I hope you all had a Merry Christmas (if you celebrate, of course).
I was asked to make a “gooey, cinnamony coffee cake with walnuts and crumbles” by my neighbor for her Christmas morning breakfast, so of course I did.
I love it when I get asked to make specific dishes because it’s like a challenge to make the very best they’ve ever had.
I think I did okay this time. 
What do you have for breakfast on Christmas morning? Do you have any cool Christmas traditions?
This “divine” coffee cake is adapted from King Arthur Flour and the streusel (my “go to” streusel) is adapted from Buns in My Oven.
Gooey Cinnamon Walnut Layer Coffee Cake
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Ingredients
- Cake:
- ¾ cup unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 2½ teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- ¾ cup sour cream
- 1¼ cups milk (any kind)
- 3¾ cups flour
- Filling:
- 1 cup brown sugar, light or dark
- 1½ tablespoons ground cinnamon
- ½ cup crushed walnuts
- Streusel:
- 1 cup crushed walnuts
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 8 tbsp butter, cubed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two 9″ round cake pans.
- Make the Cake:
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter, salt, sugars, baking powder, and vanilla until well combined and smooth.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream or yogurt and milk till well combined. You don’t need to whisk out all the lumps.
- Add the flour to the butter mixture alternately with the milk/sour cream mixture, beating gently to combine.
- Pour/spread half the batter (a scant 3 cups) into the prepared pan(s), spreading all the way to the edges. If you’re using two 9″ round pans, spread 1⅓ cups batter in each pan
- Make the Filling:
- Mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and walnuts.
- Sprinkle the filling evenly over the batter.
- Spread the remaining batter over the filling.
- Use a table knife to gently swirl the filling into the batter, as though you were making a marble cake. Don’t combine filling and batter thoroughly; just swirl the filling through the batter.
- Make the Streusel:
- In a medium bowl, combine the crushed, baking powder, cinnamon, and brown sugar.
- Cut in the butter until well combined and you have small pea sized lumps. Sprinkle this over the top of the cakes.
- Sprinkle the topping over the batter in the pan.
- Bake the cake until it’s a dark golden brown around the edges; medium-golden with no light patches showing on top, and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45 to 50 minutes. When pressed gently in the middle, the cake should spring back.
- Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool for 20 minutes before cutting and serving. Serve cake right from the pan.
- (I made a Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting for the middle of the cakes and drizzled the top with a cinnamon powdered sugar glaze)
