Sour Cream Coffee Cake, Two Versions (Light or Not!)

Happy FREEZING Sunday morning from Middle Grove, NY. After days of sub-zero temperatures, we're hovering around 10 degrees F as morning greets us today, but it is supposed to warm to a balmy 30 before the next storm hits us this afternoon with freezing rain and later, more snow. This is January in the great Northeast!!!

On my Facebook page yesterday, I posted a photo of a sour cream coffee cake I made for a wedding brunch today, for a good friend's lovely daughter and son-in-law. That photo (where the recipe was quadrupled for a crowd!) elicited a lot of interest, so today I am posting the recipe (NOT quadrupled!). Originally, this recipe came from Cooking Light Magazine, though for years I have unlightened (sp?) it by using whole eggs and full-fat sour cream because I make it for a hotel and I believe hotel guests like a bit of indulgence! However, the original, lighter version is really good, so I am bringing you the recipe for the full-fat version but with light ingredients in parentheses. Note that the original, linked below under the title of the recipe, includes chopped walnuts which I have not included (allergy concerns for hotel guests). You can bake this light or not, include walnuts or not. I've even stuffed it with cheesecake and blueberries! Go ahead… Make it your way!

SOUR CREAM COFFEE CAKE
Adapted from Cooking Light Magazine
Single recipe - 8x8 square pan, sprayed with vegetable spray and lined with parchment if you have it
Double recipe - 13x9 pan, also sprayed and lined (or can be baked in a larger bundt pan sprayed with vegetable spray)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Ingredients for single recipe:

1/4 cup butter at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature ( or 2 egg whites)
1 cup sour cream (or one cup low-fat sour cream)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup light brown sugar mixed with 1 tablespoon cinnamon

Glaze - 1 cup confectioners sugar/water

Directions:

In large mixer bowl, beat butter with granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until well incorporated. Add sour ream and vanilla extract, mix well. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well on low speed until completely incorporated.

Put half of the batter into prepared pan, spreading to completely cover bottom. Sprinkle with half of brown sugar/cinnamon mixture. Top with the rest of the batter and using a butter knife, swirl batter as if you were making a marble cake. Top with remaining brown sugar/cinnamon mixture.

Bake until cake tests done, when tester or toothpick comes out clean and top bounces back when lightly pressed. It is very important that you know your oven and test accordingly:
8x8 pan - test at 25 minutes, may take 30-35 minutes depending on your oven
13x9 pan - test at 30 minutes, may take 30-40 minutes depending on your oven

Glaze:

Mix confectioners sugar with a tiny bit of water at a time, in a small bowl with a fork, until it's like a thick white glue. Add more water, a drop at a time, until it looks like Elmer's glue! Drizzle over coffee cake with a fork.

Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Muffins

Here's a muffin that can serve as an indulgent breakfast treat or dessert. My inspiration is a memory from a trip my ex-husband and I took to Rockport, Massachusetts to celebrate our anniversary. We stayed at a little sea-side bed-and-breakfast and as we were unpacking our car, the aroma of chocolate wafted from the B&B. When we checked in, I asked the innkeeper what that incredible aroma was. She said it was sour cream chocolate chip coffee cake for the next morning's breakfast.

So often after a divorce, good memories are put away and only the more difficult moments are remembered. Not so here. I have very happy memories of our time in Rockport. It is a beautiful place. The shops were lovely, and the restaurants were great. I remember bringing back lobster lollipops for the kids. Here's my recipe for Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Muffins, a tribute to that happy time.

CHOCOLATE CHIP SOUR CREAM MUFFINS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F -makes 1 dozen regular-sized muffins

1/4 cup soft butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 3/4 cup flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup mini chocolate chips tossed with 1 tablespoon flour

2 tablespoons additional sugar, mixed with 1 tsp. cinnamon

Beat softened butter with sugar for five minutes (yes). Add vanilla extract. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Add sour cream. Beat well.

Mix flour with baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add to butter mixture and beat until very well mixed together. Fold in chocolate chips.

Line muffin cups with paper liners. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Sprinkle tops with cinnamon sugar mixture.

Bake for 20 minutes or until centers are dry and spring back when lightly pressed.

Enjoy for breakfast, dessert, or no reason!!!

Photo credit:http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/519E0J8BHEL._SL500_AA280_.jpg