breakfast, or a meal train delivery.
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Everything you need to make this Bisquick cinnamon coffee cake — click any item to shop on Amazon.
Ingredients
Equipment
More Breakfast and Baking Recipes You’ll Love
- 4-Ingredient Sausage Cheese Balls — another Bisquick staple that feeds a crowd with almost no effort.
- Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars — one pan, no scooping, feeds a crowd for dessert.
- Mama’s Banana Bread — the loaf I’ve been making my whole life, no mixer needed.
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Bisquick Cinnamon Coffee Cake — About Stephanie’s Recipes
Stephanie Longstreth is the home cook, mom, and storyteller behind StephanieCooksForACrowd.com. She cooks for a family of seven in Florida — five kids, two cats, and one husband who appreciates a good meal. Four of her children came home through adoption, and family stories are woven into everything she makes and shares. Find her crowd-friendly recipes, weekly meal plans, and real family life on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest @stephaniecooksforacrowd.