This old-fashioned cinnamon swirl coffee cake is made with Greek yogurt instead of sour cream for a lightened-up twist, and topped with a crackly layer of cinnamon sugar and chopped pecans.

There are few things as satisfying as a perfect coffee cake, and this one is no exception: with Greek yogurt for moistness, and cinnamon, sugar and pecans swirled in and sprinkled on top.

I just realized that 3 out of the the last 4 recipes I’ve posted have been for breakfast bready things. Sourdough muffins and boozy banana bread and now, this Greek yogurt coffee cake.

And actually, with strawberries and matcha and eggs you could probably justify eating this tart for breakfast too (I knew I liked you).

I have no idea why I’ve been craving breakfast bakes rather than my usual chocolate-heavy dessert recipes, but I’m just going to roll with it (though I do have a cookie recipe or two up my sleeve, so you have that to look forward to, too).

This recipe is based on my grandmother’s sour cream coffee cake, of which I’ve made both apple and chocolate chip variations.

The recipe itself is virtually identical, just made with Greek yogurt instead of sour cream (I also scaled down the recipe, a half-sized version essentially, since I feel like a lot of us are making smaller batches of things these days since excess baked goods aren’t quite as easy to share).

While sour cream and Greek yogurt are usually interchangeable in most situations, the lower fat content in the yogurt makes this version not quite as rich and ever so slightly drier (fat being one of the elements that keeps cakes moist), although I feel like you’d really only be able to tell this subtle difference if you tasted two versions side by side.

I do recommend using whole milk Greek yogurt, as the higher protein content in lower fat versions may make for a tougher, less tender texture (also be sure you buy plain yogurt, flavored ones would just be… weird).

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