Do you love a great coffee cake recipe? This Cranberry Coffee Cake will so become one of your favorites. Made with fresh cranberries, and almond filling for a fantastic almond flavor, this cranberry almond coffee cake is perfect for the holidays or any time you’re looking for a sweet treat to go with your morning coffee!
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Are you expecting guests for the holidays? Having a fresh baked cranberry coffee cake is an amazing option for Thanksgiving or Christmas morning!
Not only does this cranberry almond coffee cake look amazing, it tastes even better! Made with fresh cranberries and mixed with an almond filling that adds amazing flavor and richness to the cake. It’s amazing with a cup of coffee or tea.
In this post I’ll show you the easy steps for how to make a coffee cake, give you step-by-step photos and answer some of the most common questions about making your own coffee cake.
What do I need to make a cranberry coffee cake?
First, start with your wet ingredients:
- Softened butter, not melted
- Eggs
- Sugar
- Almond filling – you can find almond filling near in the baking aisle near the other pie fillings.
- Vanilla Extract
- Almond Extract
Then add your dry ingredients:
- Flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
For exact ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions, scroll down to the recipe at the bottom of this post.
First, you’ll begin by mixing together the wet ingredients into a smooth batter. I found that using a large whisk was the best tool for this job. You could also use a hand or stand mixer. Next, you’ll gradually add the dry ingredient mixture to the batter. The batter will be rather thick, but smooth.
The last step to mixing the batter is folding in the halved cranberries. Using a rubber scraper is idea for this job. I would not recommend using a mixer for this step, as you don’t want to mash or break the cranberries.
Other Mix-In’s for this cranberry coffee cake:
- Nuts – walnuts, pecans or sliced almonds would add a great crunch to this coffee cake.
- Orange Zest – orange is wonderfully complimentary to cranberries. If you love orange and cranberries, check out my Healthy Cranberry Orange Muffins
- Cream Cheese Frosting – instead of the almond flavored glaze, try my Cream Cheese Frosting recipe on this coffee cake!
How to Bake a coffee cake
I found the ideal pan to bake this coffee cake is a round 9″ spring form pan. A spring form pan is a round pan with retractable side that can pull away from the pan bottom.
This type of pan is ideal, as it makes it easy to remove the coffee cake once it’s done baking.
To prepare the pan, spray the bottom and sides with non-stick baking spray. Spread the prepared batter evenly into the bottom of the pan all the way to the edges.
Bake the cake at 350 degrees for approximately 37-40 minutes.
How do I know if my coffee cake is done baking?
The coffee cake will be golden brown on top and the batter will no longer be wet. You can test for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake. If the toothpick comes out clean and crumb-free, the coffee cake is done baking.
Does a coffee cake have frosting?
Frosting or icing is optional on a coffee cake. Many coffee cakes are topped with a streusel, like my Peach Crumb Coffee Cake, Blueberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake and my Pumpkin Crumb Cake. A streusel is a mixture of butter, flour, sugar and often cinnamon, crumbled onto the top of the cake.
For this Cranberry Almond Coffee Cake, I went with a lighter almond glaze that is complimentary to the flavor of the cake. It just requires powdered sugar, milk and almond extract, mixed together in a small bowl and easily drizzled on to the top of the cake.
Frequently asked questions about making Cranberry Coffee Cake:
Yes! If fresh cranberries are unavailable or out of season, you can definitely use dried cranberries. To substitute you will only need 3/4 cup of dried to every 1 cup of fresh.
While not absolutely necessary, I definitely recommend it! Dried cranberries can become tough and chewy during baking. Soaking dried cranberries before baking will help add moisture to the berry and plump them up! This will ensure they retain a softer texture during baking.
To soften dried cranberries, add to a bowl. Pour very hot water over the top, covering the cranberries completely. Let the berries soak for 20-30 minutes to soften. When ready to use the berries, drain off the water and the add plumped cranberries to your recipe.
No. When using fresh cranberries it is not necessary to cook them before baking. They will adequately cook during the baking process.
Yes! Frozen cranberries are a great option to fresh cranberries, especially when they are unavailable or out of season. Frozen cranberries do not need to be thawed. They can be added directly to your recipe while still frozen.
Do you love dried cranberries, but not all the refined sugar that store-bought ones contain?
This simple post on How to Make Dried Cranberries is a great way to enjoy dried cranberries WITHOUT all the refined sugar.
You need just three ingredients and NO dehydrator is needed – you can use your oven!
If you love using cranberries, check out some of my other cranberry recipes:
- Cranberry Citrus Salad with Pecans
- Cranberry Fluff Salad
- Saint Nickarita Christmas Margarita
- Cranberry Moscow Mule
- No Bake Cranberry Energy Bites
- Cranberry Chicken Salad
- Apple Quinoa Salad
If you loved this coffee cake recipe, you’ll enjoy these other breakfast treats:
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Cranberry Coffee Cake
Equipment
- 9" Round Springform Pan This 9" round springform pan is ideal for making cakes, coffee cakes and cheesecake.
- Mixing Bowls These stainless steel mixing bowls are an essential cooking tool for every kitchen.
- Rubber Scrapers These Cuisinart rubber scraper spatulas are fantastic for fillings, batters, and so much more!
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients:
- 6 Tablespoons butter softened (NOT melted)
- 1/2 cup Almond filling canned
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Dry Ingredients:
- 1 1/3 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Fold In:
- 2 cups fresh cranberries rinsed and halved
Almond Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 Tablespoons + 1 tsp. milk
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9" spring form pan with non-stick baking spray. Set prepared pan aside.
- In a mixing bowl, cream together the wet ingredients. Start with the softened butter and sugar, and add in the almond filling. Using a large whisk, hand or stand mixer, beat together until smooth. Add in the eggs, vanilla and almond extracts. Continue to beat together until mixture is smooth.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt.
- Gradually add in the dry ingredients (flour mixture) to the wet ingredients. Batter will be thick, but smooth. Lastly, fold in the halved cranberries with a rubber scraper or wooden spoon.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and spread evenly to the sides of the pan.
- Bake a 350 degrees for 37-40 minute. Top of cake will be golden brown. To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. If the toothpick comes out clean and crumb-free, the coffee cake is done.
- Remove cake from oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes before glazing.
- For glaze: in a small bowl, mix together the powdered sugar, milk and almond extract. Mixture will be slighly thick, yet can be drizzled with spoon. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake. Enjoy!
Notes
- Almond filling can be found in the baking aisle of the grocery store, near the other pie fillings.
- If you cannot find fresh cranberries, you can substitute frozen or dried cranberries. If using dried, you’ll only need 1 1/2 cups. Plump up the cranberries by soaking in hot water for 20-30 minutes before adding to cake batter.
- A 9″ round spring form pan works best for this cake. However, you can also use a 9″ square pan, or a Bundt pan.
- If using a Bundt pan, butter and flour the sides of the pan before adding the batter. Non-stick spray will not work. Butter and flour is the best way to get the cake to release from the sides of the pan without sticking.
Nutrition
This recipe was adapted and revised from the cookbook Taste of Home Bakeshop Favorites. You can purchase this cookbook at Barnes and Noble.
This is beautiful! I love the sliced almonds covering the cake.
OH… this looks perfect. We are big coffee cake people over here. I have some almonds and cranberries in the house right now. Might need to do a test trial before people come in town. Pinning!
Thanks so much, Krista! This is a really yummy coffee cake. The almond and cranberry flavors go really well together. Hope you enjoy! ~Erin
I have GOT to try this! Anything with almonds is a win! And the cranberries make it so pretty!
It really is great, Julia! I took the rest of what I had photographed into my son’s school for the staff, and it was gone in about an hour. Everyone loved it! And I’m so with ya on Almonds – I especially love almond extract/flavoring. It goes really well with the cranberries. Enjoy! ~Erin
This sounds crazy good! Pinning this to try! Thanks so much for sharing at Freedom Fridays 🙂
This looks so good and I’m not even a huge fan of almonds….my husband loves them though – so this is a must! I am doing a Thanksgiving Round-Up Series next week on my blog and I would love to share this recipe. Please email me if you are happy for me to include this recipe (and any other Thanksgiving delights you may have to share!) Ruth x
Hi Ruth, Sure – you are more than welcome to include the Cranberry Almond Coffee cake in your Thanksgiving round up. Please include a link-back to the post. 🙂 I do have a couple other Thanksgiving related posts, so I will e-mail those over to you. Thanks so much!
This is absolutely gorgeous! I love baking with cranberries because of that pretty burst of red.
WOW!!! That looks amazing!! I so want to lick my screen right now! I’m such a coffee lover and I enjoy have a little something sweet with me java. Definitely will bake this over the holidays!
It tastes amazing! You’ll love it, Ophelia! Thanks so much for stopping by. ~Erin
This coffee cake sounds delicious and is so incredibly gorgeous! Perfect for Christmas morning or any time company is on the way! Thanks so much for sharing at the Saturday Night Fever Link Party!
love that simple but more authentic coffee cake recipe god bless you for sharing this I am surely going to try this out.
WOW, such a gorgeous cake!! I’ll take drizzles and almonds and cranberries over fondant and decorations any day! Totally pinning this one, it looks delicious. 🙂
~April
(visiting from Treasure Box Tuesday)
Wow! This looks amazing! I love the cranberry almond combo! I’d be thrilled if you shared this at my Creative Ways Link Party. It’s live on Wednesdays at 8pm central. Hope to see you there.
Blessings,
Nici
I don’t ordinarily comment but I gotta state appreciate it for the post on this amazing one :D.
They do not carry the almond filling in any of the stores in my area so I had to pay a price for it on Amazon. While looking at all the pictures of this cake, it looks dry, is it? If so so would adding at little more filling help.
The cake actually comes out very moist, additional filling isn’t necessary, but if you would like to add it, you can certainly do so. Keep an eye on it in the oven, as it does need a good amount of time to bake. Enjoy! -Erin