My colleagues and I decided it was time to reinstitute a monthly birthday celebration at our staff meetings. I won’t be the only one providing treats, but as one of the instigators, I felt that I should kick it off. I looked through my recipes and Pinterest for inspiration, but the last week was been so full, that at the last minute, I decided to make a coffee cake. Sometimes, simple is better.

I grabbed a recipe from The Pioneer Woman before I left the office, to use as a shopping list. This would have been her recipe exactly if I hadn’t had broken the yolk on the last egg I was separating. That led to a slight modification.

I ended up making two cakes, one for work and one for Ed to enjoy at home. I got off easy because there wasn’t a request for a third but vegan version of the cake from our daughter. It was well received all around, a rich, moist cake, with oodles of yummy crumble topping.

I snapped this photo when I arrived this morning, just because there are so many beautiful vistas on our church campus. I’ll have to write a post about it later with photos that do it justice, maybe in the fall when all of the plants have recovered from the summer heat. I hope you’re staying cool wherever you are!

Coffee Cake

Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 45 mins
Total Time: 1 hour 5 mins
Yield: 20 - 24 1x

Scale

Ingredients

3 3/4 cups flour, divided
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups softened butter, divided
2 cups (scant) sugar
3 eggs
1 1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 1/2 cup pecans, Chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350
Prepare a 9 x 13 baking dish with spray (or lightly rub with butter and dust with flour)
Combine 3 cups flour, baking powder, and salt, set aside
Cream 3/4 cup butter with sugar
Add the eggs, beating until light and fluffy
Add about 1/3 of the milk, alternating with 1/3 of the premixed dry ingredients, repeat twice, mixing after each addition just until incorporated
Scrap batter into prepared pan.
Combine remaining 3/4 cup flour, remaining 3/4 cup butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecans, working until just combined but still crumbly (I do this with my hands)
Sprinkle this topping over the cake as evenly as possibles
Bake for 45 minutes or until set