Kefir Coffee Cake

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The Most Delicious Coffee Cake

I need another coffee cake recipe like I need a hole in my head. However, if you read my last post,  you have learned by now that my need to bake every day has become a full-blown sickness.   I read this recipe for coffee cake in the Food Section of the Seattle Times where it was presented by a 14-year-old aspiring chef as an option for Father’s Day.  How could I turn away?

What tempted me most was the use of oil in lieu of butter – especially since my butter stash was running low and I was not due for my COVID Grocery Store foray for a few days. Plus it was 6:30 am – my favorite time to bake. This cake required just a medium and a large bowl and a little elbow grease to make (no mixer needed). I had every ingredient in the house to boot!

I did not have buttermilk but I had kefir, which worked well.  I used avocado oil in place of corn oil, dark brown sugar in place of light brown sugar – and I was quite happy with the result The cake looks different (darker) than my usual sour cream coffee cake and I actually appreciated having a non-sour cream-yet-still-moist option. It didn’t taste quite as overwhelmingly rich to me.  

My recipe-tasting husband loved the breakfast cake, the cleaning woman for our condo gave it a thumbs up and a large chunk will go to my pregnant-with-twins daughter-in-law and my overly busy daughter and family.  

Hot Out of the Oven

Kefir Coffee Cake

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Ingredients:
  • 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon sea  salt
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon (DIVIDED)
  • 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup avocado oil
  • 1 cup raw chopped walnuts or pecans
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 cup plain kefir, shake well before measuring
Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 12 x 2-inch cake pan.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, brown sugar, white sugar, and oil. Remove three-quarters of a cup of this mixture and put it in the small bowl. Into this smaller bowl, also add the nuts and remaining teaspoon of cinnamon. Set aside for the topping

To the remaining mixture in the large bowl, add the baking powder, baking soda, egg, and kefir to the flour mixture and stir everything together. It’s OK if you have a few small lumps. Pour this mixture into the greased pan.

Sprinkle the nut mixture from the smaller bowl evenly over the top of the batter. I kind of pressed down lightly on the topping so it wouldn’t immediately crumble off while eating.

Bake for 40 minutes or until a knife inserted into the middle of the cake comes out dry and free of wet batter.

Cool on a rack for an hour-the cover tightly with foil or saran.  You can also freeze this cake for up to a month.  Enjoy!!

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3 Responses to Kefir Coffee Cake

  1. Ruth Craver says:

    I haven’t had kefir on hand since making molasses bread (your recipe, a staple), and this looks very good! However, we’re in the high 80s or 90s here lately, so I don’t like to run my oven. I bake, portion, and freeze like crazy during the colder weather. I’ll definitely try this. By the way, your big oatmeal cookie recipe was great!

    • Marilyn says:

      I remember those hot midwest summers! We have had unusually cool and cloudy weather so I am in the baking mode. Hopefully after the 4th of July it will be sunny and warmer, and then I”ll switch to lighter salads and stovetop dishes. Baking helps pass the time!

  2. Marilyn says:

    And you can always substitute buttermilik for kefir, or make buttermilk with milk and vinegar. I have a lot of recipes that include kefir so I have it in the fridge a lot and I even like to drink it, but buttermik works just as well.

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