Butterscotch coffee cake sounds like it should be complicated — it isn’t. This one comes together with a box of yellow cake mix, two boxes of pudding, and a brown sugar crumble that bakes into a crackly, caramel-like topping that people will pick at before the pan even makes it to the table. It’s the kind of cake you make for a weekend brunch and then end up eating cold out of the fridge at 10pm because you can’t stop thinking about it.
It bakes in a 9×13 pan, feeds a crowd, and if you make it the night before, morning prep is zero. That alone makes it worth keeping in your rotation. The butterscotch pudding does something interesting to the texture — the crumb is dense in the best way, more moist than any scratch cake I’ve made, and it has a depth of flavor you don’t expect from a box mix starting point.
Why This Recipe Works
- Two pudding mixes = serious moisture. The butterscotch and vanilla pudding don’t just add flavor — they change the structure of the cake batter. It comes out with a tighter, denser crumb that stays moist for days, not hours.
- The crumble topping bakes in, not on. You drop it on top of the raw batter and it partially sinks during baking, creating a middle layer of caramelized sugar and a crispy top. That texture contrast is the whole point.
- It’s forgiving. You can mix this with a hand mixer, a stand mixer, or a big bowl and a whisk. The ratio of wet to dry is stable enough that minor variations don’t wreck it.
- Pecans are optional, not essential. The cake is excellent without them. If you’ve got nut-averse people at the table, skip them entirely or do half the pan with, half without.
- Make-ahead friendly by design. Bake it the night before, cover it, leave it at room temperature. It’s just as good — arguably better — the next morning.
What to Know Before You Start
This recipe uses instant pudding, not cook-and-serve. That distinction matters — cook-and-serve pudding won’t behave the same way in a baked batter and can leave you with a gummy texture. Check the box before you buy it.
The batter is thick. Thicker than typical cake batter. That’s correct — the pudding and oil make it dense before it even goes into the oven. Spread it evenly in the pan with a spatula rather than trying to pour it.
Your oven time may vary. The recipe range is 35–45 minutes, and ovens genuinely vary enough to matter here. Start checking at 35 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out with a few moist crumbs, not wet batter and not bone dry. The top will look set and the edges will have pulled away slightly from the sides of the pan.
One honest caution: don’t rush the crumble. If your butter is fully melted (liquid) instead of just softened, it won’t form crumbles — it’ll form a paste that spreads flat instead of sitting in distinct pockets. You want the butter soft and workable, not liquid. Room temperature is right.
Ingredients
Here’s what goes into this cake and what each piece is actually doing:
For the Cake Batter
- 1 box yellow cake mix — the base. Use a standard 15–16 oz box. Store brand works fine here.
- 1 box instant butterscotch pudding (3.4 oz) — this is the flavor driver. It adds a warm, brown-sugar-adjacent depth that plain cake mix doesn’t have on its own.
- 1 box instant vanilla pudding (3.4 oz) — adds moisture and helps balance the butterscotch so it doesn’t come across as too sweet. Both puddings go in dry.
- 1 cup water — your liquid. Some people use milk here and it works, but water keeps the butterscotch flavor front and center without competing dairy richness.
- ½ cup vegetable oil — fat for tenderness. Don’t substitute melted butter here; oil keeps the crumb more moist over time.
- 4 eggs — structure and binding. Large eggs, straight from the fridge is fine.
For the Crumble Topping
- 1 cup brown sugar — packed. Light or dark both work; dark gives you a more molasses-forward flavor if that appeals to you.
- 2 tablespoons melted butter — just enough fat to pull the sugar together into crumbles. Note: the recipe calls for 2 tablespoons, not a lot. If your crumble feels too dry to clump, add a teaspoon more butter at a time.
- 1 cup chopped pecans, optional — toasted pecans are better here if you have the time, but straight from the bag works. They add crunch and a slightly bitter contrast to the sweet topping.
How to Make Butterscotch Coffee Cake
Step 1: Prep Your Pan and Preheat
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Butter or spray a 9×13 glass baking dish — get the corners and sides well coated since this cake is dense and can stick. Glass is better than metal here because it conducts heat more evenly and gives you a cleaner bake without the edges overcooking before the center is set.
Step 2: Mix the Batter
Combine the cake mix, both pudding mixes (dry, straight from the box), water, vegetable oil, and eggs in a large bowl. Mix with a hand mixer on medium speed for about 2 minutes, or use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. The batter will be thick — thicker than most cake batters. That’s correct. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and give it one more pass to make sure everything is incorporated evenly.
Pour the batter into your prepared pan. Use a spatula to spread it into an even layer — it won’t pour easily. Get it as level as you can so it bakes evenly across the whole surface.
Step 3: Make the Crumble
In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar and softened (not fully melted) butter. Use a fork or your fingers to work them together until the mixture is crumbly and holds together loosely when you pinch it. If you’re adding pecans, toss them in now and stir to distribute.
Drop the crumble over the top of the batter in loose, uneven clusters. Don’t press it down or spread it into a smooth layer — the irregular texture is what gives you that contrast between crispy crumble pockets and softer spots.
Step 4: Bake
Bake at 350°F for 35–45 minutes. Start checking at 35. The top should look set and lightly browned, with the crumble turning deep amber. The edges of the cake will have pulled away slightly from the pan. Insert a toothpick in the center — you want a few moist crumbs clinging to it, not wet batter. If the toothpick comes out with wet batter, give it 5 more minutes.
My oven runs consistently at 40 minutes for this one. If yours tends to run hot, start checking at 33. If it runs cool, expect closer to 45.
Step 5: Cool Before Cutting
Let the cake cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes before cutting. This cake is dense enough that cutting it too soon will compress the crumb and make a mess of the crumble topping. Fifteen minutes minimum; twenty is better. It’s also excellent at room temperature or even slightly warm, not straight-from-the-oven hot.
Helpful Tips
- Do half with pecans, half without. This works well if you’re serving a group where some people avoid nuts. Just add the pecans to one side of the crumble before baking.
- The crumble sinks a bit — that’s fine. During baking, the crumble partially sinks into the batter and creates a middle layer effect. The top still gets crispy, and the inside has pockets of caramelized sugar. That’s by design.
- Don’t overbake it. The dense crumb means it retains heat longer than a lighter cake, and it will continue cooking for a couple of minutes after you pull it from the oven. Pull it when the center is just set, not when it looks completely dry.
- A glass pan gives you better visibility. You can see the bottom and sides start to brown, which helps you judge doneness better than a dark metal pan where you’re guessing.
- Room temperature eggs and water bake more evenly. Not critical for a recipe this forgiving, but if you remember to pull your eggs 20 minutes before mixing, the batter comes together slightly smoother.
- A stand mixer makes this easier but isn’t required. A hand mixer works just as well. If you’re using a whisk by hand, make sure everything is thoroughly combined — the dry pudding can clump if you’re not mixing aggressively enough.
Variations Worth Trying
Swap the Pudding Flavor
The butterscotch pudding is the defining flavor, but the vanilla pudding is more flexible. You could swap it for cheesecake-flavored instant pudding, which adds a slight tang and richness that plays well against the butterscotch. Or use two boxes of butterscotch if you want a more intensely flavored cake — it’ll be sweeter and richer, but some people love that.
Add a Cinnamon Layer
Mix 1 teaspoon of cinnamon into your brown sugar crumble. It shifts the flavor profile toward a more traditional coffee cake direction while keeping the butterscotch base. This is the version I’d make if I were serving it at a brunch where people expect something that tastes more classic.
Use Walnuts Instead of Pecans
Pecans have a buttery sweetness that works particularly well in the crumble, but walnuts are a reasonable substitute. They’re slightly more bitter and less rich, which actually creates a nice contrast with the sweet topping. Toast them briefly in a dry skillet before adding if you want more flavor.
Storage and Make-Ahead
At Room Temperature
Cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap or foil and leave it at room temperature. It keeps well for 2–3 days this way. The crumble will soften slightly by day 2, but the cake itself stays moist.
In the Refrigerator
You can refrigerate it for up to 5 days. The texture changes slightly — denser and a bit firmer — but it warms back up well. Let individual pieces sit at room temperature for 10–15 minutes, or warm briefly in the microwave (15–20 seconds per piece).
Make-Ahead the Night Before
This is genuinely the best approach for a morning gathering. Bake the full cake the evening before, let it cool completely, cover it at room temperature, and serve it in the morning. No reheating necessary — it’s just as good at room temperature, which is how most people end up eating it anyway.
Freezing
This cake freezes well cut into individual pieces. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap, then place in a zip-top bag or freezer container. Freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator or at room temperature for a couple of hours. The crumble texture won’t be exactly the same after freezing — it softens — but the cake itself holds up fine.
Equipment That Helps
Nothing specialized needed, but a few things make the process easier:
- A 9×13 glass baking dish — glass bakes more evenly than dark metal for this style of dense cake, and you can monitor browning better.
- A hand mixer — thick batter like this can be exhausting to mix by hand. A hand mixer does it in 2 minutes.
- A small offset spatula — for spreading the thick batter evenly in the pan without dragging it around.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use cook-and-serve pudding instead of instant?
No — and this is worth paying attention to when you’re at the store. Instant pudding is pre-gelatinized, meaning it thickens when combined with liquid without heat. Cook-and-serve pudding requires heat to activate its starch, and adding it dry to a batter doesn’t work the same way. You’ll end up with a different texture — potentially gummy or underdone in the center even when the outside is fully baked. Buy instant.
Why is my batter so thick?
That’s how it’s supposed to be. The combination of cake mix, two boxes of pudding, and only 1 cup of water creates a much denser batter than a standard box cake. This is what gives the final cake its tight, moist crumb. Spread it with a spatula — it won’t pour. If it seems truly impossible to spread, check that you measured 1 cup of water and ½ cup of oil correctly.
Can I make this in a different pan size?
You can use two 9-inch round cake pans if you don’t have a 9×13. Reduce baking time to around 25–35 minutes and start checking early. A Bundt pan also works and makes a more impressive presentation — bake for 45–55 minutes and check with a toothpick. Just know that the crumble topping will become more of an interior layer if you flip it, which is actually delicious. Don’t try a smaller pan (like an 8×8) — the batter volume is too large and the center will never bake through.
My crumble is coming out as paste, not crumbles. What happened?
The butter was too warm. If you fully melted the butter (liquid) rather than softening it, the brown sugar will absorb it and form a paste that spreads flat rather than dropping in distinct clumps. You can’t reverse it once mixed, but you can press it into thin, irregular pieces across the top — it’ll still bake into a caramelized layer. Next time, use room temperature butter that still holds its shape but yields when you press it.
How do I know when the cake is done?
The toothpick test is your best tool. Insert it in the center of the pan — it should come out with a few moist crumbs, not wet batter. The top will look set and the crumble will have turned a deep amber. The edges will have pulled away slightly from the sides of the pan. Visual cues help, but the toothpick check is more reliable than timing alone, since oven temperatures vary significantly.
Can I add a glaze on top?
You can, and it looks nice, but the crumble topping is already sweet enough that a glaze pushes it into dessert territory rather than coffee cake territory. If you want to go that direction: whisk 1 cup powdered sugar with 2–3 tablespoons of milk and drizzle it over the cooled cake. Butterscotch chips melted with a tablespoon of cream makes an even better drizzle that ties the flavor together. Let the cake cool completely before glazing so it doesn’t slide off.
Related Recipes
- Quick Breakfast Casserole Recipe — another make-ahead option that feeds a crowd without much morning effort
- Pork Chop and Hashbrown Casserole — if you’re feeding people brunch and need a savory main alongside the coffee cake
- Mongolian Beef — not breakfast, but one of the most-visited recipes on the site