Cinnamon Spice Coffee Cake
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Cinnamon Spice Coffee Cake has a spiced walnut tunnel running through the center and is topped with a spiced glaze. This aromatic cake is perfect for brunch or dessert.
Cinnamon spice coffee cake truly deserves to be called a coffee cake because cinnamon compliments a cup of coffee so perfectly! Coffee cake isn’t just for breakfast or brunch though, it makes a wonderful dessert or even a nice afternoon snack.
Who wouldn’t welcome a deliciously spiced cake, with a tunnel of buttery sugary walnuts running through the middle?
SOME OF THE ITEMS BELOW CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS; I AM A PARTICIPANT IN THE AMAZON SERVICES LLC ASSOCIATES PROGRAM, AN AFFILIATE ADVERTISING PROGRAM DESIGNED TO PROVIDE A MEANS FOR US TO EARN FEES BY LINKING TO AMAZON.COM AND AFFILIATED SITES. I AM ALSO AN AFFILIATE FOR OTHER BRANDS. HOWEVER, I ONLY PROMOTE THINGS THAT I LOVE AND THINK YOU WILL LOVE, TOO. FOR MY ENTIRE DISCLOSURE POLICY PLEASE CLICK HERE.
I made this coffee cake a little over a month ago when my dear friend, Gail, came to visit. It’s been eons since I saw her, and I was so excited to spend the weekend with her! Gail is married to my husband’s cousin, and ever since the first time I met her, we just hit it off.
Over the years, we’ve come to know one another really well, and we text each other throughout the week. We have a shared obsession with Rae Dunn. If you’re not sure who or what that is, beware of the cuteness if you look!
Gail lives about 3 hours from me, and she and I virtually shop for our RD obsession via cell phone photos. Aside from the Rae Dunn, we have one very big thing in common, our crazy love for all things Valentine’s Day. I have never known anyone who loved it like I do, and it’s so refreshing to just have someone else get me. Ya know?
Gail loves reading blogs and she understands that side of me, too. To some people, my job is like Chandler’s on Friends. They know I work every day, but honestly just don’t understand what it is that I do. Gail is my #SisterFromAnotherMister and I am so thankful she gets me.
She is also someone that I can always brainstorm recipe ideas with. She has quite an amazing collection, so when she was coming to visit, I knew I had to make something yummy – and I know how much she loves cake. It was perfect.
Easy cinnamon spice coffee cake
Why is this cinnamon spice coffee cake so easy? Well, starting with a boxed cake mix and pudding mix sure helps. But, even with adding the spices and layering in the walnut spice tunnel into the cake, the whole process just takes just a few minutes.
Then pop in the oven and get ready for a fragrant kitchen that will smell like a holiday and make you full of good cheer.
I actually have a few coffee cake recipes, so I guess you might assume I either drink a lot of coffee or just love coffee cakes. I actually think that coffee cakes might just be in my DNA.
^Love it? Pin it!^
Don’t forget where you saw this recipe! Pin it to your favorite Pinterest board before you go!
A Short History Of Cinnamon Spice Coffee Cake
Coffee cakes originally came from Vienna in the 17th century. They became popular as a complement to the beverage that was taking the world by storm at the time. As coffee spread in popularity across Europe, coffee cakes just went with the flow… and drip by drip, coffee cakes evolved.
Of course, every region and country and city would put its own spin on the cake. The basics remained the same. The best coffee cakes use sweet and spice to compliment the bitter notes of the coffee.
Why Cinnamon Spice Coffee Cake Works So Well
Cinnamon spice coffee cake works so perfectly because cinnamon compliments coffee perfectly. In fact, cinnamon can actually make the coffee taste sweeter without adding any sugar to your coffee!
Cinnamon also helps stabilize blood sugars too. So it makes a little bit of sweet go along way.
Bundt Cake Tips
A bundt cake mold helps transform any cake into a shapely work of art, but only if you can pop the cake out of it unbroken. Nothing like trying to hide a broken piece of bundt cake with some frosting.
You might as well start all over again. Or just break it up more and called it a “deconstructed cinnamon spice coffee cake.” It will still taste great even if it looks like an epic fail no matter how you describe it.
However, since cinnamon spice coffee cake has a wonderful walnut filling, it is even more important that it pops out free and easy.
Most bundt cake pans have a non-stick surface, and they can sure take a lot of the suspense out of whether or not the cake will come out unbroken. However, you’ll still want to evenly grease up the inside of the pan. Especially in those little crevises like in the bundt pan I used here.
Don’t Grease The Pan With Butter!
First off, don’t use butter to grease the pan! This is the most common mistake people make. Use vegetable shortening or a spray on vegetable oil. The milk fats in butter will actually cause sticking and can even burn.
Burned milk solids have a terribly acrid flavor. Avoid at all costs!
Make sure to liberally coat the entire inside of the bundt cake pan. If you are using aluminum or cast iron or any other type of mold, then it is even more important.
Next, don’t grease the pan with spray on oil until right before you add the batter. If you do it too early then the oil just runs to the bottom of the pan.
You can also grind up about a quarter cup of leftover walnuts and sprinkle them in the oil or shortening coating. Make sure the walnuts are ground to a powder similar to flour in granularity. (A fine dust).
You can also sprinkle sugar in as well, but make sure to turn the cake over while it is still warm. If you wait too long, then the sugar hardens and will cause it to stick. That is exactly what you don’t want.
Don’t use flour. It will cause sticking like milk solids do.
If you like cinnamon spice coffee cake…
If you like my cinnamon spice coffee cake recipe, then I definitely want to recommend some of my other coffee cake recipes. You can use a different recipe for every occasion. And just for the record… you don’t have to drink coffee to enjoy a great piece of coffee cake! (I think they go great with tea too, or a glass of milk, or anything else for that matter)
- Cherry Filled Coffee Cake
- Apple Sauce Coffee Cake
- Banana Bread Coffee Cake
- Cinnamon Crunch Coffee Cake
- Pumpkin Spice Coffee Cake
You’ll love the smells from your oven while this Cinnamon Coffee Cake bakes! Let’s get to the recipe! 
LIKE THIS RECIPE?
Don’t forget to give it a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star rating and
leave a comment below the recipe!
Cinnamon Spice Coffee Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 1 18.25 ounce yellow cake mix
- 2 3.4 ounce boxes of vanilla instant pudding
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup vegetable oil
For the walnut spice tunnel
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon of each: cinnamon star anise, nutmeg, allspice, ginger and cloves
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
For the Spice Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
- 1-2 Tablespoons milk
- 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 10" bundt pan. (or spray with non-stick cooking spray)
- In a bowl, stir together cake mix and instant pudding. Add in eggs, oil, and water and mix until combined.
- In a separate bowl, combine brown sugar, walnuts, and spices.
- Add half of the batter to the prepared bundt pan, top with spiced nut mixture, cover with remaining batter.
- Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 degrees, and bake for another 40 minutes.
- Cool slightly before inverting onto a plate. Glaze while still warm. (but not hot!)
- Delicious warm or cold.
Can you tell me if you can use pudding in the cake mix already? Or a yellow cake mix with nothing added? Seems like most have the pudding already in the mix. Thanks.
The kind of cake ix doesn’t matter – but still add the box of instant pudding. 🙂
This looks SOOO good, I can practically taste it! It’s on my baking list for the weekend – I can’t wait to enjoy a slice of this warm cake with a hot cup of tea!
Once I read “a tunnel of buttery sugary walnuts running through the middle”, I know this is my kind of cake. So much better than my plain old coffee cake! 🙂
Sounds tasty! I love the mix of spices in with the walnut filling – does some of this also go with the glaze, or is the glaze vanilla rather than spice flavored?
The glaze is also spice flavored! So good!
Coffee cake is so delicious and I love that this is made easier with a cake mix.
I love the flavours in this cake – it sounds so delicious!
I love how easy this is with the yellow cake mix shortcut! Your cake is lovely and I need to get a bundt pan like that!
Trying to make this delicious cake at the moment but just realized, in the actually recipe it never says to add spices to the cake. Im wondering, which spices and how much of each go into the actual cake mix? Thanks
The spices go into the tunnel of the cake, not the cake batter itself. I hope that helps! 🙂
So how much cinnamon do you add to the spice glaze that doesn’t have any spices listed?
Not sure how that was missed! I updated it. I think it’s really “to taste.” I add about 1/2 teaspoon or so.
A slice of this would go perfectly with a warm cup of coffee! 🙂 It looks so decadent.
This recipe was dreamy! Love the flavors and the how easy using the cake mix made it.
I am so happy that you enjoyed it!