Cinnamon Coffee Cake

If you're looking for something to make for breakfast--for guests, family, work, yourself--look no further. Please, stop looking and just try this recipe. It's really, really good, and really, really easy. I've always wanted to try making coffee cake and I finally did it! I didn't eat it with coffee--you don't have to--but it's a delicious cake and was perfectly dense and just...great. I'm not sure what coffee cake is supposed to taste like, actually, but I think it should taste like this one. My older brother liked it a lot, too--and he's a coffee lover and usually doesn't care for most of the things I make--so I'm definitely liking this recipe.

Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake
Recipe adapted by The Baker Chick from King Arthur's Flour

Streusel topping
2/3 cups granulated sugar
pinch of  salt (if you use unsalted butter)
3/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling
1 cup brown sugar, light or dark
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder (for color not for taste- you can leave it out if you want.)

Cake
3/4 cup butter softened
1 teaspoon salt (1 ¼ teaspoons if you use unsalted butter)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs
3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt. (regular yogurt would also be ok.)
1 1/4 cups milk (anything from skim to whole)
3 3/4 cups All-Purpose Flour

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan, or two 9" round cake pans.

Make the topping by whisking together the sugar, salt, flour, and cinnamon. Add the melted butter, stirring till well combined. Set the topping aside.

Make the filling by mixing together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa powder. Set it aside.

To make the cake: In a large bowl, beat together the butter, salt, sugars, baking powder, and vanilla until well combined and smooth.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the yogurt and milk till well combined. You don't need to whisk out all the lumps.

Add the flour to the butter mixture alternately with the milk/yogurt mixture, beating gently to combine.

Pour/spread half the batter (about 3 cups) into the prepared pan(s), spreading all the way to the edges. If you're using two 9" round pans, spread 1 1/3 cups batter in each pan.

Sprinkle the filling evenly atop the batter.

Gently spread the remaining batter atop the filling. Use a table knife to gently swirl the filling into the batter, as though you were making a marble cake. Don't combine filling and batter thoroughly; just swirl the filling through the batter.

Sprinkle the topping over the batter in the pan.

Bake the cake until it's a dark golden brown around the edges; medium-golden with no light patches showing on top, and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes for the 9" x 13" pan, 50 to 55 minutes for the 9" round pans. When pressed gently in the middle, the cake should spring back.

Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool for 20 minutes before cutting and serving. Serve cake right from the pan.

Note: If you wanna make this ahead of time for a brunch or something just cover it tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.  Bake as directed, but you may need to add 5 mins extra or so since the batter will be cold!