This is a light, yummy and healthy coffee cake to serve with a smoothie! I made it this morning with some more healthy changes and it was scrumptious.
2 1/4 cup flour (I combined whole wheat pastry, aka soft spring wheat & spelt flour)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup rapadura/sucanat
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup walnuts, optional
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 egg
3/4 cup buttermilk, yogurt, kefir
Combine flour, salt, and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon into a large bowl. Add sweeteners and oils. Mix till well blended. Take out 3/4 cup for topping and add chopped nuts, and 1 tsp. cinnamon and mix. Set aside. To the original batter, add soda, baking powder, egg and buttermilk. DO NOT OVERMIX. If you do so, it will not rise well. Place in oiled 8×8 pan or pie pan. Sprinkle topping. Bake at 300 degrees for approx. 45 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean.
To incorporate soaking: Soak flour, buttermilk (make sure it is cultured, or add 1 Tbls whey or lemon juice), honey and oils for 12-24 hours. This will maintain a moist consistency. In the morning, add 1/2 tsp cinnamon and salt to the soaked mixture. Remove 1/2-3/4 cup of soaked mixture for topping. To the topping, add nuts and 1 tsp cinnamon. Set aside. To the remaining soaked mixture, add rapadura/sucanat, egg, and leavenings. Mix briefly to incorporate leavenings. Place in an oiled 8×8 pan and sprinkle with toppings. Bake at 300 degrees for 45 minutes, or until the knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
Enjoy!
Looks really delicious. Thank you for sharing this very nice recipe.
Do you have any instructions for the topping when using the soaking method?
I updated it above.
When you refer to cultured buttermilk are you using raw buttermilk (is there such a thing? We’ve stared buying raw milk, but all the buttermilk (regular dairy dept. of grocery store…pasturized) I buy says “cultured” on it. Is that what you use?
Raw buttermilk is not cultured. It has to sit out on the counter for at least 7 hours to get cultured. In Nourishing Traditions they recommend allowing the cream to sit out for 7 hours to culture before turning it into butter and then the by-product is buttermilk. You can use store brand as long as it is cultured. I honestly just use kefir for this recipe most of the time.
I love this recipe…just made it this weekend. I didn’t have any problems with it overflowing or not cooking, although I did not mix it in the blender like some did…maybe that is the difference?
I thought it was pretty sweet! Have you tried reducing the sugar or honey? If so, how did that work out?
I was really excited about finding a soaked coffee cake but I found this recipe to be super sweet and the olive oil a little strange…
So I omitted the honey and used 1/2 cup rapadura instead (I’m sure you could play with different combinations of these). Soaked flour with buttermilk and coconut oil, ran it through the blender with rapadura in the morning and then added the rest of the ingredients. I also added some water and will use this to soak the flour along with the buttermilk next time. In the morning I melted butter and used that instead of the olive oil. The final result was heavenly- really light and tasty…we’ll see if I can pull it off again : )
I had the same thing happen as Christy & Emily! I had to cook it for about an hour and 10 minutes. It went over the pan and had a crusty top after 45 minutes. We just decided to be patient and eventually we got to eat it.
I do have a couple of questions. I soaked it per your instructions, but did not take any of the batter out for the topping. I quick whipped up a homemade topping that I do and added it to the top. I’m wondering if that’s why it ran over???
I am wondering if your measurement for flour is off in this recipe. Your recipe for the chocolate coffee cake only calls for 1 1/2 c flour and is baked in an 8×8.Yet, the buttermilk is 2 1/4 c flour and still baked in an 8 x 8. Maybe that’s the issue?
No, it is not off. I originally made this in a 13×9 pan, so you could try that. The main key here is not to overmix your batter. I have found that will result in a dense coffeecake that really does not bake entirely.
That could have definitely had an effect.
So funny, I make this exact coffee cake only with sucanat instead of rapadura. I occasionally find rapadura on sale through the co-op and use it, but with 10 in the house, it’s not always practical!
I use sucanat all the time as well! I just use whatever one is one sale!
Christy, I had the same thing happen!
I don’t know what happened, but it was a total mess lol. And it overflowed big time out of the pan. Oh well! Live & learn, I suppose. The chocolate coffee cake is wonderful, though. A definite keeper in our house.
Oh my goodness, I don’t know what on earth happened, but this is probably my worst cooking disaster ever. The timer beeped, I opened the oven… and found a soupy disaster! Its seriously soup, with a thin crusty layer on top??? I’m so confused (but laughing).
I just delivered my second baby. A good friend of mine brought me this coffee cake while in the hospital. Saved me about 2am one night. I needed something right then and reached for it — WOW!! Delicious and satisfied my very immediate need. (Amazing how nursing revs up the metabolism at all hours!!) Anyway, she told me about your site and I’m enjoying it so. Blessings!!
Have you ever tried it with just kefir? Does it still taste like it would if one used buttermilk? Thanks!
Yes! I always just use kefir and it tastes wonderful!
Also, I left out the coconut oil until the morning since our house is pretty cold and it seems to require too much mixing to get everything softened if I add the coconut oil to the soaking mix.
I always melt my coconut oil in a pan if I use it in soaking, or for pretty much everything I use it for…as the solid state is just a little hard to work with.
It looks really good. Thanks for sharing.
I just had a question in regards to this recipe. When you mentioned soaking you said to add buttermilk and flour. The ratio of flour to liquid is very dry. Is this correct when soaking? It just makes crumbles and I was not sure if this was effective? How have you soaked this? Thanks
We just made this for breakfast this morning, and really enjoyed it. Thanks!
By the way, we found that it didn’t need the honey. We left it out, and just added an extra 1/3 cup of water.
Blessings,
Michele
http://www.frugalgranola.blogspot.com
That looks delicious!
This looks exceptionally yummy! I’m going to have to give it a try!!
YUM!!!! This sounds delicious!! I bet it would have such a great taste after being soaked too! Which do you like better for this recipe?
I was in a rush and craving coffeecake so I have not soaked this new version of a family old time classic. I really liked this version, but will be soaking next time, to enjoy the benefits. I have found that soaking makes things a lot lighter, but this recipe was pretty light as it was.
I was just wondering if you have tried soaking this recipe since you posted it. I tried soaking it and added extra kefir. Just wondering if that is how you would have done it or not. It is in the oven now, so I can’t give any feedback on how it worked. However, I highly recommend adding the egg BEFORE you pour it in the baking pan and put the topping on…;)
I have not tried soaking it yet, as whenever I am making it I am always a little behind and it is a last minute thing. My recommendation for soaking would be to simply replace the buttermilk with kefir or be sure to use cultured buttermilk. Combine the flour, kefir and oil and soak overnight. In the morning add the remaining ingredients. The key with this recipe I have found is not to overmix it, or else it will not rise very well.
Well, the final product was wonderful even with all of my mishaps! I added a little extra baking powder since I was remixing it and had already placed it in the oven when I discovered my egg sitting on the counter! That seemed to work just fine. Even my husband liked it and he is still making the adjustment to whole grains.
Your coffee cake looks scrumptious! I confess I don’t know very much about healthy and alternative ingredients for baking, I had to Google rapadura. I love to cook and bake from scratch and I am intrigued to learn about other ingredients especially if they are more healthful and natural. I look forward to reading more posts.