Night Before Christmas Coffee Cake

By srumbel

A delicious breakfast cake that you can prepare the night before Christmas!
from recipegirl.com

Ingredients

• CAKE:
• 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup warm milk (110 to 115 degrees F)
• 1 .25-ounce envelope active dry yeast (dissolved in 3 tablespoons warm water)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• TOPPING:
• 2/3 cup granulated white sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
• 1/2 cup nuts, chopped maraschino cherries or candied cherries

Preparation

Step 1

PREPARE THE CAKE:

In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the sugar and butter. Mix in the eggs, milk, dissolved yeast in water, and vanilla.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt; add to the wet mixture and beat until incorporated. Set the bowl aside, cover loosely with a clean dishtowel, and let the dough rise until doubled in size (1 1/2 to 2 hours).

PREPARE THE TOPPING:

In a small bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon, melted butter and nuts (you can use the cherries for a festive look if you don't care for nuts).

ASSEMBLE THE CAKE:

Punch the dough down and spread into a greased 9 x 13-inch pan. Sprinkle the topping on top.

Place the pan in a cold oven and cover with a clean dishtowel. Let it sit overnight in the cold oven to rise. You can turn on the oven light to add a little bit of heat to the oven.

BAKING THE CAKE:

The next morning, remove the dishtowel (don't forget this step!!), turn the oven to 350°F. and bake for 30 minutes. Serve warm.

Recipe Notes

*This makes one large coffee cake, but you may also opt to split the dough in half and prepare two 8-inch round or square pans instead. This is what the photos reflect in the recipe post.

Servings 12 servings