Cappuccino Walnut Coffee Cake

I love coffee cake. I mean I really, REALLY love coffee cake. It's one of my favorite things to bake on weekend mornings.

On Mother's Day I woke up craving coffee cake. And not just any ole' coffee cake, I was in the mood to create a new recipe using cappuccino chips. I just bought some from King Arthur Flour and had a hankering to use them. So after I got up that morning and had my cup of coffee, I began throwing some goodies together. (And never fear, if you don't have any cappuccino chips handy feel free to use chocolate chips instead)

My experiment resulted in THE best coffee cake I've ever made. I used Stonyfield plain yogurt instead of the traditional sour cream and it made the cake so moist and tender. And that thick layer of streusel in the center of the cake was out of this world. Not to mention that same streusel was layered at the bottom of the pan and upon baking became caramelized and crunchy. Yum. Excuse me while I go grab a piece of cake....

Anyway, I tried to make this coffee cake a little more healthful by adding the fat free yogurt and using whole wheat pastry flour. I think it turned out perfectly.

Are you drooling yet? 

Cappuccino Walnut Coffee Cake
Recipe written by The Chef Next Door
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

For the Coffee Cake:
1 stick softened unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour (I used King Arthur Flour)
1 cup fat free plain yogurt (I used Stonyfield)

For the Cappuccino Walnut Topping:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 stick unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
3/4 cup cappuccino chips (can be substituted with chocolate chips)
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and grease and flour a tube or bundt pan; set aside. 

In the bowl of your stand mixer beat the butter on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Add the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and beat until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Add eggs, one at a time, making sure to beat well after each addition. Add the vanilla. Alternately add the flour and yogurt, beating on low speed after each addition, just until combined.

Now let's make the topping. In a large bowl combine the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Add the cold, cubed butter and with a pastry blender combine it until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Fold in the chips, coconut and walnuts.

Sprinkle half of the topping in the prepared pan. Spoon half of the batter over the topping in mounds and carefully spread evenly with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle with remaining topping and spoon on the remaining batter, again spreading evenly.

Bake for 60-65 minutes or until a cake tester inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and allow to cool for an additional 15-20 minutes. Slice and serve warm.

Bon Appetit!