Coffee Cake

This is a struesel cake that we have sometimes for breakfast. I completely forgot to take a picture of this one until we had already started eating it! I guess that means I'll just have to make it again for a better picture.

 

I made it early, then jumped in the shower while it cooked. By the time I got out of the shower, breakfast was ready. :) I really like this recipe better than others I've had because it always turns out so moist and it uses brown sugar instead of white. Of course, I used 1/2 wheat and 1/2 white flour, but I'll post the recipe with all white flour.

Coffee Cake
2 c. flour
4 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1 c. milk
6 T. vegetable oil

Topping
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. margarine
1 T. cinnamon
1 c. quick cooking oats

Sift flour, baking powder, salt, and brown sugar in the mixing bowl. Add eggs, milk and oil and mix well. Pour into greased 9x13 inch baking pan. For topping, melt butter and mix all ingredients together in medium bowl. Sprinkle topping on top of cake batter. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes.

What I did differently:
I like to melt the butter in a saucepan on the stove. While it's melting I start mixing the cake. Then I add the other topping ingredients into the saucepan and by the time I'm done mixing the cake, the topping is all ready to go. It is much easier to drop onto the cake when I melt it all together like that first.

Happy Birthday Alexandra!

Hooray! We got to celebrate a birthday over the weekend! Alexandra turned 3. In our house, the birthday person gets to pick the dinner and the dessert. :) She had her cake picked out a couple of weeks ago. She definitely wanted a barbie cake. So, being the kind mom that I am, I granted her wish and decorated this cake for her.

I have to admit, I take the easy way out with birthday cakes. I use the Wilton cake pans that come with a pattern and everything. The cake took me about 1 1/2 hours to decorate and she LOVED it.

For her birthday dinner, she relieved me by picking pizza. That makes my job a whole lot easier! I ran down to our local Papa Murphy's, picked up dinner, and absolutely THRILLED my 3-year-old. I love it when kids are so easy to please.

My only suggestion when using Papa Murphy's pizza, is to first of all - USE COUPONS - and second of all, dress it up at home and it will taste a lot better.

I went online and found coupons on their site (http://www.papamurphys.com/). Then when I ordered my pizzas, I paid for a couple of toppings that I didn't have on hand at home. Then I came home and added green peppers, onions, and sprinkled on italian seasoning. They turned out really good! 

Here is the birthday girl all ready to enjoy her pizza.