I found this recipe while having my morning coffee and reading about the melting properties of shortening. It was on Crisco Canada, but what drew me in wasn’t the shortening (I used oil), but the pancake mix. I tend to buy it, make one or two batches of pancakes, then forget about it. This streusel coffee cake recipe was another way to use it. Plus having made plenty of scratch sour cream recipes, I was curious to see how coffee cake made with pancake mix would turn out
So the family got a surprise breakfast treat! The recipe is for a whole coffee cake, but I made Sour Cream Streusel Coffee Cake Cupcakes.
Sour Cream Streusel Coffee Cake Cupcakes
These were easy to throw together, and I was pulling them out of the oven right about the time Fuzz was waking up. She loved them, as did Todd who doesn’t usually eat cake for breakfast. If you can’t tell by the photo, I made mine in square shaped cupcake tins. They are so good and they’d be suitable for bake sales.
Cake Made with Pumpkin Spice Pancake Mix
One thing I did differently was to use pumpkin spice flavored pancake mix in the streusel rather than just plain pancake mix. That probably made them a little better, but the original recipe just uses regular pancake mix in both the streusel and the cake. At one point I'd linked to the original, but the link no longer works so here's a link to Crisco Canada's collection in case you want to try to hunt it down. The adapted version (along with some reviews) is below.
Recipe
Pancake Mix Sour Cream Streusel Coffee Cake
Ingredients
TOPPING
- ⅓ cup pancake mix I used Hungry Jack Pumpkin & Spice flavor
- ⅓ cup firmly packed brown sugar I used dark
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ⅓ cup chopped nuts
- ¼ cup softened butter
BATTER
- 2 cups pancake mix I used Hungry Jack Complete Buttermilk
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 cup sour cream
- ¼ cup vegetable oil Crisco, shortening okay too
- 1 large egg slightly beaten (see notes on halving)
- powdered sugar optional
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F (175°C). Spray a 9-inch (23 cm) square or round baking pan with non-stick cooking spray or line about 20 to 22 cupcake cups with paper liners. I used square cupcake cups and pushed round liners into them so the cupcakes would bake as squares.
- Mix pancake mix, brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, chopped nuts and butter for topping in a medium bowl until combined. Set aside.
- Combine pancake mix, sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Add sour cream, oil and egg. Blend just until dry ingredients are moistened. Spread half the batter into prepared pan, sprinkle with half the topping mixture. Spread with remaining batter and sprinkle with remaining topping. If making as cupcakes, just divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups and spoon topping.
- Bake 30 to 35 minutes for a full cake or about 20 minutes for cupcakes. Cakes are done when a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve garnished with powdered sugar, if desired.
Anna says
Hi Monica,
Happy Mother's Day! You have nice granddaughters. And thank you so much for leaving the review and specifying exactly which mix they used. Good to know Member's Mark works well.
Monica says
My granddaughters made this for my daughter for a Mother’s Day breakfast. They used a square glass baking dish, and Member’s Mark buttermilk pancake mix from Sam’s Club. The mix has noticeable vanilla flavoring. This coffee cake was delicious! We will be making it again.
Anna says
Thank you, Nina!
nina says
thankyou for this easy quick recipe.we used a no name pancake mix! who would have thought?so tasty.consistancy is just perfect.
Anna says
Danielle, thanks for the review and the hints about avocado oil and moisture. Much appreciated!
Danielle says
This was fantastic! I've made every recipe of quick coffee cake from scratch and honestly this recipe doesn't taste like pancake mix at all. I used Krusteaz buttermilk pancake mix. I followed the recipe exactly and it's fantastic. I baked this with my 6 year old and it's just such an easy recipe and turns out great. I would highly recommend. The batter is thick as written, however, there is no need to add any additional liquid. It turns out so moist. I did use avocado oil instead of vegetable oil. It's what I had on hand. Honestly, this recipe is better than the Cook's Illustrated Best Recipe version.
Anna says
Marlene, I'm glad you found this recipe and tried it. Thanks for taking the time to post a review AND add your fixes (milk and vanilla). I appreciate it.
Marlene Torres says
I made this last night, and it came out so good, I had 3 pieces! I used Krusteaz Complete pancake mix. The batter was very thick so I added 1/4 cup of milk. I also added 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract to the cake batter. Didn't have enough walnuts so I added sliced almonds. Use whatever you have, trust me, this is a great recipe!
I spread the batter in the pan using a spatula sprayed with oil spray. Baked at 350 in toaster oven for 30 mins and it was perfect!!
Anna says
Erin, what did you think?
Erin says
I've got a double batch in the oven for weekend guests right now. I'm so glad to have this recipe. The only time I buy pancake mix is for camping, so I'm always left with half a box at the end of the summer. This could be the perfect solution to use up the box.
Doris says
Sounds delicious - where did you find the square cupcake tins? Just came across another recipe that uses them (dad's danish tea cakes)
Anna says
Sarah, it really was kind of a fun recipe. I'm guessing the Crisco would make the texture lighter, yet still soft.
Sarah says
These look like a great treat to whip up on a Sunday morning:) I wonder if using Crisco would change anything, texture-wise?