Coffee Cake

My sister is finishing up her pharmacy rotations right now. She’s currently doing her last one, and it’s in West Union, Iowa. From what she tells me, it’s pretty bleak. No offense to those of you in West Union, of course. Anyway, I decided to send her a care package with the first two seasons of 30 Rock to help with the boredom and some kind of healthy-ish baked good, because what would a care package be without something homemade and delicious? I found this recipe from Cooking Light (apparently my only source for anything) and it fit the bill once I made some modifications.

Now, I personally like my coffee cake with nuts. I love nuts of all kinds, especially in baked goods, but I know that my sister doesn’t care for them so I sought out a recipe sans nuts. However, you could easily add them in if you so choose. In fact, please do!

Also, the original recipe also called for frosting, but I really don’t understand the point of frosting coffee cake, especially with this recipe. It’s super sweet on its own, and it’s meant to go with breakfast, yes? So much unnecessary sugar. If you want to make frosting, mix 1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons brewed coffee and spread it over the cooled cake.

Anyway, on to the recipe! This is updated with my modifications, but here’s the original if you don’t trust me. ;)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups  granulated sugar, divided
• 1/2 cup  nutlike cereal nuggets (such as Grape-Nuts)
• 2 teaspoons instant espresso granules (or regular instant coffee granules)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cups wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon  baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1  cup  vanilla fat-free Greek yogurt (about 8 ounces)
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup egg substitute

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar, cereal, espresso granules, and cinnamon in a small bowl; stir with a whisk. Set aside.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, remaining 1 cup granulated sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add yogurt, butter, and egg substitute; beat with an electric mixer on low speed 1 minute or until combined. Spread half of batter into an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with cereal mixture; top with remaining half of batter.

Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean; cool in pan. Cut into 12 pieces.

Your cast of characters. You totally don’t need the vanilla, by the way. I just assumed I’d need it (since virtually every baked good uses it) but the vanilla is in the yogurt, so it’s not necessary!

Mix up your filling. This is the coffee granules, cinnamon, off-brand Grape Nuts, and 1/2 cup of the sugar. Now, if I made this again, I’d cut down on the sugar in the filling by about half or use brown sugar (and less of it) instead. It really doesn’t need this much. Brown sugar would probably be better anyway. Use your judgment!

By the way, you totally would never guess that this cake uses Grape Nuts in the filling after it’s baked. It’s kind of crazy—I mean, who was like, “Let’s put Grape Nuts in coffee cake!” Insanity, but it totally works. Anyway, set that aside and start on your batter.

Mix up your dry ingredients. The original recipe calls for all all-purpose flour, but I substituted white whole wheat flour for 3/4 cup of the amount. Why? Because I didn’t want to compromise the texture of the cake by substituting all of it (wheat flour makes baked goods denser and chewier, with a slightly nutty taste), but I wanted to add some more fiber and protein. So there you go! If you want to start experimenting with whole wheat flour, I’d recommend starting by substituting small amounts like this and using white whole wheat flour, which is lighter than regular whole wheat flour but has the same nutritional value.

Whisk it all up, set it aside, and start on your wet ingredients.

Egg substitute, butter, and Greek yogurt. The original recipe called for regular fat-free vanilla yogurt, but Greek yogurt is a WAY better choice. It’s absolutely PACKED with protein, and it’s way lower in carbs. It’s also much denser and creamier, which helps the texture of the cake. This stuff used to be really hard to find, but it’s catching on fast and is in the regular yogurt section of most supermarkets now. Definitely make this substitution.

Blend it all up, then add it to your dry ingredients.

Like so! Now mix all of this together. It’ll get pretty thick at this point, but that’s ok, trust me.

Now it’s time to assemble. Get out your prepared 8x8” baking dish.

We’re doing this in layers. First, spread half of the batter on the bottom.

Now sprinkle the filling over top of that. See, look at all that excess sugar. I’ll definitely cut it down next time.

Now spread the other half of the batter over top and put it in your preheated oven.

Make sure to check with a tester to make sure this is done. I had to bake mine for at least an extra 10 minutes—if I hadn’t checked it would have been all gooey at the bottom! By the way, I just use a chopstick to test. I don’t know why anyone would actually BUY a “cake tester.” Ridiculous.

I cooled it for about 15 minutes in the pan, then dumped it onto a wire rack to finish cooling and for cutting. Slice it into 12 pieces.

Look at that deliciousness! Moist, coffee-y, and cinnamon-y. The Grape Nuts get slightly chewy so they almost take the place of nuts. Almost. I’d still add nuts if it was just for me though.

This is great as a snack or as part of a balanced breakfast. :) Lots of protein—all thanks to the Greek yogurt and adding that little bit of wheat flour. Little substitutions go a long way. My only beef with this recipe is the amount of sugar, so I’d certainly recommend adjusting that if you choose to make it. Otherwise, it’s super tasty and I’ll definitely make it again.

Here are the nutrition facts with my substitutions. As always, if you make subs of your own, make sure to adjust accordingly.

Nutrition Facts (per slice: 1/12th of recipe)

Calories: 230
Fat: 3.9g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Protein: 5.3g
Carbohydrate: 43.2g
Fiber: 1.7g
Sugar: 26.8g