christmas-breakfast-coffeecake

Recipe: Christmas Breakfast Coffeecake

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christmas-breakfast-coffeecake

Cary, NC – If you are like me, when you wake up on Christmas morning you want a breakfast that’s both festive and super easy. Consider this recipe for a Christmas Breakfast Coffeecake that’s assembled the night before and bakes while the family is opening presents.

Christmas Breakfast Coffeecake

After a night of playing Santa all you want to do is fill the coffee pot and get to the living room and watch all the action as the kids destroy all the carefully wrapped presents. In my mind, Christmas breakfast needs to be mindlessly easy, and better yet, prepared the night before to throw into a hot oven and magically take out after the presents are history. Let’s face it, you want to eat before tackling the batteries and twist-ties and impossible plastic packaging that comes with electronic age.

Over the years I have tried several (and published a couple) of my attempts at this easy idea.  Usually I opt for some sort of egg casserole. But this year I am trying something different: a Christmas Coffeecake. Who doesn’t love pastry in the morning? Get the sugar rush along with that sleep deprived caffeine buzz!

You just need to get the prep done right after Christmas Eve dinner, before you start wrapping gifts and playing Santa.

Here’s my take on the Night Before Christmas Breakfast Coffeecake.

Ingredients

Cake:

  • 1/2C sugar
  • 1/4C butter
  • 2 beaten eggs (or egg substitute)
  • 1/2 C warm milk
  • 1 pkg yeast, dissolved in 3 T warm water (not HOT)
  • 3 C flour
  • 1 t salt
  • 1/2 t vanilla

Topping: (and who doesn’t love topping?)

  • 2/3 C sugar
  • 1 T cinnamon
  • 4 T melted butter or margerine
  • 1/2 C chopped nuts, or maraschino cherries (or both!) candies red or green cherries, or chocolate chips

Directions

Cream together sugar and butter. Add eggs, milk, 1 package of yeast that was dissolved in water (as above), flour, salt, and vanilla. Beat all of these ingredients together.

Set dough aside and allow to rise until it doubles in size (about 2 hours).

Put into a 9″x 13″ greased baking pan.

To make the topping, combine sugar, cinnamon, melted butter and nuts (or the cherries) Spread the topping over the top of the bread dough in the pan. Place pan in a cold oven to rise again overnight.

Now go put out your milk and cookies and settle in for a good night’s sleep.

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning, turn on the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 1/2 hour. Take out and serve warm.

Optional Sugar Glaze

Want to kick it up a notch? Make a quick confectioner’s sugar glaze on top:

Mix 1 C powdered sugar with a  1 T lemon juice and 1T water. Mix together well, and drizzle over the top of the hot coffee cake

Enjoy and Merry Christmas from your friends at CaryCitizen!

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Photo of a sour cream coffeecake by Dylan Hardesty.