Coffee Cake for Chilly Mornings

Autumn is here and things have been pretty quiet in the garden (and here at Clover and Thyme, too.) The Grow Camp has been cleared of all but the peppers, and I decided  to plant a few fall salad greens which are sprouting quite nicely. While the pace has slowed in the garden, it’s certainly picked up in the home. Our house has been buzzing with homeschool lessons, piano practice, fall soccer, and weekly homeschool co-op and church activities.

I’ve been having fun revisiting all my favorite cool weather recipes, including this coffee cake recipe. The weather has been quite nippy over here for the past week, and let me tell you, there is nothing like indulging in a warm comforting breakfast baked in the oven on a chilly autumn morning.

This cake has that perfect coffee cake texture, dense, but tender and not dry at all. It has just enough cinnamon and buttery richness without being too much.

The recipe makes an 8×8 pan – enough for a family of four or more to each have a healthy serving with left overs. How long it lasts in your kitchen without a revisit from your family is another story altogether.

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 6 tablespoons white sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ⅓ cup shortening
• ½ cup milk
• 1 egg
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9 inch square pan.

2. In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender until well incorporated.

3. In a separate small bowl, beat the egg. Stir in the milk and vanilla. Add the egg-milk mixture to the flour mixture all at once. Stir carefully until just blended.

4. Transfer batter into prepared pan and spread evenly (batter will be thick.)

5. In a small bowl mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon with the butter. Distribute evenly on top of cake, occasionally poking the topping into the batter wherever you desire. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.