This post is part of the Nourished Start Breakfast Carnival hosted by The Nourishing Gourmet.

Coffee Cake, but healthier

Coffee Cake, but healthier

It’s our practice to let the kids set the menu on their birthdays. Risky, I know, but it’s their special day and they love being able to eat food they like. Today is Kate’s 14th birthday. She asked for coffee cake for breakfast, chicken noodle soup for lunch and a skillet bean dish I make called Smoky Beans and Cheese for dinner. Also, because we have one and sometimes two birthdays a month between January and June, we don’t always have cake. Sometimes we have pie or doughnuts or whatever the birthday partier wants. One year John asked for s’mores. Kate has asked for a Doctor Pepper float. The mere idea makes my stomach do flip-flops. I think I’ll stick to just ice cream.

But just because they choose the food doesn’t mean we have to buy boxes and cans and really forsake our foodstyle for a day. Chicken noodle soup isn’t coming out of a can for lunch, it will come from my homemade stock, simmered slowly with carrots and celery, with cooked chicken and rice noodles added a few minutes before serving. The Smoky Beans and Cheese will remain the same, with upgrades to some ingredients: nitrate/nitrite free bacon, sprouted beans, raw milk cheese. The coffee cake recipe has had a pretty significant overhaul, so I’ve posted it below.

Here is our old coffee cake recipe:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick margarine
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 375°. Spray 9×13 pan with pan spray. Combine flour, sugar and salt in small bowl and cut in butter. Set aside 1/2 cup of this mixture for topping. Stir baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon into flour mixture. Beat egg and buttermilk together and add to mixture. Stir just until moistened. Pour into prepared pan, sprinkle with topping and bake 30 to 35 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Healthier Coffee Cake

for cake:
2 cups freshly ground whole wheat flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup maple syrup
6 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 eggs from pastured chickens, lightly beaten

for topping:
1/2 cup bulgur flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons melted butter

Soak 2 cups flour with 1 cup buttermilk for 24 hours at room temperature. Preheat oven to 375°. Using fingers, rub 9×13 pan with coconut oil (rub the rest into hands and lips, ahhhhh.) Mix together topping ingredients and set aside. Add maple syrup, salt and melted butter to soaked flour. Stir baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon into flour mixture. Beat egg and add to mixture. Stir just until combined. Pour into prepared pan, sprinkle with topping and bake 30 to 35 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.