Cinnamon Caramel Pecan Coffee Cake

In December, I can’t eat enough cookies. I also can’t run enough miles on the treadmill. These are two seriously related problems.

I can’t buy enough peppermint coffee creamer. Or scotch tape. Totally unrelated. Except trouble always strikes when I have unwrapped gifts and just black coffee. It’s like a December full moon. I dunno.

December makes me do nice things like actually add the dollar donation to charity to my total at the store…and not so nice things like heist my childhood stocking. (Real life.)

It inspires me to add extra sugar to my breakfast. I’ll eat egg whites again in January anyway.

Can you make coffee cake happen for breakfast this month? Work it into your busy calendars…it’s worth it.

This cake starts by creaming butter and sugar. It’s a sign of good things to come. Plain greek yogurt adds the tang that’s synonymous with coffee cakes…and a full tablespoon of vanilla balances things.

Dry ingredients in.

This is the part where I tell you that I sincerely wish/try/still struggle to take pictures of the ingredient stages. I have the best of intentions of cooking in the daylight hours, and then life…just happens. It’s a new year’s resolution. (For what that’s even worth.)

Coffee cake is made by layering cake batter with a cinnamon filling. This filling involves pecans too. And! In the center of the cake, the filling is topped with hearty globs of caramel sauce.

(I actually don’t even like the word glob.) (At all.)

Between the greek yogurt and caramel sauce, this cake bakes into a moist, cinnamony breakfast indulgence.

I like it with coffee (duh) and peppermint creamer. It’s a December dream morning. And really…can we ever get enough of these?

Cinnamon Caramel Pecan Coffee Cake
recipe adapted from Tate’s Bake Shop

Cake:
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups plain greek yogurt
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Streusel:
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons caramel sauce

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time. Beat in greek yogurt and vanilla. Fold in flour, baking powder and salt, mixing just until combined. In a smaller, separate bowl, combine pecans, brown sugar and cinnamon for streusel.

Pour half the cake batter in a greased bundt pan. Top with half the streusel mixture, and all the caramel sauce. Pour the remainder of cake batter atop caramel sauce, then top with remaining streusel mixture. Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 45-50 minutes.