My mom went back to work when I was in 4th grade and mornings became a little more hectic. My sister was not yet in kindergarten and she went to a sitter. I have never been a big breakfast eater even during childhood. I have always needed to be up and about for a while before I could eat, so it was always hard to jump out of bed, eat something, get dressed and head out for the day. To this day, I still do not like to eat immediately upon arising even though it is sometimes necessary. Our youngest son is the very same way.
Breakfast at our house growing up was mandatory and I know it's necessary, but it is so hard when you feel like your throat is closing and your stomach is doing flip flops. Yes, it's still that way. Wish I knew why, but I don't. Mom would fix oatmeal, cereal, whomp biscuits (know what those are?), sometimes eggs, but my favorite was cinnamon toast and that was usually reserved for the weekends.
Cinnamon toast is not easy to make when you try to spread cold butter on a piece of bread and there was no microwave to melt butter in. Yes, I am that old. So, the bread would tear from trying to spread the butter. Then, you had to mix the sugar and the cinnamon and sprinkle it on the bread and put it in the oven until the butter melted and the cinnamon sugar mixture got brown and bubbly. The butter would be in patches because it wouldn't spread and the cinnamon sugar mixture would be lumpy where there was no butter. Then, there was the crust. I hate toast with hard crust because it always cuts the roof of your mouth. Do you feel the same way? Even with those obstacles, I still liked cinnamon toast.
Anyway, I discovered this cinnamon toast coffee cake recipe in a Woman's Day recipe book eons ago and have been making it since. There is no crust to deal with, the butter is melted and poured over the top, the batter makes a really thin bread under the butter and delicious cinnamon and sugar mixture - I mean, it's the perfect cinnamon toast! I used to make this on the weekends for our kids to enjoy with breakfast and sometimes as an evening snack. It never lasted very long, but thank goodness it is easy to make.
I made this to go with our Sunday evening "breakfast for dinner" and the grandsons approved mightily! Here is what you need:
2 cups flour
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp. melted butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Topping:
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Combine the dry ingredients. Stir in milk, 2 Tbsp. melted butter, and vanilla until the batter is smooth. Just use a spoon or spatula. Spread evenly in a well greased and lightly floured 15x10x1 inch jelly roll or sheet cake pan. (Make sure it has edges!) Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
While the coffee cake is baking, combine the sugar and cinnamon. Melt the 1/2 stick butter in the microwave. Remove the cake from the oven after 10 minutes, drizzle the melted butter evenly over the top of the hot cake. Sprinkle with the sugar/cinnamon mixture. Return to the oven and bake 15 minutes more. Remove from the oven, cut into squares and serve! You can get as many as 18 squares, depending on how big you cut them.
Oh my goodness, this is good by itself or with a meal. If you have any left over, store it covered and enjoy later or the next day. It keeps for several days.
This coffee cake is like the best cinnamon toast you ever ate and you have no hard crusty edges to deal with. How perfect is that? It's quick, easy and scrumptious. Those are three great words in my lexicon.
If you are having guests for breakfast or brunch, give this cinnamon toast coffee cake a try. It's just the right "something" to go with a quiche or egg casserole. We enjoyed ours with the Chinese eggs from yesterday's blog. Yum. Yum. Yum. Hungry for something sweet in the evening and don't want to go to a whole lot of trouble, whip up this recipe. Try to save back a piece for yourself to enjoy with some coffee later in the day or evening. Just don't give away your hiding place, it will be gone.
Everyday Donna
Things to Remember:
“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"
"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"
"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully. "It's the same thing," he said.”
― A.A. Milne
"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"
"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully. "It's the same thing," he said.”
― A.A. Milne
