I should preface this by saying that I am not normally a coffee cake type of person. I’ve really just never been a big fun- unless they are loaded with things like a fruity-jammy filling and plenty of frosting. So what drew me to try this recipe- well, I honestly don’t know that either. But yesterday morning as the kids were preparing for math, I assembled this Sour Cream Coffee Cake from the newest issue of Cooking Light magazine.
It took a little longer to assemble- due to the fact that the oats are toasted and then some of them are ground up. But overall, it was fairly simple to pull together. Now, I have to confess freely that the recipe I made and the one I’m sharing are not exactly the same. First of all, when it came time to cream the butter with the sugar, I looked at putting in 1/3 cup of butter- but then I’d have this little nub of butter floating around. I decided to just put the whole stick in (Not realizing that I could have used that nub for the topping). So my coffee cake had a 1/2 cup of butter instead of a 1/3. Then, when it came to the sour cream, I did not use the low-fat version called for. A subject for another day, I simply don’t use anything other than full-fat sour cream anymore. So I used 1 cup of regular sour cream instead of reduced fat.
Obviously, this coffee cake is not exactly the lightened version that Cooking Light intended it to be. I’m okay with that.
I made a few more changes yet. When it came time to add the nuts to the topping, the only walnuts I had on hand were in the shell. I didn’t feel like going through that process, so I decided to eliminate the nuts completely.
And finally, I did not use my spring-form pan to bake it in. I used a plain old Pyrex 11 x 7 baking dish that I sprayed with cooking spray, and we’ve been lopping hunks out of it instead of removing it from the pan after baking.
The coffee cake turned out spectacularly well. It’s got enough sweetness to tickle my tongue, and enough…not sweetness?…to qualify as coffee cake. The texture is moist and buttery and the topping particularly delicious. It was delicious warm out of the oven, room temperature while watching the Olympics late last night, and made a great breakfast just a few minutes ago the next day. This one’s a winner! Is it great without my changes? Hard to say… make it as is if you’d like, but if you’d like to make my adjustments, it’s spectacular with them.
Sour Cream Coffee Cake
3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (about 2.5 ounces), divided Cooking spray 4.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup) 1 ounce whole-wheat flour (about 1/4 cup) 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, divided 1/3 cup butter, softened 2 large eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 (8-ounce) carton light sour cream (such as Daisy) 2 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts, toasted 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 tablespoon chilled butter, cut into small piecesPreheat oven to 350°.
Spread oats in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 6 minutes or until oats are barely fragrant and light brown.
Coat a 9-inch spring-form pan with cooking spray; set aside.
Reserve 1/4 cup oats; set aside. Place remaining oats in a food processor; process 4 seconds or until finely ground. Weigh or lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine processed oats, flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; stir with a whisk.
Place granulated sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, and 1/3 cup butter in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at medium speed for 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture. (Batter will be slightly lumpy because of oats.) Spoon batter into prepared pan; spread evenly.
Combine remaining 1/4 cup oats, remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar, nuts, and cinnamon in a bowl. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until well blended. Sprinkle top of batter evenly with nut mixture. Bake at 350° for 38 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, top is golden, and cake begins to pull away from sides of pan. Cool cake in pan for 10 minutes; remove from pan.