Brunch in Three Parts

Part One: Coffee Cake

I've found that breakfast pastries, coffee cakes and muffins in particular, hold up well to some healthier alterations. In this recipe, I used my applesauce+greek yogurt combination in place of butter. The resulting texture was less stiff and coarse than most coffee cakes; however, the wheat flour and crumb topping added some pleasant nuttiness. I used Splenda as well to help round out the healthfulness of this breakfast treat. The result? A low-guilt brunch accompaniment or a nice, light afternoon snack to tame that sweet tooth.



Low-Guilt Coffee Cake

Streusel Topping:

1/3 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend, packed
1/3 cup Splenda
1 tbsp butter, browned
1 cup sliced almonds, coarsely chopped

Combine the sugars with the browned butter until a wet sand forms. Toss in the almonds and combine. Set aside.

Coffee Cake:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour*
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt

3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend
1/4 cup Splenda
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup greek yogurt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter an 8x8 square pan. A 9x9 would work in a pinch, though you may have to reduce the cooking time.

Combine the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

Whisk the buttermilk, sugars, vanilla, eggs, applesauce, and yogurt together until smooth. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients. Using a rubber spatula, fold the liquid into the dry until incorporated. Stir until the batter is smooth and well combined. Fold in about 1/2 of the streusel topping.

Scrape batter into prepared pan and sprinkle the remaining streusel topping evenly over the cake. Bake at 350 degree for 25 - 30 minutes. Cool cake on wire rack for 15 minutes before slicing, serving, and enjoying.



*I used a combination of 1 cup whole wheat flour + 1/2 soy flour and the coffee cake turned out great. I would imagine most combinations of flours (wheat, all-purpose, quinoa, brown rice) would work fairly well in this cake, though you can simply use all-purpose to avoid the fuss.

Addendum: I went ahead and calculated the calories and whatnot. Keep in mind that most of the calories (1/3) and fat (3/4) comes from a good source: almonds. Still, this is a relatively light, low-guilt snack.

Assuming 12 servings per pan:

Fat: 7g
Calories: 185
Sugar: 11g
Protein: 9g