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Greek Yogurt Cream Cheese Lemon Coffee Cake

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Greek Yogurt Cream Cheese Lemon Coffee Cake square piece on a plate with a fork, and the rest of the sliced cake on a serving tray in the background.

So I’m sure you’ve heard of a sweet tooth before?  In fact, you might even have one yourself.  My sweet tooth really flares up when I am pregnant.  With my first little guy, my sweet tooth was so bad I had a major bill to pay at the dentist when it was all said and done.

As in SEVEN cavities.  Yikes.

Greek Yogurt Cream Cheese Lemon Coffee Cake square piece on a plate with a fork, and more sliced cake on a serving tray in the background.

My dentist kept trying to figure out why all of the sudden my teeth were rotting out of my head.

He asked if I drank a lot of soda.  No.  

How about sugary coffee?  No.  

Suck on a lot of mints?  No.  

Then I confessed, “I am mildly addicted to Jujubees.”  Mystery solved.

Greek Yogurt Cream Cheese Lemon Coffee Cake cut in squares on a serving tray with two slices of lemon on top for garnish.

But did you know it’s also possible to have a fat tooth?  If you crave buttery, creamy, fried foods, you might have a fat tooth.  That’s where I’m at right now.  I can tell because I want to pour half and half on my morning bowl of cereal and I have to go out of my way to avoid driving by a Dunkin Donuts.

Too dangerous.

Greek Yogurt Cream Cheese Lemon Coffee Cake square piece on a plate.

This Greek Yogurt Cream Cheese Lemon Coffee Cake is just what I need.  I love the light lemon flavor, the sweet, moist coffee cake, and the crunchy, crumbly topping.  And we all know I love using Greek yogurt whenever possible to lighten it up a little bit. Just don’t tell my fat tooth!

But if you are not able to find Greek Yogurt Cream Cheese, feel free to use regular cream cheese.  You can also add more lemon juice or a small amount of lemon extract if you prefer a stronger lemon flavor.

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Greek Yogurt Cream Cheese Lemon Coffee Cake - Sweet and moist with a light lemon flavor and a creamy, crumbly topping

Greek Yogurt Cream Cheese Lemon Coffee Cake

★★★★★ 5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Julie
  • Yield: 16 (small servings) 1x
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Ingredients

Cream Cheese Layer

  • 8 ounces Greek Yogurt Cream Cheese, softened (regular cream cheese is fine too)
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Coffee Cake

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
  • zest of one lemon
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (add more for stronger lemon flavor)

Crumb Topping

  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons cold cubed butter
  • powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare an 8 x 8 inch baking dish by lining it with parchment paper, leaving extra paper hanging over two of the sides. If you don’t have parchment paper, spray the dish with non-stick cooking spray.

For the Cream Cheese Layer

  1. In a medium bowl, stir together cream cheese, sugar, egg, and lemon juice until smooth and creamy. Set aside.

For the Coffee Cake

  1. In another medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  2. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, mix oil and sugar. Add egg and mix well.
  3. Add Greek yogurt, lemon zest and lemon juice. Mix well on medium speed until smooth and creamy.
  4. Gradually add the flour mixture to the batter and mix until incorporated on low speed. Be careful not to over mix.
  5. Spoon the batter into the prepared baking dish and smooth it out to the edges.
  6. Carefully spread the cream cheese mixture over the top of the batter, spreading it almost to the edges.

For the Crumb Topping

  1. To make the crumb topping, pour the flour, sugar and cold cubed butter into a medium bowl, and using a pastry cutter or two forks, cut the butter into the flour and sugar until you are have pea sized crumbs of flour coated butter. Pour the crumb mixture over the cream cheese layer.
  2. Bake the coffee cake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Allow to cool, and then dust with powdered sugar. Remove from the dish using parchment paper to a cutting board, and cut into 16 squares.

Notes

Adapted from Two In The Kitchen

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 Serving
  • Calories: 256
  • Sugar: 17g
  • Sodium: 136mg
  • Fat: 14g
  • Saturated Fat: 4.5g
  • Unsaturated Fat: 8.3g
  • Trans Fat: 0.2g
  • Carbohydrates: 29g
  • Fiber: 0.5g
  • Protein: 4g
  • Cholesterol: 42mg
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Comments

  2. I am actually quite thin since the point I started using only natural full fat stuff. Magic! 😉 Reducing sugar was what worked for me.
    This cake looks so yummy! Only thing I would change is using raw sugar and reducing it to 1/2c for the cake layer and maybe to a Tblsp for the cream cheese. I am pretty sure I will give this one a try, thanks for the recipe!

    Reply

      • From a dumb UK baker, why do you call it coffee cake when there is no coffee in the ingredients? Or is it cake to eat with your coffee?

        Reply

        • That is a perfectly reasonable question and you are not the first to ask! Yes, we usually serve these cakes with coffee. While we are on that thought, is there such a thing as a tea cake that is made without tea?

          Reply

          • Yes! America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book has a nice lemon tea cake, or maybe they call it a tea bread, it is also quite good and easy to make. 🙂

        • If it makes you feel better I do have recipes for coffee cakes that ARE made with coffee. However most things which are made with enough coffee to give it a coffee flavor are called Mocha. This is one reason

          Reply

      • I’m not an experience baker but had no problem with this recipe. It looked and tasted amazing!

        ★★★★★

        Reply

  6. Hello, I tried this recipe the other day. I found when I mixed the cake batter it was EXTREMELY dry and doughy and sticky. Very difficult to spread into the pan, even. I cooked it anyways and it just turned out very dry and doughy again. Very hard and not a lot of flavour. The icing was delicious. Any tips on what I may have done wrong? I’m sure it’s delicious if it turns out right. Thanks!

    Reply

    • Hi Jenn, first of all, I’m so sorry this coffee cake didn’t turn out well for you. I have poured over the recipe to see if I might have left out an ingredient or a step in the directions and everything looks correct. I’m assuming that since your cake batter was so dry, you might have accidentally left out one of the wet ingredients – the oil, Greek yogurt, or egg maybe? I really loved this cake when I made it, and so I was planning on making it again this weekend, and I will double check everything as I go. Thanks so much for taking the time to give me your feedback!

      Update: I did make this coffee cake recipe again this weekend, and everything in the recipe is written correctly. I did adjust the baking time to include an additional five minute range so that the center is sure to be baked through.

      Reply

        • Helen, I haven’t tried doubling before but I’m guessing you may need to add 5-10 minutes. If the edges start to get brown before the center is done cover with pieces of foil. Hope you enjoy!

          Reply

    • Mine were dry too. Although, I did double the recipe and put in a 9×13 pan so that may have hurt. Also, I would recommend using full fat yogurt to combat dryness. I used fat free because I had it on hand, but fat always adds more moisture to baked goods.

      Reply

  7. This coffee cake is so good. I might try adding more lemon zest or juice next time to kick up the lemon flavor a little more.

    Reply

  8. Hi! I can’t wait to try this! Before I do, I just want to be sure I am reading this correctly. Does it say Greek yogurt ‘cream cheese’?

    Reply

    • Hi Jenna, yes you are reading it correctly. Awhile back I found a product that was a Greek yogurt cream cheese blend, and it was in the cream cheese section of my grocery store. I have heard from some that it is difficult to find. If you are unable to find it, you can just use regular cream cheese. The recipe also calls for regular Greek yogurt in the cake batter. Hope you enjoy!

      Reply

    • Do you have Kroger near you? I think that’s the only place (and brand) I’ve seen it. And I’ve seen it at more than one Kroger in Ohio.

      Reply

  9. This looks great—does anyone know what I should adjust for high altitude? (I’m not much of a baker or I would know this stuff 🙂 )

    Reply

  10. Made this recipe this morning and it was delicious! I’m going to add more lemon zest and juice next time as i think I’d prefer a little more lemon flavor.wonderful recipe, thank you for sharing!

    Reply

  12. Turned out great. I have been craving something lemony for a while and decided to try these. I made them for a play date and now I am sad they are all gone.

    Reply

    • I know what you mean Kelly! I made some lemon blueberry muffins for my mom’s group today, and I was so sad they were gone (but happy everyone liked them) that I made another batch when I got home! Glad you liked the coffee cake! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out.

      Reply

  14. You combined two of my loves – cream cheese and lemon! I made these for work last week and they were a hit! Needless to say I came home with an empty pan. 🙂 Can’t wait to make them again!

    Thank you!

    Reply

  17. As a comment to your cavities while pregnant commentary…Did your dentist not know that you were pregnant? I am very surprised that he was searching for a dietary cause for your numerous cavities while pregnant. Basic dental health information: the anti-microbial quality of a woman’s saliva decreases during pregnancy, this is all a result of estrogen levels. Teenage girls are also more prone to cavities as a result.

    Reply

      • Calcium needs increase during pregnancy as well. In times past especially where nutrition was poor it was not uncommon for women to actually lose teeth during their pregnancies.

        Reply

    • My teeth also went crazy after my second pregnancy. Tons of cavities, after I had already gotten my mouth taken care of *before* the pregnancy. Mine were especially bad in the spaces between teeth. Dentist said it was definitely because teeth are weaker and more susceptible during babby time.

      Reply

    • A daughter had dry mouth and eyes (not pregnant, however) and had many cavities found at a routine dental exam after having perfect teeth. She was found to have an autoimmune disease. Many things that seem normal to a physician may be the beginning of an undetected condition.

      Reply

  18. Hi Julie , I have you’re cake in the oven now and it smells divine. One problem, I have gone well past the baking time. ( 50 ). And the cake part still does not seem to be baked. Tested with cake tester and it is showing uncooked parts. Should I just keep increasing time or is this how it should be ?

    Reply

    • Hi Bonnie, this is a hard cake to test because the cream cheese layer on top will still be pretty moist even when the cake part is done. Should be good to take it out unless your oven is much different than mine. Hope this helps!

      Reply

  19. Thanks for this yummy recipe!!!!! Made it for my school friends…They loved it!!!! I did have to increase the cook time and extra 5 minutes and that seemed to help. Again thanks for sharing… 🙂

    Reply

  20. I made this yesterday for my birthday, and it was a hit. I reduced the sugar a bit, added more lemon, and a tiny bit of ginger. My family loved it. I’m glad I found this recipe on pinterest. Thank you for sharing it.

    Reply

  21. I made this today. Amazingly delicious! Light lemon flavor and not overly sweet. Thank you for sharing this recipe!

    Reply

  22. I had a couple of girlfriends over one morning and I decided to make this. Wow. It was so delicious! Thank you for sharing this recipe 🙂

    Reply

  23. This is an amazing coffee cake. Thank you for the recipe. I omitted the topping and added chopped mixed nuts (pistachios, cashews, peanuts, and hazelnuts) along with coconut flake. Instead of the salt I switched for sea salt. Heavenly.

    Reply

  24. This lemon coffee cake was divine! After reading some comments I decided to double the lemon juice and rind, added another whole egg to the cake batter, and baked in a glass (paper lined) 8″ square pan for 48 minutes. My greek yogurt was 2%, and I used cream cheese because I didn’t have greek cream cheese. Let the cake cool about 10 minutes in the pan, then lifted it out onto a plate still in the paper. Cooled another 5-10 minutes and then dusted with powdered sugar and served while still slightly warm. This was absolutely delicious and my husband and I ate 1/3rd of this thing in one sitting (could have easily eaten the whole thing). I am really glad I doubled the lemon because the cake was still a VERY subtle lemon flavor and I might have liked even a little more lemon flavor. I could see serving this as a dessert at a dinner party (serve while still slightly warm). It is not nearly as satisfying if eaten at room temperature or refrigerated (maybe even a little on the dry side that way). Ate some warmed up for breakfast the next morning with eggs and bacon. While that was very good, I felt that this cake is really at its best if eaten alone with no competition to muddy up the subtle lemony flavor. Thank you so much for a beautiful and delicious recipe!

    Reply

  25. So I was surfing “Foodgawker” looking at recipes and came across your coffee cake and thought: “Oh wow, this looks like something similar to what I have made, but it’s made with Greek Yogurt instead of cream cheese” So I clicked over to check out your recipe and found out that it is adapted from mine!! 🙂 Too funny!!

    I LOVE how you lightened it up and your pictures are absolutely gorgeous!! Thanks for referencing my site!! 🙂

    Reply

  26. Wow! Love this cake. So light and delicate we didn’t even wait until it was fully cooled before trying. It amazes me though how based on your picture and other comments that the same recipe can turn out so differently. In my 8″ x 8″ tin my base was at least twice as thick as yours but it was still very light and delicious. Might try 9″x 9″ tin next time and increase cream cheese mixture to 1.5x . Thankyou so much for sharing your recipe.

    Reply

    • Petra, it is interesting that this recipe has been a little different for everyone. I’ve made it multiple times myself, and hope the instructions are written clearly :0) It really is a favorite of mine! And I’m so glad you enjoyed it too. Thank you for stopping by to say hi!

      Reply

  27. So I made the “distracted mom” version of this … for the cake, I dumped all the cake ingredients in a bowl and mixed. I had too much on my mind and didn’t read the direction of sifting the flour and then beating oil/sugar/eggs. I didn’t have the heart to start over, so I baked it with the cream cheese and crumb topping, as per the recipe. Although the cake was a little more dense than I usually like for a coffee cake, it still got thumbs up from everyone that ate it. A few people even said they like the denser cake and asked for the recipe, which I then had to amend with my new instructions of dump/mix/bake.

    Reply

    • Jackie, I’m so glad it all worked out! I have definitely made the “distracted mom” version of recipes before. Glad you kept going. Thanks for letting me know how it turned out!

      Reply

  28. It was very undercooked when following the instructions on baking time and temp. I put it back in the oven for an extra 20 and still came out moist (and very tasty!) definitely not dry, as others commented. I would say the vegetable oil flavor was very strong as I could still taste it after baking, wondering if olive oil would have worked better?
    Overall a great moist coffee cake, once ingredients/cooking time is adjusted.

    Reply

  30. I made this last night. I am gluten free so I used Betty Crocker gfree flour. I also doubled the recipe and put in a 9×13 pan. It took about 50 min to cook. I used more lemon juice and peel. The cake turned out beautiful. The taste was great! My mother in law loves lemon desserts and this did not disappoint. I love it when I can adapt a recipe to gfree and it turns out. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply

  31. Can I freeze these after baking? I am wanting to make this tonight but I know I will have leftovers. How long will they keep in an airtight container, and can I freeze any leftovers?

    Reply

    • Crystal, I haven’t had the chance to try freezing it, but I don’t see why you couldn’t. Should be fine for a few days in an airtight container.

      Reply

  32. Hey Julie – I pinned this recipe a while back and finally made it last night and Oh my gawd! They turned out so so good, esp that little cheesecake layer in between. Yum! I doubled the recipe as I took in to the office and baked it in a 9X13 pan and it was right on the spot!

    Reply

  33. I just made this for a meeting tomorrow, added some slivered almonds to the cake and it amazing! Do you recommend storing this in the fridge? Sorry if I missed that in the comments!

    Reply

    • Hi Shayna, glad it turned out! I don’t think I kept mine in the fridge, but probably wouldn’t hurt to cover tightly and keep cold. Great idea with the slivered almonds!

      Reply

  34. I, too, am a fan of the Greek yogurt cream cheese, and have even used it to make a cheesecake which was delicious! I think I will use the lemon yogurt to give it some additional lemon taste. Can’t wait to try it!

    Reply

  35. Just made for the first time and will be making again. I actually didn’t have vegetable oil and substituted with coconut oil. It was delicious!

    Reply

  36. Thank you so much for the recipe! For someone who kinda sucks at baking, this might have been a bit too advanced for my skill level, but the instructions were easy to follow. I’m waiting for the cake to finish baking right now and am so excited taste it!

    Reply

  37. Hi….

    Made these today…..
    My husband and I loved them.
    The only thing was the streusel topping.
    It never became completely baked or browned???
    The rest of the coffee cake was scrumptious, but I had to scrape off the topping.
    Should I add more butter, possibly?

    Wonderful recipe. Will use again.

    Reply

    • I’m not sure why this happened for you Charlotte… Did the topping sort of sink into the cream cheese layer? Maybe your cream cheese had a little more moisture in it. Glad you still liked them though!

      Reply

    • I had this same problem. I thought it looked a little dry for a streusel topping, so I added another tablespoon of butter. Is 2 tablespoons correct? Mine was very floury.

      Reply

      • I will have to make this soon to retest the recipe. It has been a while since I posted this so I don’t remember! Thanks for letting me know.

        Reply

    • I’m so glad it worked out for you Elizabeth as some have commented that they have had trouble with this recipe. Thanks so much for letting me know!

      Reply

      • Just made this, Julie 🙂
        I did decide at the last sec to double it (so it ended up with 8oz of greek yogurt & 8oz of sour cream). But it turned out delicious. I don’t think it would be hard for anyone who thinks it’s too cake-y to spread ONE recipe into a 9X13 & then maybe double the cream cheese topping only. Seems like that might give folks what they are looking for.
        I don’t have a food blog but I think it must be hard to have your recipe at home turn out delish & then get criticism that you don’t even totally understand!
        Anyway, thanks for sharing the recipe & happy thoughts towards your kitchen today!

        Reply

  39. Made this cake about a dozen times in the past 2 months. Everyone is crazy about it. I love this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing 🙂

    Reply

  40. Thanks for the delicious recipe, Julie. I had fresh limes and used them in place of lemons. We love the slightly bitter tartness of the lime and lime zest. I will try this recipe again but next time I will make the crumb topping per recipe. For the lime version I used my go-to crumb of flour, brown sugar and softened butter mixed together then chilled. This crumb is finer in texture than the one in your recipe and I would have preferred yours, I think. Or I should have pressed my crumb mixture together to form bigger crumbs.

    Reply

  41. This looks amazing, I can’t wait to try it! I need to make this a couple days in advance. Does it hold up well in the fridge?

    Reply

  44. I used passionfruit yoghurt with the lemon it was delicious, also it was easy to check the base as the filling doesn’t go all the way to the edge .

    Reply

  45. Greetings,
    I am an avid home baker and I saw this online recipe. I decided to give it a try because of the three differ layers.
    Also read reviews and made some changes
    Because I used no fat yogurt I added butter for the oil.
    double the topping added 1 TBSP water so it would have a tighter crumble
    added a small amount of milk to cake batter so it would more spreadable
    to spread the cake batter had with wet hands
    put on a butter large cookie sheet proceeded w/ following ingredients.
    checked the oven while baking looks scrumptious! I suppose w/ larger pan could cut baking time in half.
    baked until edges were golden the texture layers looks awesome
    cut a small piece out of the pan and sampled oh my goodness yummy!
    cake part a bit thin next I will double batter and triple the zest
    perhaps next time use lemon yogurt or try lemon oil?
    best blessing and thanks for sharing the recipe……….

    Reply

  47. I baked it today and it turned out sooo good and absolutely delicious. Thanks so much for the amazing recipie

    Reply

  48. Hi Julie, thanks for the recipe,

    In South Africa, theres no, Greek Yogurt Cream cheese, so can I substitute this withplain full fat cream cheese which is 250ml.
    will 350 degrees equal 180c in a normal oven

    strange the name says, Greek Yogurt Cream Cheese Lemon Coffee Cake, but theres no coffee.

    Reply

    • Hi Sammy, you can use plain full fat cream cheese. And I know the name does sound strange, but here in the states, we call it that because it is usually served with coffee :0) Enjoy!

      Reply

  49. Made this today and it was very good. After reading a lot of the comments, I did double the lemon juice, and put 2 eggs in the cake, rather than one. It was definitely not over lemony. I also had to use regular cream cheese, but it turned out fine. Good recipe I will make again.

    Reply

  50. Hi Julie! Finally tried and baked it today and it turned out so goooooood, my family loved it! Thanks so much for the recipe!

    Reply

  52. I’m making it now – made a little boo boo on the cream cheese part – I accidentally put both eggs in. Of course I did also put another on the cake part. Hoping it still is edible. My sister said to add maybe a tablespoon of flour in the cream cheese part. I’ll let you know what my guests have to say. Maybe, practice makes perfect?

    Reply

  53. This recipe looks fantastic. My cousin and I love lemon, so I will make this when I get together with her. Can’t wait to try it.

    Reply

  54. Made this morning with key lime juice instead of lemon, doubled it as suggested in the comments, and used coconut oil because I’m out of veg oil. Left the topping off and sprinkled with powdered sugar because I got lazy and wanted to save a few calories. So good!

    Reply

  55. Hi Julie. Thks so much. It’s a great recipe. I love it! Just wondering if the cheese layer is supposed to be in a fluid form or solid form ?

    Reply

  56. I just made this recipe. It was perfect as is! Baked to a beautifully moist lemon cake (similar to one I already make) but then the added layer of cheesecake…YUM. Thank you. Will make this again for sure 🙂

    Reply

  57. I just made this recipe and it turned out lovely. Serving it along with a cardamom pecan coffee cake for a morning holiday meeting at our home. I read that many who tried it thought it might need more of the lemon flavor and maybe that could be achieved by using a lemon flavored yogurt. Just a thought. I did have to add an extra tablespoon of butter to the crumb topping mixture as it just wouldn’t come together and get crumbley. The extra pat of cold butter did the trick. Can’t wait to eat it! Hope our guests enjoy it too.

    Reply

  58. I just made this.. did make some substitution though. Instead of greek yogurt, I put some ricotta. Also for the cream cheese i put ricotta and mascarpone. It is so so good and very light!!!😋
    Thanks for this recipe! Will make again soon!

    Reply

    • I definitely want to try it with those substitutions next time – sounds delicious! The lemon trees in my neighborhood are almost ready for picking and this will be first on my list. Thank you for your sweet comment, Mary.

      Reply

  59. This looks wonderful! Planning to make for my in-laws visiting tomorrow, does it need to be stored in refrigerator or at room temperature? Thank you!

    Reply

  60. Hi – This recipe sounds wonderful. For sure I’ll give it a try! I’ve recently started a some lo carb cooking/baking and I wonder if anyone out there would know which flour to use in place of reg. flour (coconut, almond, rice ???)

    Thanks, Marcia

    Reply

  63. I love anything with lemon and your photos of this dessert made me want to try it. Oh my it is so good. I did not know about Greek cream cheese so used regular. The only other thing that I changed was not putting powdered sugar on top after baking. In my opinion the extra sugar was not needed, my husband agreed with me.

    Reply

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