Apple Cider Pecan Coffee Cake w/Apple Cider Icing

Pumpkin pie, hot cocoa, apples, and apple cider are all Fall favorites. Well, at least they're my favorites. I wish I could say that I lovingly make homemade hot spiced apple cider from freshly juiced apples...but I can't. The truth is that I buy instant hot apple cider just like I buy instant hot cocoa. I use the Alpine Spiced Apple Cider. You can usually find it next to the hot cocoa at the grocery store. This coffee cake is inspired by my husband's apple cider pancakes: it's yummy and not too sweet, which is just how I like my coffee cake. The key here is to not reconstitute the spiced cider mix. In other words, don't add water; just add the mix directly to the dry ingredients.

Peanut Butter Coffee Cake w/Chocolate Swirl

Baked goodies with peanut butter are totally awesome! I love peanut butter cupcakes, peanut butter frosting, and peanut butter cookies. It was time to take a break from the Fall baking and make something with peanut butter...just because. The chocolate swirl is really just sugar mixed with cocoa powder. Instead of cinnamon sugar, think of it as chocolate sugar.

Brown Sugar Swirl Coffee Cake w/Brown Sugar Icing

I've always liked a simple brown sugar streusel topping on a coffee cake. It's kind of hard to have a streusel topping on a bundt cake, so I thought I would move the streusel to the center and make a swirl. The icing is my second brown sugar icing recipe. For this one, I used dark brown sugar because I think it has a richer flavor than light brown sugar, but go ahead and use whichever one you have.

Buttermilk Vanilla Coffee Cake w/Pumpkin Spice Icing

The cake itself is a very basic vanilla buttermilk coffee cake. In fact, I would go so far as to say that it can be the basis for many coffee cake creations. Perhaps I'll give it it's own post. At any rate, I wanted the pumpkin flavor to come from the icing instead of the cake. This would be a wonderful treat to have with that pumpkin spice latte you've been craving.

Spiced Chai Latte Coffee Cake w/Honey Icing

Fall is my favorite time of year and with it comes pumpkin spice lattes and warm chai tea in the cool afternoons...with a generous slice of coffee cake. Coffee cakes are also good for the BFD menu, or breakfast for dinner. For this coffee cake, I used the Oregon Chai Tea Latte Mix. Whichever brand you use, make sure that it's already concentrated, or you'll have to do it yourself. In this case, I reduced the amount of water by half.

Espresso Swirl Coffee Cake w/Mocha Icing

So, after purchasing the Medaglia D'Oro for the Mocha Coffee Cake,  I realized that I needed more recipes that used powdered espresso. Espresso swirl sounded good. So, if you want a mocha-flavored cake but the mocha cake is too much for you, then try this one. It's a basic vanilla sour cream coffee cake with an espresso swirl and a mocha icing. Delicious, but not necessarily nutritious.

Mocha Walnut Coffee Cake w/Espresso Icing

If people can eat chocolate muffins then they should have no trouble eating a chocolate coffee cake. OK, a mocha coffee cake. I used Medaglia D'Oro espresso powder (a.k.a instant espresso) because quite frankly, it was easier to adjust the taste than if I had brewed a cup of coffee. Also, espresso powder can be used in other baked goods or for making espresso ice cream.

Triple Almond Coffee Cake

Instead of plain ol' vanilla, it's plain ol' almond - times three. Almond extract, almond paste and of course, almonds give this cake it's almond flavor. If you don't have almond extract, go ahead and use vanilla. Notice that the topping will actually go into the bottom of the pan since it's a bundt pan. Because the sugar in the topping will be extra gooey, make sure that the pan is well greased.

Apple Cornbread Coffee Cake w/Honey Icing

It's almost a requirement at our house to slather butter and honey on the cornbread. When I came across the recipe for a peach cornbread coffee cake, I knew I wanted to try it. But, I'm not a huge peach fan. I mean, I can take 'em or leave 'em, and I definitely didn't want to used canned pie filling. The result: sauteed apples as a substitute for the peaches. I like apples and I like cornbread. I hope you will, too. 

Chocolate-Cinnamon Swirl w/Cinnamon-Vanilla Glaze

Chocolate, cinnamon, and vanilla - the holy trinity of baking. OK, maybe that's taking it a little too far, but nonetheless, these three delights work well alone, or in combination. This coffee cake is an easy answer to the question, "What am I going to serve for breakfast when I have guests?"

Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake w/Brown Sugar Icing

Sour cream coffee cakes are my favorite. Hands down I think they are the best coffee cakes because they are so moist. There's nothing worse than a dry coffee cake - except maybe a warm beer or cold french fries. Chocolate chip cookies are also my favorite. Combining the two is pure bliss. Adding brown sugar icing is just...icing on the cake. Sorry.