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.
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.
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.
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.
PrintGreek Yogurt Cream Cheese Lemon Coffee Cake
This Greek Yogurt Cream Cheese Lemon Coffee Cake is sweet and moist with a light lemon flavor and a creamy, crumbly topping.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 16 (small servings) 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
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
- 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
- In a medium bowl, stir together cream cheese, sugar, egg, and lemon juice until smooth and creamy. Set aside.
For the Coffee Cake
- In another medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, mix oil and sugar. Add egg and mix well.
- Add Greek yogurt, lemon zest and lemon juice. Mix well on medium speed until smooth and creamy.
- Gradually add the flour mixture to the batter and mix until incorporated on low speed. Be careful not to over mix.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared baking dish and smooth it out to the edges.
- Carefully spread the cream cheese mixture over the top of the batter, spreading it almost to the edges.
For the Crumb Topping
- 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.
- 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
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?
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.
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!
I’m so glad it turned out! Thanks for letting me know.
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!
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!
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!
Great idea Glenna. Hope you enjoy!
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!
Good to know that coconut oil is a good substitution! So glad you enjoyed it!
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!
I really hope you love it Miya! Thanks for your sweet comment!
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.
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!
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.
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.
I made this recipe over the weekend, and thought it was great! Thanks for sharing it.
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!
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!
Sonya, thank you for your kind words! I’m glad you enjoyed the coffee cake.
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 🙂
You’re welcome Christina, thanks for letting me know!
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.
You are very welcome Mary! Glad you enjoyed it. I’ll have to try lime next time!
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?
Yes, that should be just fine. Just make sure it’s covered tightly.
I don’t have Greek yogurt. Can I sub sour cream?
Yes you can.
Saw this on Pinterest – it looks amazing!
Thanks!
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 .
Wonderful! Thanks Leanne.
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……….
Thank you for the recipe. I baked the cake today is delicious! Soft ,lemony I love it!
Glad to hear that, thank you Kasia!
I baked it today and it turned out sooo good and absolutely delicious. Thanks so much for the amazing recipie
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.
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!
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.
Hi Julie! Finally tried and baked it today and it turned out so goooooood, my family loved it! Thanks so much for the recipe!
Awesome recipe! Made it today as is, and everyone loved it. Wouldn’t change a thing!
Thanks for sharing : )
Thank you Verna!
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?
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.
Enjoy!
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!
Sounds so good Kristy!
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 ?
It should be more solid than liquid. Hope you enjoy!
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 🙂
Thank you Petra! I’m so glad you like it!
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.
Thank you so much Anne. That cardamon pecan coffee cake sounds delicious as well!
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!
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.
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!
Room temperature is fine. Enjoy!
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