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.

Coconut Coffee Cake w/Chocolate Icing

Today, I decided to make a simple, not-too-sweet coffee cake with coconut. I don't bake with coconut nearly enough and that needs to change.  In my opinion, the coconut gives this plain old simple vanilla coffee cake an added flair and extra sweetness. That's why I called it Coconut Coffee Cake instead of Plain Ol' Vanilla.  ☺

Orange Coffee Cake w/Sugared Almonds & Orange Chocolate Icing

Yes, yes I do like orange and chocolate together. My kids don't; but I do. Besides, I can't always cook just for the kids. Sometimes I have to cook for me, and in so doing I broaden their horizons whether they like it or not. :-) If they don't like it, well that just means more for me! It's a win-win. Sugared almonds are the crunchy topping for this coffee cake. Believe it or not, they add just a little spice. Also, notice that I don't list "orange juice" as an ingredient, meaning that I didn't use reconstituted orange juice that you buy from the store. I actually squeezed the juice from a couple of oranges. I had some time to kill.

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?"