When I was in middle school, around 7th or 8th grade, I slept over at a friend’s house on a Friday night. If you knew me then, and even now, you’d know this was a very rare thing for me. I didn’t love sleepovers. But for whatever reason, I decided on this night, I would actually just stay the night. When we awoke the next morning my friend’s parents had just returned from picking up coffee cafe at the bakery. When it comes to breakfast, I grew up mainly with Eggo waffles, my dad’s pancakes, eggs, and cinnamon toast (the best). Occasionally my mom would bake a strata. She’d make Dutch Babies all the time. And on Christmas morning she’d make monkey bread and a waffle strata. I did not grow up with coffee cake. So when my friend’s parents served it to us, I thought we were eating cake for breakfast. I remember it being so good. It was a chocolate chip cookie coffee cake. But honestly, from my memory, it tasted like a warm cookie. Most likely my memory is making the cake out to be way better than it was. But I got to eat a cookie cake, and for breakfast too. Hey, I was in middle school, I didn’t know any differently, and the cake was delicious. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure I didn’t have coffee cake again until I started to take over cooking and baking. It was then that I realized that chocolate is not necessarily common in most coffee cakes. But I’ve always wanted to recreate that cake! And here we are. With Mother’s Day just over a week away, I knew this was a good time for this recipe. Serve this up at brunch or for dessert. It’s so great either way, and everyone will love it.
Details
This is one of my simpler sweets. First, the batter. We need to mix melted butter with maple syrup, apple butter, vanilla, and eggs. Now, I know the apple butter will throw some of you off. But I promise it’s the secret to creating a really light cake crumb with just the right amount of sweetness. You don’t taste any apple flavor, just rich notes of brown sugar and vanilla. You could use apple sauce too, but apple butter is best. I always keep my homemade sauce in the fridge, but store-bought is just as great. Now, the dry ingredients. I like to use whole wheat pastry flour, then baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Next mix, mix, mix. Then stir in lots of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Last up, add the streusel topping: flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter, all mixed together and sprinkled overtop of the cake. No layering or anything fussy. And now you bake, which only takes about thirty minutes. I always serve this warm with homemade honey butter. You just have to spread the honey butter all over your warm cake. It’s the most indulgent addition, and it’s absolutely what your cake needs. Looking for other berry desserts? Here are some favorites: Strawberry White Chocolate Blondies Baked Strawberry Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast Double Strawberry Sugar Cookies Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Coffee Cake Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Muffins Cream Cheese Swirled Cinnamon Carrot Cake Muffins Blender Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Banana Muffins Bakery Blueberry Vanilla Crunch Muffins Lastly, if you make this Be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
