Cinnamon Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Some people can’t wait to get the holiday decorations out right after Thanksgiving – or even earlier if they dare. They seem to relish in the process of completely transforming their homes, inside and out, for December. They create stunning creations of garland, greenery, ornaments and lights – not just on the mantel but in multiple locations. They fearlessly pin holiday decorating ideas and crafts on Pinterest – and actually try them out.

God bless them and the beautiful holiday world they create. I, however, am not one of those people.

Here’s what I like: I like it when our Christmas tree is up and decorated. I like it when our stockings are hanging on the mantel along with my small collection of Santas. I love it when my favorite Christmas decoration of all time – my vintage silver tinsel tree — is set up with brightly-colored antique bulbs and a sparkly star topper. I even like it when we have a few lights out on our front porch, welcoming me home from work every day and brightening up our little cul-de-sac.

I like all these things when they are done.

Here’s what I dread: Pulling all the decorations upstairs from the basement, and trying to make sure I’m not missing anything that I want to set out. And even though I know it doesn’t really take that long to drag everything upstairs, I still don’t look forward to it. I just don’t.

Weird, right?

But the fantastic news is, my house is decorated for the holidays now! I spent a couple of hours Friday night, Saturday afternoon and again Sunday afternoon making our home look festive. Not over-the-top festive, mind you. But definitely  noticeably festive. And I must say, I actually had fun putting everything together (once those darn boxes were upstairs!) and it really did put me in a holiday mood. So much so that I even spent some time playing Christmas songs on the piano when I was done.

I’ve posted a few photos from my decorating efforts plus an easy Cinnamon Cream Cheese Coffee Cake recipe I made over the weekend that is simple and delicious – and it just might be my go-to coffee cake recipe to bring to my in-laws for Christmas Day morning.

With all this talk of decorating, Christmas music and baking, what puts you in a festive holiday mood?

And if you made it this far, your reward is this recipe for a yummy coffee cake! (Recipe adapted from http://www.goboldwithbutter.com)

My true confessions: I did not use the pecans at all because I don’t really like nuts, but I’m sure (if you like pecans), they will add some great taste/texture. Also, I didn’t pay attention and ended up adding 1-1/2 cups of sour cream to the cake mixture (instead of the 1-1/4 cups it calls for) but the cake still turned out delicious – with no detrimental effects that I could see or taste. 🙂

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Ingredients:

Crumb:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened and cut into small pieces
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped pecans
Pinch salt

Cream Cheese Swirl:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Coffee Cake:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sour cream

Directions:

To Make the Crumb: Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Mix with a fork until mixture resembles crumbs. Set aside.

To Make the Cream Cheese Swirl: In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and brown sugar until fluffy. Mix in vanilla and cinnamon. Stir in pecans. Set aside.

To Assemble the Cake: 
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9”x13” baking pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating just until combined after each addition. Mix in vanilla.

Gradually add dry ingredients, mixing just until combined. Stir in sour cream and mix just until combined.

Transfer batter to prepared pan. Top batter with spoonfuls of cream cheese swirl. Use an up and down motion with a knife to swirl. Sprinkle crumb mixture evenly over top of cake.

Bake 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.