Get your oven ready for this quick and delicious coffee cake. It’s perfect for breakfast, a snack, or a sweet treat any time of the day. Follow this easy recipe to make your own!
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp. softened butter or margarine
- 1/2 c. granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 c. flour
- 1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/3 c. milk
- 1/4 tsp. vanilla
- 1/3 c. brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 2 Tbsp. butter or margarine
Baking Instructions
- Mix 3 tablespoons fat with granulated sugar.
- Add egg and beat until creamy.
- Mix flour, baking powder and salt thoroughly.
- Add to sugar mixture alternately with milk.
- Add vanilla. Spread batter evenly in a greased 8-inch square baking pan.
- Mix brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over batter.
- Dot with 2 tablespoons fat.
- Bake at 350° (moderate oven) for 25 to 30 minutes.
Calorie: 350
Total cooking time: 30 minutes
Difficulty level: Easy
A Tale of Quick Coffee Cake (and a Couple of Butter Fingers)
Once upon a time, in a kitchen not too far away, I decided to whip up a quick coffee cake. The recipe seemed simple enough, almost suspiciously so. The ingredients were what you’d expect – **butter**, **sugar**, an **egg**, **flour**, **baking powder**, and **salt**. There was also **milk**, **vanilla**, **brown sugar**, **cinnamon**, and more **butter**. Because, well, why not?
The Butter-Sugar Waltz
It all started innocently. I combined 3 Tbsp. of softened butter with 1/2 c. of granulated sugar. The butter, having spent a little too much time sunbathing on the countertop, was more of a butter puddle than anything. The sugar, however, didn’t seem to mind the butter’s casual approach and mixed in quite well.
Egg-Battered and Creamy
Next, I added the egg and beat it until creamy. The egg seemed a bit shocked by the sudden change in circumstances, but it soon settled into its new creamy reality. I must admit, I felt a bit like a kitchen wizard at this point. Or, at least a very competent egg-beater.
The Flour Power Hour
The next task was to mix the flour, baking powder, and salt thoroughly. Now, if you’ve ever tried to mix flour without causing a minor snowstorm in your kitchen, you’ll know it’s a feat of culinary skill. I must have forgotten this crucial fact, and let’s just say my kitchen looked like a set for a Christmas movie.
The Milk-Vanilla Tango
With the flour successfully integrated (and dusted all over my kitchen), I added it to the sugar mixture alternately with the milk. It was a delicate dance, a back-and-forth tango of sorts. A bit of this, a dash of that, and so on. The vanilla was the finishing touch, adding a sweet note to the dance.
Baking Pan Shenanigans
Now came the part where I had to spread the batter evenly in a greased 8-inch square baking pan. “Evenly” being the operative word, an idea that my batter seemed to have a personal vendetta against. But after some gentle persuasion, it finally settled down.
The Cinnamon-Sugar Sprinkle
I mixed brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkled it over the batter – it was like a sweet snowfall. Except, instead of a gentle flurry, it was more of a sweet blizzard.
Dotting the I’s with Butter
Then I dotted the batter with 2 tablespoons of fat. Why? I have no idea. But it seemed like a fun thing to do, and who am I to question the wisdom of the recipe gods?
The Oven Ordeal
Finally, the moment of truth. The cake was to be baked at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes. As someone who has been known to burn water, this was the part that had my nerves on edge.
After what felt like an eternity (but was actually just 27 minutes), the oven timer dinged. The cake was done, and to my surprise, it looked… edible. More than edible, it looked delicious.
And that, my dear friends, is the tale of how I, a self-proclaimed kitchen disaster, managed to whip up a quick coffee cake with nothing more than a few ingredients, a dash of chaos, and a whole lot of humor.
Until next time, keep your aprons tied and your ovens preheated.
