Food is an emotional thing. Even if you aren't an emotional eater (congratulations on this very rare accomplishment), you are bound to look at food and conjure up a memory. Maybe you look at Top Ramen and think of the pennies-to-your-name days of college. Or a bite of English toffee has you thinking of your grandpa. Perhaps Cap'n Crunch cereal brings up memories of your first sleepover while chocolate fudge pops will always be a moment with your best friend.
Whenever I see, or even hear the word coffee cake, I think of childhood Christmases. Although it wasn't necessarily on Christmas day, usually at some point during winter break my mother would make sweet, moist, may-I-puhhhlease-have-another cinnamon crumble sour cream coffee cake. Forget donuts and cake batter pancakes. My ideal dessert for breakfast has always been coffee cake.
I had a partially used container of sour cream in my fridge, and all I could think was must make coffee cake. And then I pulled out the recipe. Holy cow!! No wonder my mom didn't make it often. The coffee cake is loaded with fat and INSANE amounts of sugar. And if there is one thing my mother was good about, it was not loading us up with sugar. (No Froot Loops or Twinkies in our house.)
I couldn't do it. I just couldn't bring myself to make it, not in its original form. While I am not opposed to indulging now and then, we had indulged plenty with a recent holiday. Oh yeah, and I still had some of my favorite chocolate chip cookies left over. Exorbitant amounts of sugar were not on my list of things to feed my family.
But once I had a hankering for coffee cake, I couldn't shake it. What's a girl to do? Make a healthier version, that's what! I did, and let me tell you, it's so much different than the original, yet still so good. It's super moist (more so than the original) with just the right amount of sweetness. I offered my mom a piece when she stopped by to visit one afternoon. She can't eat a lot of sugar these days, so she was excited when she heard about my modifications. She was even more thrilled when she tried it- so thrilled, in fact, that she went home with two extra pieces and begged for the recipe.
So Mom, this one is especially for you. Thanks for giving me a pretty amazing inspiration piece for this recipe.
Whenever I see, or even hear the word coffee cake, I think of childhood Christmases. Although it wasn't necessarily on Christmas day, usually at some point during winter break my mother would make sweet, moist, may-I-puhhhlease-have-another cinnamon crumble sour cream coffee cake. Forget donuts and cake batter pancakes. My ideal dessert for breakfast has always been coffee cake.
I had a partially used container of sour cream in my fridge, and all I could think was must make coffee cake. And then I pulled out the recipe. Holy cow!! No wonder my mom didn't make it often. The coffee cake is loaded with fat and INSANE amounts of sugar. And if there is one thing my mother was good about, it was not loading us up with sugar. (No Froot Loops or Twinkies in our house.)
I couldn't do it. I just couldn't bring myself to make it, not in its original form. While I am not opposed to indulging now and then, we had indulged plenty with a recent holiday. Oh yeah, and I still had some of my favorite chocolate chip cookies left over. Exorbitant amounts of sugar were not on my list of things to feed my family.
But once I had a hankering for coffee cake, I couldn't shake it. What's a girl to do? Make a healthier version, that's what! I did, and let me tell you, it's so much different than the original, yet still so good. It's super moist (more so than the original) with just the right amount of sweetness. I offered my mom a piece when she stopped by to visit one afternoon. She can't eat a lot of sugar these days, so she was excited when she heard about my modifications. She was even more thrilled when she tried it- so thrilled, in fact, that she went home with two extra pieces and begged for the recipe.
So Mom, this one is especially for you. Thanks for giving me a pretty amazing inspiration piece for this recipe.
Ingredients
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
4 tbsp oil
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup all purpose flour, sifted
1 cup wheat flour, sifted
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
1 ¼ cup Greek yogurt
Topping
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour tube pan.
2. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
3. Cream applesauce and sugar. Add eggs and oil, beating well. Add flour mixture and yogurt alternately, mixing thoroughly between additions. Add vanilla and mix one last time.
4. Pour half batter into tube pan. Mix together ingredients of crumb topping. Sprinkle one-half topping over mixture. Add remaining batter and topping. Press top gently with large spoon. This helps the topping stay on.
5. Bake 50 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Allow cake to cool slightly, then remove from pan and place on large plate.
Enjoy!