Coffee Cake Bread with Caramel Sauce

There’s nothing quite like a loaf of coffee cake bread baking in the oven to fill the entire house with the cozy, warming fragrances of cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and fresh bread. A thick slice is delicious served warm with a drizzle of homemade caramel sauce, cold with a generous smear of salted butter, or toasted the next morning for a decadent start to the day.
Although it’s shaped like a loaf of bread and slices just like one, coffee cake bread has no yeast, so it’s quick and easy to bake for afternoon tea or a leisurely Saturday brunch. It lasts well, too, as the yogurt in the dough keeps it moist and fresh as long as you keep the loaf well-wrapped.

How to Make Coffee Cake Bread

The dough for coffee cake bread is more like a thick batter, so there’s no need for rising, kneading, or proofing. It can be mixed up in less than 15 minutes, and within an hour you’ll have a beautiful, fragrant loaf cooling on the counter.
I like to use a mix of white flour and whole wheat flour for this bread. The white flour keeps it light and tender, while the whole wheat flour gives an earthy texture and delicate nutty flavor that pairs well with the spices.
Although this coffee cake bread has streusel in it, I like to add more spicy goodness by incorporating cinnamon and nutmeg into the batter. I also add a generous amount of vanilla extract to ensure this cake is as fragrant and warming as it can be.
Traditional coffee cake often has a streusel topping, but I thought a ribbon of streusel through the coffee cake bread would be even nicer. Rather than making the streusel with just butter, white sugar, and cinnamon, I switched to dark brown sugar and added more ground nutmeg and a generous handful of finely chopped walnuts. If walnuts aren’t your thing, you could easily substitute chopped almonds, hazelnuts, or cashews.
While most breads are baked to perfection in 30-40 minutes, this coffee cake bread requires nearly an hour to ensure it’s baked all the way through. You can bake it in a well-greased loaf pan, or line the tin with baking paper so it’s easy to remove the loaf to the cooling rack.

Although coffee cake bread can stand on its own feet, it’s made even nicer with a special topping. You could keep things simple with softened butter, whipped cream, or ice cream, or you could make things extra fancy with a homemade sauce or syrup. I made a creamy caramel sauce that paired rather nicely with the nuts and spices. You could also drizzle a slice with the Earl Grey tea syrup used in our easy galette recipe, pumpkin spice syrup used in our pumpkin spice latte recipe, or the spiced brown sugar syrup used in our cinnamon brown sugar latte recipe.

Coffee Cake Bread and Tea Pairings

Choosing the right tea to enjoy with coffee cake bread is easy, for it goes well with so many variations. This afternoon I had mine with a mug of Full Moon Chai with notes of vanilla, butternut, and spices, but it would go equally well with Oregon Breakfast Black Tea with hazelnut and orange, Chocolate Hazelnut Dessert Tea, or No Obligations Decaf Black Tea with hazelnut, almond, and cinnamon.