If you’ve got leftover cranberry sauce after Thanksgiving, this Cranberry Coffee Cake will be your new favorite thing… It’s a moist coffee cake with a cranberry filling and white chocolate glaze. Great for holiday house guests all weekend long and seriously good eats.
Have I mentioned my cookbook hoarding tendencies to you before? It’s real… and the 100+ cookbooks that I currently have on my bookshelves aren’t enough for me… I’m constantly checking out 4-6 new cookbooks every week from my local library.
The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion All Purpose Baking Cookbook made it into my last library checkout and when I leafed through it and found this super moist coffee cake made with leftover cranberry sauce, I did a fist-pump. It makes SO MUCH SENSE. Right???
Ingredients you’ll need for cranberry sauce coffee cake:
- Unsalted Butter
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Buttermilk
- Vanilla Extract
- Almond Extract
- Lemon Extract
- All Purpose Flour
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Leftover Cranberry Sauce
Note: The combination of almond, lemon and vanilla extracts gives this coffee cake a distinctive flavor reminiscent of wedding cake, but you can simplify it by using 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract if you don’t have the others.
What To Do With Leftover Cranberry Sauce
I mean, we all end up with a lot of leftover turkey and maybe a few sides, but there’s always leftover cranberry sauce. Since Thanksgiving is one of those family holidays where people travel and stay at their relatives homes, it’s not like you’re only making one meal… You’re making a weekend of meals. If we can put one of our leftovers to work in something as universally crowd-pleasing as a coffee cake — that’s a win to me…. and probably a win to you too.
I changed up a few things in the recipe and used a trifecta of extracts (instead of just almond): vanilla, lemon and almond in equal measure. (Fun fact: this combination is actually the basic flavor of most wedding cakes). I nixed the glaze for something a bit more decadent and used the sliced almonds I had on hand instead of running to the store for the slivered variety.
This moist coffee cake gets mixed in one bowl, then transferred to a prepared bundt pan. Fill the pan about halfway, then spoon in the leftover cranberry sauce. Top with remaining cake batter and bake. How easy is that? You can absolutely glaze this with a standard powdered sugar and milk glaze, but — you know — food blogger and all… I melted white chocolate and drizzled it over the top of the cranberry coffee cake then topped it off with toasted almonds — you know — for crunch.
This cranberry coffee cake is just packed with flavor. My lighting director and official taste tester (Emily) couldn’t wait for me to finish my last shot so she could dive into this particular slice of cranberry coffee cake. It was decimated in seconds. This coffee cake is moist and tender with a great balance of sweet and tart. Emily implored me to make another cranberry sauce, so we’d have more leftover cranberry sauce for another cranberry coffee cake...
More Moist Coffee Cakes:
- Glazed Cherry Almond Coffee Cake
- Individual Berry Streusel Coffee Cakes
- Cinnamon Pecan Crumble Coffee Cake
- Sour Cream Bundt Cake with Spiced Apricot Pecan Filling
- Raspberry Almond Cream Cheese Braid
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Cranberry Coffee Cake
ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup leftover cranberry sauce (whole berry sauce preferred)
GARNISH:
- 6 ounces white chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds lightly toasted
ALTERNATE GARNISH:
- 3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
instructions
FOR THE CRANBERRY COFFEECAKE:
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Generously grease and flour a tube pan or bundt pan. Set aside.
- In a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating into the batter thoroughly before adding the second egg.
- Add the buttermilk and beat to combine. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk together until well blended.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Pour half the batter into the prepared pan.
- Spoon the cranberry sauce over the batter and top with the remaining cake batter. Smooth the top with a spatula and bake for 40-60 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let the cake rest in the pan for 5 minutes.
FOR THE GARNISH:
- Preheat the oven to 325°. Place the almonds on a baking sheet and toast them for 10-15 minutes or until lightly toasted and fragrant. Shake the pan a few times while they are toasting so no one area gets too dark. Remove from oven and set aside.
- You can go two ways for garnishing the cranberry coffee cake – either as pictured with melted white chocolate and toasted almonds or a traditional glaze. Pick the one that’s right for you.
- FOR WHITE CHOCOLATE: Place the white chocolate chips into a small microwaveable bowl. Microwave in 15 second bursts, stirring after each zap, until the chips are completely melted. Drizzle the white chocolate over the cooled coffee cake. Sprinkle with toasted almonds.
- FOR TRADITIONAL GLAZE: In a small bowl combine the powdered sugar, milk and extract. Mix until smooth and drizzle over the top of the cake. Sprinkle with toasted almonds.
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Tried this recipe today only because I had leftover cranberry sauce. Absolutely loved the taste, the spongy texture and the added cranberry twist.
10/10 would try it again.
I made this cake today and was very excited to try it as I had homemade cranberry sauce leftover. I put 1/2 of the batter in a tube pan and put the cranberry sauce on and then the rest of the batter. The cranberry sauce sank to the bottom and stuck even though it was well buttered. I had to scrape the cranberry off the bottom of the pan and spread it back on the cake. I might try it again??? and put the cranberry sauce on the top instead of in the middle.
Can this cake be made in a sheet pan?
I’ve never tried it in a sheet pan, but I think it would work in a 13×9″ pan, though you probably will need to adjust the timing. Also, you’ll want to spread about 2/3 of the batter in the prepared pan and just dollop the cranberry sauce over the batter. Then drop spoonfuls of the remaining batter over the cranberry sauce. I would bake it for about half the time called for and then test it with a toothpick to check for doneness every 5-10 minutes. Hope that helps!
Well this makes total sense! Maybe next year instead of using up the leftover cranberry sauce by eating it with a spoon from the jar (ahem) I can do something useful with it and make this amazing cake!! This sounds so delicious but so easy at the same time. I am with you on the cookbook hoarding! We just packed up a shipping container to send back from the US to Australia and my husband is convinced my cookbooks are going to push us over the limit 🙂
I LOVE a good coffee cake, especially during the chilly months. What a fantastic way to use your cranberry sauce after a holiday dinner. I think cranberry sauce is so often underrated for its versatility! This would be so perfect for brunch, and I love how easily it comes together.
You are so right about hosting Thanksgiving–it IS like preparing a weekend full of meals! I wouldn’t have it any other way. I think that I just might have enough cranberry sauce left to make this coffee cake. My family will be thrilled!
OMG!! We must be twins separated at birth. I have this thing with cookbooks — I have a huge cabinet full plus a closet. We just moved and Hubby would roll is eyes as he hefted a heavy box that said cookbooks. Well, I consider them my friends. I just can’t give them up. Now, your cake looks perfect for Christmas morning or a holiday brunch.And aren’t you clever using up your cranberry sauce for the cake!!
Good to know I have a long lost sister!
Whoah Lisa, I didn’t realize I could add cranberry sauce to a cake until I saw this recipe! How cool is that?! Too bad we just polished off our cranberry sauce, because I would make this today! Guess I’m going to have to make more cranberry sauce just so I can make this beautiful coffee cake. It’s sheer genius, as always! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I’m with you there on the abundance of cookbooks…I like to sit and read them. This recipe is so perfect for me right now…totally have lots of leftover cranberry sauce. Having guests this weekend and I can’t wait to make this for them.
Be still my heart! Coffee cake is such a brilliant way to use up leftover cranberry sauce! All the bright and refreshing flavors of the sauce with that extract trifecta! You nailed it, yet again!
Oh my goodness! This is such a delicious idea for leftover cranberries! I always find myself with a ton leftover (I never learn to buy less lol) so this is a great way to use it up. Plus, who doesn’t like cake?! Great way to have a delicious post-turkey weekend.
You are so right! There is always leftover cranberry sauce, but this is a great idea to use them up. I think it might be a great idea to make this to share in the office, or use it for my breakfast meal prep as I sadly head back. This looks so yummy!
That cake takes the cake! I am imaging that white melted chocolate drizzling over that super moist cake. I like the addition of the almonds and I think Emily is right, you need to make some more cranberry sauce, you know so you can make more cake. I’m saving this one, it looks perfect to bring to the Christmas party, the colors are very Christmas-y. Thanks for sharing this!
Coffee cake is one of my favourites, but adding cranberry to it sounds utterly delicious. Perfect for serving to guests over the festive times, or just to enjoy a slice because you can.
Loving this recipe! It’s a perfect way to use up leftover cranberry sauce!
Ohhhh my, I love this recipe, Lisa! That beautiful cranberry goodness just adds a whole new layer of delicious to what would be an already mouthwatering coffee cake. I’ve never thought to mess with coffee cake before, and this idea is brilliant. So timely, because I always have leftover cranberry sauce! Now I know what to do with it 🙂
This cake is a showstopper dessert so beautiful and perfect for a holiday menu. Love the idea of a white chocolate ganache for dressing this beauty.
This is definitely a delicious way to use up your left over cranberry sauce. So yummy.
I am LOVING this cake recipe!! Love the addition of the cranberry sauce!
I love that you have so many cookbooks and then still check more out of the library! Also, this is GENIUS. Such a unique and perfect way to use up that leftover cranberry sauce. Especially when you still have a house full of people to feed through the weekend! Pinning!
I told you, I’m a cookbook hoarder…. Happy Thanksgiving Tracy!
Lisa, I am loving how you’ve incorporated leftover cranberry sauce into this yummy dessert! It looks so rich and moist. I’m drinking my coffee right now thinking I wish I had this LOL.
Oh so good with coffee!!!
This festive cake is perfect for the holiday brunches. Easy to make, and always a crowd pleaser. I have no problem eating cake for breakfast…and with my afternoon latte too.