Cinnamon Coffee Cake Recipe

Another breakfast recipe from King Arthur Flour. I swear we don't work for them...
This cake has a crunchy cinnamon topping that you'll want to lick off your plate. But I think my favorite part was the filling. I want to try making it with double the filling and half the topping next time.


Ingredients
Streusel topping
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt (if you use unsalted butter)
1 1/2 cups flour
1 T ground cinnamon
6 T melted butter

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

Cake
3/4 cup salted butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 eggs
3/4 c plain yogurt
1 1/4 c milk
3 3/4 c flour

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan

Make the struesel topping first by mixing together the sugar, salt, flour, and cinnamon. Add the melted butter, stir until combined - it will look crumbly. Save for later.

In a seperate bowl, make the cake filling by mixing together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa powder.

In a third larger bowl, make the cake. Beat together the butter, salt, sugars, baking powder, and vanilla until well combined and smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after you add each one.

In a separate bowl (you'll be doing a lot of dishes later), whisk together the yogurt and milk till well combined. Add the flour to the large bowl with butter mixture, and alternate with the milk/yogurt mixture, beating gently to combine.

Spread half the batter into the greased pan, spreading evenly and to the edge. Sprinkle the filling on top of this layer of batter. Then spread the remaining batter on top of the filling. Use a butter knife to gently swirl the filling into the batter. Don't combine filling and batter completely - just swirl the filling through the batter. Sprinkle the bowl of struesel topping over the batter in the pan. Bake the cake 50-60 minutes until golden brown around the edges and a toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool about 20 minutes before serving from the pan.

How to Boil Corn

By popular demand, I am actually going to post a recipe for boiled corn on the site. What started out as an inside joke, has lead to quite a number of searches for the actual recipe. Who am I to argue? Behold, the one recipe everyone has been waiting for!

Ingredients
Corn on the cob
Butter
Salt

Instructions
Fill large stock pot 3/4 full of cold water. Cover and put on stove until boiling. Meanwhile, clean off corn, rinse, and get it ready to cook. Once water is boiling, add the corn and partially cover with lid. Boil for exactly 7 minutes, remove from water, add butter or salt if you want and eat it hot.

The important thing to remember is - do not add salt to the boiling water!

Enjoy! Learn more about how to cook corn.

Our buy this book for more than 170 corn recipes:

Spicy Breakfast Potatoes - Oven Roasted Potatoes

Just made these spicy breakfast potatoes for brunch yesterday, and they were a big hit. You could eat them for any meal really.

Ingredients
2 yukon gold potatoes
olive oil
black pepper
chili powder
garlic powder
Pam cooking spray
Flat leaf parsley
Salt

Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray baking sheet with Pam.

Wash the potatoes and cut them into cubes. Soak cubed potatoes in a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes. Drain and sprinkle with pepper, chili powder, and garlic powder. Spread out potatoes on baking sheet & spray with Pam. Put them in the oven for 10 minutes, flip potatoes or shuffle them around on the pan, and cook for 10 more minutes until crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. Chop up some parsely & sprinkle cooked potatoes with a drizzle of olive oil, salt, and parsely.

We don't have a picture because they were eaten too quickly!

Other recipes you may like:
blueberry pancake recipe
potato and leek soup

Champagne Risotto with Scallops

As if risotto isn't decadent enough, substituting champagne for the usual white wine really pushes this one over the edge. So if you ever find yourself reincarnated as the chef for the Medici family in Renaissance Florence, you know what to make.


Ingredients
2 T butter
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1 cup arborio rice1 cup champagne
chicken broth (usually several cups)
1/4 lb. scallops
1/2 c freshly grated parmesan (probably more)

Instructions
Put the chicken broth in a sauce pan and heat over medium/low heat. Meanwhile, saute onions in melted butter for about 3 minutes, add rice and cook in butter for about 2 minutes until opaque, add 1 c champagne and simmer rice until liquid is almost gone. Add 1 c of the hot broth to rice pan and stir rice until liquid is absorbed. Continue until the rice is chewy. Add cheese. For more detailed instructions, see this recipe for 3 cheese risotto.

Sear the scallops just before the risotto is done. The most important things to keep in mind when searing scallops are (1) use a very hot, non-stick pan, and (2) make sure the scallops are dry before searing. If the pan is not hot enough, the scallops will release water and never obtain the perfect sear. So pat your scallops dry with a paper towel while the pan heats up. Place about 1/2 a tablespoon of butter in the pan as it heats, and add the scallops when the pan is almost smoking hot. Do not crowd the pan, which is another enemy of a good sear. We usually sear bay scallops for a only 30 seconds per side (sear sea scallops about 1 minute per side). Just keep an eye on them and flip them when they have a golden brown crust. If you have to sear them in two batches, wipe down the pan with a paper towel between batches, add new butter, and start over.

Served the seared scallops over the finished risotto with a generous dusting of parmesan and chopped parsley.

Scallops 101
We used bay scallops here, but sea scallops are more common, larger, and would perhaps be easier to sear. In fact, we haven't seen any recipes for seared bay scallops, but thought we would give it a try. Sea scallops are usually about two inches long and 1.5 inches thick, whereas bay scallops are much smaller. Calico scallops are often sold as 'bay scallops,' but can be detected by their opaque appearance around the edges. Apparently, they lose their natural flavor when shucked so be careful not to get ripped off.

Other recipes you may like:
3 cheese risotto recipe
shrimp scampi recipe

Blueberry Pancakes

I'm really into brunch food at the moment - why not try brunch for dinner tonight? These pancakes are light and delicious. I found the recipe on King Arthur Flour, my go-to spot for any breakfast food recipe. Use fresh or frozen blueberries.

Ingredients
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract, optional
3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) melted butter or vegetable oil (1 1/4ounces)
1 1/2 cups (6 1/4 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons (7/8 ounce) sugar
3/4 cup (3 ounces) blueberries, fresh or frozen

Instructions
Beat the eggs, milk, and vanilla until light and foamy, about 3 minutes at high speed with a hand mixer. Stir in the melted butter or oil. The key is to use an electric mixer instead of doing it by hand! Add the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar, stirring just to combine, there will be a few lumps still. Set the batter aside to rest while you're heating your pan.

Heat a large frying pan over medium-low to medium heat. Spray with Pam. The pan is hot enough when a drop of water evaporates immediately on contact.

Drop the pancake batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto the hot pan and sprinkle 1 tablespoon blueberries on each pancake. Cook until they’re golden brown on the bottom, about 2 minutes. Flip them over, and cook till the other side is golden, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes.

Serve the pancakes immediately or transfer them to a platter, cover, and keep warm in a 200°F oven.

Other recipes you may like:
French toast
chocolate chunk oatmeal cookies

View all breakfast recipes

Tuscan Beef and Pepper Stew

This recipe is from Simply Tuscan, by Pino Luongo. Also known as Peposo (from the large amount of black pepper), this stew is worth the effort.

Ingredients

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 pounds beef stewing meat

2/3 cup finely chopped carrot

2/3 cup finely chopped onion

2/3 cup finely chopped celery

salt to taste

2 cups red wine

3 cups chicken stock

1/3 cup tomato sauce

1 pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes (about 3 cups)

2 T crushed black peppercorns

Instructions

In a heavy casserole over high heat, warm half of the oil. Add the beef and sear it on all sides until dark brown. Keep some spacing between the cubes to prevent them from steaming. You won't be able to sear all the beef at once, so do it in batches. Set the beef aside when done.

Reduce the heat to low and add the remaining oil to the casserole. Add the carrot, onion, and celery, and some salt. Mix the seared beef with the vegetables and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the red wine and scrape the browned beef from the bottom of the pan. This is critical for developing the flavor. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until some of the liquid appears to have evaporated. Add the stock and the tomato sauce and cook for 15 minutes more. Add half of the squash and all the peppercorns. The original recipe calls for 4 T peppercorns, which seemed overpowering. You may even want to use less than 2 T. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for at least an hour. Keep the lid slightly open if you want some of the water to evaporate. When the meat is tender, add the rest of the squash and cook until tender, about 20 minutes. Add salt if you wish.

This stew is excellent served over creamy polenta!

World's Best French Toast

We made this french toast for Easter brunch and thought we died and went to heaven! But seriously, this is undoubtedly the best french toast I've ever had. It wasn't mushy or eggy like other recipes we've tried. The key is keeping toast in the oven until it is ready to serve. Eat it with syrup or powdered sugar and sliced fruit. The only thing we were missing was some crispy bacon.


Ingredients
6 to 8 slices challah bread, sliced 1 inch thick
3 large eggs
3/4 cup 2% milk
pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons rum
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 T butter
1 T vegetable oil

Instructions
Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Get out a baking sheet and set aside.

Put the butter & vegetable oil in a large frying pan and turn on medium heat. Let the butter melt while you prepare the other ingredients.

In a small bowl, whisk all remaining ingredients together until smooth (not foamy). Pour the batter into a shallow dish or cake pan large enough for 2 slices of bread.

Put 2 pieces of bread in the batter and let them soak for 30 seconds per side. Place the bread on the frying pan and cook toast for 2 minutes per side. The bread should be golden brown, not dark. Put the bread on the baking sheet & into the pre-heated oven. Cook the remaining slices of bread in the same way, and remove all pieces from oven once ready to serve.

The bread will get a tiny bit more brown in the oven, so be aware of this as you are frying it up.

Dig in! Don't worry, you'll be forgiven for enjoying this sinful dish.