Christmas Morning Coffee Cake

Two layers of moist cake with a thick layer of sweet cinnamon sugar and topped with a whole bunch of crumb topping.

My favorite tradition for Christmas morning is waking up to do stockings. We do it first thing in the morning once everyone has gotten up and prepared a cup of coffee. It is amazing how long we can draw out the process of opening the little packages that fit into our now stretched out stockings.  

By the time the stockings are completely done our bellies are rumbling for some food. My family always has coffee cake Christmas morning. My mom wakes up early so we rise to the sweet smell of cinnamon.  

There is no official recipe for her coffee cakes although I know she rotates between two or three tried and true recipes from older church cookbooks. I tell you Midwest church cookbooks are a plethora of good things.  With Christmas coming oh so soon, I was getting in the mood for coffee cake. We aren't celebrating with my family this year so I thought I would whip one up for our own "mini" Christmas morning. 

This coffee cake is not the simplest to put together. More so it is huge and takes a while to bake. If you are like me and wake up hungry you will want some other snacks to munch on as you wait for this to come out of the oven.  But it is worth the effort. The best part is the massive amounts of crumb topping. It crumbles a bit with each forkful. 

Extra Crumb Topping Coffee Cake

by Emily Morris, Joy the Baker Cookbook

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 60 minutes

Keywords: bake breakfast cake

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Ingredients (serves 12)

For the Topping:

• 1 3/4 cups (about 12 ounces) granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups (about 10 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

For the Filling:

• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 3 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

For the Cake:

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups (about 10 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 3 3/4 cups (about 18 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1 1/4 cups whole milk

Instructions

Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9- by 13-inch baking pan and set aside.

To make the topping:

In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, salt, flour, and cinnamon. Add the butter and stir until thoroughly combined and the mixture resembles moist corn meal. Set aside.

To make the filling:

In a medium bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cocoa powder, and salt. Set aside.

To make the cake:

In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars together until well combined, about 4 minutes. Beat in vanilla.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Scrape the bowl down between each egg addition to ensure that everything is properly mixed. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In another small bowl, whisk together the sour cream and milk. It may be a bit lumpy. On low speed, add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the batter. As it incorporates, add half of the sour cream mixture. Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture and the remainder of the sour cream mixture. Mix until barely incorporated and add the remaining flour. Finish incorporating the dry ingredients with a spatula to ensure that all of the flour is well incorporated.

Spread about half of the batter into the prepared pan, pushing it to the edges with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle the filling on top of the batter.

Dollop the remaining batter across the top of the filling and use a spatula to spread batter across pan. Use a butter knife to gently swirl the filling into the batter with a few gentle strokes.

Sprinkle the topping evenly over the batter and bake the cake until is golden brown and a cake tester or wooden skewer inserted into center comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 20 to 30 minutes before serving. Cake will last, well wrapped, at room temperature for 4 to 5 days.

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