Egg-Free Cinnamon Coffee Cake

(8 servings)

  • 1 Tablespoon ground flax
  • 3 Tablespoons warm water
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup shortening
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 5-ounce container vanilla yogurt (about 1/2 cup)
  • 1/4 cup milk

  • Cinnamon Crumb Topping:
  • 2 Tablespoons shortening
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
Hold On.... Don't make this recipe yet. I'm getting inconsistent results in kitchen tests. It works fine as a muffin batter, but is sinking and cooking unevenly in different baking pans. I'll keep testing and adjusting until I get it right. Check back in a couple weeks.

Prepare a 9x9-inch baking pan by greasing with shortening, butter or cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together the flax seed and the warm water. Set aside. (This will act as binder in place on an egg to help hold the coffee cake together.)

In a medium bowl, sift the flour and stir in the baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the shortening and sugar together with an electric beat until fluffy and fully combined. Add the flour mixture and stir with a firm spatula until well combined. Add the yogurt, milk and the flax seed water you made at the start. Stir until just combined (avoid over-mixing).

Pour batter into prepared baking pan. Use a spatial to smooth batter into an even layer.

Prepare the Crumble Topping: Place all ingredients in a medium bowl and stir with a fork to make a crumble. Sprinkle crumble topping evenly over batter in baking pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (no batter sticking).

Allow coffee cake to cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

* You can use softened butter in place of the shortening, but the resulting coffee cake will be a bit more dense. Since egg helps baked goods rise and become fluffy, shortening is used here as as a replacement as baked goods with shortening tend to be slightly lighter in texture than those made with butter.


You won't miss the egg in this coffee cake recipe. Flax seeds mixed with water acts as a binding agent in place of an egg.


Mr Breakfast would like to thank Mr Breakfast for this recipe.

Recipe number 3224. Submitted 4/10/2014.