Sugar and Spice and Cinnamon are Nice!

Morning, noon, and night, coffee is the number one drink at our house.  The common question in the morning is not, "Do your want coffee with your breakfast?" but, "What do your want to eat with your coffee?"  I just love the stuff; my husband needs it!  He is one of those people that you don't want to encounter in the morning until he has had at least his first cup of coffee.  That is why he gets the job of packing lunches in the morning; this gets him to the kitchen coffee pot first.  Once the coffee is poured, the food that accompanies it really doesn't matter.

We also drink coffee at night, often with a late night snack.  (Yes, we can both drink lots of coffee and go right to sleep with no problem.)  This is where the coffee cake comes in.  I'm not much for wanting to eat sweets with my morning coffee, but with the night time cup it's a different story!  The evening is when my sweet tooth is ramped up and ready to go.  Coffee cake loaded with cinnamon is the perfect complement to a nice bold cup of coffee.

I have used King Arthur flour as well as their recipes for a long time.  I don't think that I have ever tried one of that didn't meet or exceed my expectations.  And, I am a bit nostalgic where King Arthur  baking products are concerned.  Weber and I visited the King Arthur campus when we were in Vermont on our honeymoon.  It was definitely a baker's, and eater's paradise!

The King Arthur Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake is pure deliciousness!  It is loaded with cinnamon in that it has a filling as well as a streusel topping.  The cake itself is dense, but not overly sweet, allowing the filling to take the flavor center stage.  This coffee cake is a little labor intensive, but it is more than worth the time that it takes to make it!

Because I make this recipe exactly as directed by King Arthur, I am copying the recipe exactly as they have it printed on their own web page and inserting my own photos.

INGREDIENTS

Streusel topping

• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt (if you use unsalted butter)
• 1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling

• 1 cup brown sugar, light or dark
• 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder 

Cake

• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon salt (1 ¼ teaspoons if you use unsalted butter)
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
• 1 1/4 cups milk (anything from skim to whole)
• 3 3/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Directions

1. 1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan, or two 9" round cake pans.
2. 2) Make the topping by whisking together the sugar, salt, flour, and cinnamon. 

1. Add the melted butter, stirring till well combined. Set the topping aside.

1. 3) Make the filling by mixing together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa powder. Note that the cocoa powder is used strictly for color, not flavor; leave it out if you like. Set it aside.

1. 4) To make the cake: In a large bowl, beat together the butter, salt, sugars, baking powder, and vanilla until well combined and smooth.
2. 5) Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

1. 6) In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream or yogurt and milk till well combined. You don't need to whisk out all the lumps.
2. 7) Add the flour to the butter mixture alternately with the milk/sour cream mixture, beating gently to combine.

1. 8) Pour/spread half the batter (a scant 3 cups) into the prepared pan(s), spreading all the way to the edges. If you're using two 9" round pans, spread 1 1/3 cups batter in each pan.

1. 9) Sprinkle the filling evenly atop the batter.

1. 10) Spread the remaining batter atop the filling. Use a table knife to gently swirl the filling into the batter, as though you were making a marble cake. Don't combine filling and batter thoroughly; just swirl the filling through the batter. 

1. 11) Sprinkle the topping over the batter in the pan.

1. 12) Bake the cake until it's a dark golden brown around the edges; medium-golden with no light patches showing on top, and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes for the 9" x 13" pan, 50 to 55 minutes for the 9" round pans. When pressed gently in the middle, the cake should spring back. 
2. 13) Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool for 20 minutes before cutting and serving. Serve cake right from the pan.

Tips from our bakers

• Since butter and sour cream are both key ingredients in this cake, we encourage you to use the best quality you can get. We highly recommend Cabot, a superb Vermont brand available nationally.
• It's easy to spread half the batter in the pan when you know how much it weighs. If you have a kitchen scale, half the batter weighs about 28 ounces.
• Want to prepare this coffeecake the night before, then bake in the morning? It's easy; simply cover the unbaked cake with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. Next morning, bake the cake as directed. Start testing for doneness at the end of the suggested baking time; you'll probably have to add 5 minutes or so to the total time, to account for the batter being chilled.
• Dress it up for guests: Make a glaze with ½ cup confectioners' or glazing sugar and 1 tablespoon milk; drizzle glaze over the cooled coffeecake.

by Tracey G

Another thing Kris and I have in common or share in likes/loves, is, the love of coffee!!! I have been drinking the stuff since I was like 4, lol. Well, not a full cup to myself, but a sip or two from Mom and Dad's cup - and that's where I learned to be able drink mine with either cream and sugar, or just black, lol. Preferably with cream and sugar, but in a pinch - black works just as well, lol.

Which reminds me of a funny story from my childhood coffee-drinking days... My father was concerned with my taking sips off their coffees, so he asked the pediatrician about it - whether or not it was ok for me and the pediatrician answered, with a straight face according to my Mom's retelling, "well, how does she drink it? Black or with cream and sugar?" And my dad thought he actually had to answer that not realizing the doctor was just messing with him, lol. It didn't matter -  the small amounts I was imbibing were ok - no growth stunting or whatever other horrible things could befall me according to coffee drinking lore, lol. ;-)

I also discovered one more thing in the "share column" of likes/loves of Kris and I - our use of King Arthur Flour! I don't remember when I started using it, but once I did I never looked back - any time I buy anything else it's because the store was out of it, lol. It was their gluten-free brownie mix I tried a few posts back and it was yummy! I do have a gluten-free yellow cake mix by King Arthur Flour that I plan on testing some time in near future here on the blog. :-)

Now, on to the Cinnamon Rolls. I found this recipe in my Taste Of Home magazine. (see a theme here? LOL ToH is my all-time favorite food magazine, I've been a subscriber for at least 25 years, which is hard to believe considering I'm only 29, lol;-) )

I found it awhile ago and have been wanting to make it for ages, I love cinnamon rolls and it's very close to the usual recipe I use, only this adds vanilla pudding mix to the dough, and it intrigued me. And what better excuse to make them then to make them for the food aspect of the blog? :-) I didn't realize though, that this endeavor was going to be an all day undertaking - and it really wouldn't be, lol, but when you stop to photograph every little step, it ends up being that way! LOL And I discovered that it seems like a lot steps! But really it wasn't that many and it wouldn't take very long while not taking photos, lol. And in the end, they were super yummy so was worth it! I still don't advise trying to do this on a busy weeknight or anything, that might just prove frustrating, lol

And they go smashingly with coffee ;-)

Of course I forgot to include a few ingredients in the photo, but it wouldn't be right if I didn't, lol. Good grief, someday I'll get everyone in the shot! Anyway, here's the "not pictured": Water, butter, milk and salt. And here's the pictured: flour, yeast, egg, sugar and pudding mix. 

I had to deviate from the combining method a little bit because I use Rapid Rise yeast and it gets combined with the dry ingredients, and not dissolved in the warm water as directed in the recipe. But I will describe it as per the recipe...

In a bowl dissolve the yeast and the sugar in warm water. In another bowl you mix the pudding mix and milk until well blended for 1 minute. Then you let that stand for about a minute more. To the pudding mixture you then add the egg, butter, salt, yeast mixture and about 2 cups of the flour. Beat until smooth, then add enough flour to make a soft dough.

Here's another place I diverge from the recipe - I use my KitchenAid mixer with the dough hook to replace hand kneading, it's easier and takes less time. But again, the recipe's directions state to turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth, approximately 6-8 minutes.  

You then place the dough in a greased bowl, turning to grease the top.

Cover and let rise until doubled, about an hour (or less using Rapid Rise yeast)

While the dough is rising, mix the filling ingredients - sugar and cinnamon. It calls for 1 tbsp cinnamon - but I used a bit more because Harry asked if I could make them extra cinnamon-y, lol.

Once dough has risen, punch down....

... and divide in half.

Roll each half into a 18x10-in. rectangle.

Brush each half with 2 tablespoons of butter each, and then sprinkle each with half of the sugar/cinnamon mixture.

Roll up from the long side, pinch seams to seal. Cut into 12 rolls. I got out the ruler to make sure I had them fairly even, and each piece was about 1 1/2-in. wide.

Place all the pieces in a greased 9x13-in. baking pan. 

Cover and let rise until doubled. Preheat oven to 350° F. Bake 20-25 minutes until golden.

 While they are baking, mix up the frosting ingredients - softened butter, vanilla and powdered sugar.

When the rolls are done, spread the still-warm rolls with frosting mixture. Then, eat! LOL

Favorite Cinnamon Rolls

Originally called "Can't-Eat-Just-One Cinnamon Rolls"

courtesy of Taste Of Home

Makes 12

Dough:

I pkg (1/4 oz) active dry yeast

1 tbsp sugar

1/4 c water (110° F)

1 c milk

1/3 c instant vanilla pudding mix (it's about 1/2 of a 3.4-oz pkg)

1 egg

1/4 c butter, melted

1 tsp salt

3 - 3 1/2 c flour

Filling:

3/4 c sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon

1/4 c butter, melted

Frosting:

11/2 c powdered sugar

1/2 c butter, softened

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp water

1) In a bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 tbsp sugar in warm water. In a large bowl, beat milk and pudding mix on low speed for 1 minute. Let stand 1 minute. Add egg, butter, salt, yeast mixture and 2 cups flour; beat on medium until smooth. Stir in enough flour to form a soft dough.

2) Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top of the dough. Cover, let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

3) For filling, in a bowl mix sugar and cinnamon. Punch down dough; divide in half. Roll each half into an 18x10-in. rectangle. Brush each with 2 tbsp butter; sprinkle with half of the sugar mixture. Roll up, starting with long side; pinch seam to seal. Cut each into 12 pieces.

4) Place in a greased 9x13-in. baking pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 350° F.

5) Bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown. In a bowl, beat frosting ingredients until creamy. Spread over warm rolls.