Better than a coffee shop, Sour Cream Coffee Cake.

In my opinion, one of life's ultimate indulgences is a hot cup of strong coffee with a huge hunk of moist, sweet, and crumbly coffee cake. My favorite coffee cake to date is the Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Cinnamon-Pecan Streusel from Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo's "Two Dudes One Pan" cookbook. The sour cream makes the cake impossibly moist and creamy, perfectly counterbalanced by the crumbly, nutty streusel topping. I made this for breakfast during a multiple-family beach house vacation, and it was gobbled up so fast there wasn't a single piece leftover for the next morning's breakfast, let alone an evening snack. If you like coffee cake, you absolutely must try this recipe! You'll never go back to your coffee shop's coffee cake ever again.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Cinnamon-Pecan Streusel

Ingredients

for the streusel:

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1 1/2 cups pecan halves, roughly chopped

for the cake:

3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temp

2 cups plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 deg F.

To make streusel, mix sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. Add butter, mix in with a fork until you have little chunks. Mix in pecans, set aside.

Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish with 2 tbsp butter then dust with 2 tbsp flour. Set aside. In large bowl, whisk together the remaining 2 cups of flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk eggs, 2 tbsp water, and vanilla together in a small bowl and set aside. 

Using an electric mixer or wooden spoon, cream remaining 3/4 cup butter with sugar until pale yellow and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add sour cream in two additions, mixing thoroughly after each. Add 1/3 of dry ingredients, then 1/2 liquid, mixing until nearly incorporated. Add 1/2 of remaining dry, all of remaining liquid, then rest of dry, mixing until fully incorporated. 

Pour half batter in baking dish, spread evenly. Sprinkle with half the streusel, cover with remaining batter. Top with rest of streusel. Bake 35-40 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean. Eat warm, or cool completely before cutting into squares. Make sure to get a piece while you can! This coffee cake tends to go fast.