Coffee Cake

The squash recipe from earlier did not turn out to be so great, so to make up for it, some kind of dessert had to be produced. We managed to pick out the only recipe that was not Christmas-y from a magazine of Holiday recipes - a recipe for Coffee Cake. Without reading past the ingredients, I ran to the Giant to get sour cream and unsalted butter.

Ingredients

Streusel

½ cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2” pieces and chilled

½ cup pecans

Muffins

2 large eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1 ¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

½ cup granulated sugar

1 Tablespoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon table salt

5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks and softened

When I got back, I actually read the recipe and realized what I had gotten myself into. After two hours and a third trip to the grocery store, I finally was able to sit down with a cup of coffee and enjoy my hard labor...

It seems like I never end up doing exactly what they tell me to - you can see that my cupcake has almonds, not pecans - but the actual recipe is below...

Directions

1. FOR THE STREUSEL: Pulse 5 Tablespoons granulated sugar, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and butter in food processor until just combined. Reserve ¾ cup sugar mixture for cinnamon filling. Add pecans and remaining granulated sugar to food processor with remaining sugar mixture and pulse until nuts are coarsely ground. Transfer to bowl and set aside for streusel topping. Do not wash food processor.

2. FOR THE MUFFINS: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray and line with paper liners. Whisk eggs, sour cream and vanilla in bowl. Pulse flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter in food processor until mixture resembles wet sand. Transfer to large bowl. Using rubber spatula, gradually fold in egg mixture until just combined. Place 1 tablespoon batter in each muffin cup and top with 1 tablespoon cinnamon filling lightly into batter.

3. Bake until muffins are light golden brown and toothpick inserted into center comes out with a few dry crumbs attached, 22-28 minutes. Cool muffin tin for 30 minutes, then carefully transfer to rack to cool. Serve.