Christmas Breakfast ---Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Buttery Pecan Struesel

Do you have a traditional Christmas Breakfast that you serve every year? We'd love to hear your ideas and recipes. Us? We have our old favorites but are always searching for delicious new recipes to try. I have made this out of this world, amazingly delicious Caramel Pecan French Toast, two years in a row but I wanted to try out some new recipes this year. I thought it would be easier but with all these delicious choices, I still can't decide. For your convenience I have made every recipe and will tell you the pros and cons (at the bottom of the post), in my opinion, of each recipe. Let's get started.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Buttery Pecan Struesel

Cook's Illustrated

Streusel
3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (3 3/4 ounces)
3/4 cup granulated sugar (5 1/4 ounces)
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter , cold, cut into 2 pieces
1 cup pecans , chopped

Cake
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened but still cool, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, plus 2 tablespoons softened butter for greasing pan
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (11 1/2 ounces)
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar (8 3/4 ounces)
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon table salt
Instructions

1. For the streusel: In food processor, process flour, granulated sugar, 1/4 cup dark brown sugar, and cinnamon until combined, about 15 seconds. Transfer 1 1/4 cups of flour/sugar mixture to small bowl; stir in remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar and set aside to use for streusel filling. Add butter and pecans to mixture in food processor; pulse until nuts and butter resemble small pebbly pieces, about ten 1-second pulses. Set aside to use as streusel topping.
2. For the cake: Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 10-inch tube pan with 2 tablespoons softened butter. Whisk eggs, 1 cup sour cream, and vanilla in medium bowl until combined.
3. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in bowl of standing mixer; mix on low speed for 30 seconds to blend. Add butter and remaining 1/2 cup sour cream; mix on low speed until dry ingredients are moistened and mixture resembles wet sand, with few large butter pieces remaining, about 1 1/2 minutes. Increase to medium speed and beat until batter comes together, about 10 seconds; scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula. Lower speed to medium-low and gradually add egg mixture in 3 additions, beating for 20 seconds after each and scraping down sides of bowl. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until batter is light and fluffy, about 1 minute.
4. Using rubber spatula, spread 2 cups batter in bottom of prepared pan, smoothing surface. Sprinkle evenly with 3/4 cup streusel filling (without butter or nuts). Repeat with another 2 cups batter and remaining 3/4 cup streusel filling (without butter or nuts). Spread remaining batter over, then sprinkle with streusel topping (with butter and nuts).
5. Bake until cake feels firm to touch and long toothpick or skewer inserted into center comes out clean (bits of sugar from streusel may cling to tester), 50 to 60 minutes. Cool cake in pan on wire rack 30 minutes. Invert cake onto rimmed baking sheet (cake will be streusel-side down); remove tube pan, place wire rack on top of cake, and reinvert cake streusel-side up. Cool to room temperature, about 2 hours. Cut into wedges and serve. (Cake can be wrapped in foil and stored at room temperature for up to 5 days.)

For a delicious Chocolate Chip Variation:

Add: 1 cup chocolate chips

Skip Step 4 in the above recipe and follow this step instead. The rest of the recipe is the same.

4. Using rubber spatula, spread 2 cups batter in bottom of prepared pan, smoothing surface, and sprinkle 1/2 cup chocolate chips on top. Sprinkle evenly with 3/4 cup streusel filling (without butter or nuts). Repeat with another 2 cups batter, 1/2 cup chocolate chips, and remaining 3/4 cup streusel filling (without butter or nuts). Spread remaining batter over, then sprinkle with streusel topping (with butter and nuts).

Pros- In the looks department, this cake is beautiful! I love all the different layers and textures and ribbons of strusel & It's REALLY good.

Cons- This is not a quick throw together recipe. It took me a good 1-1 1/2 hours just to put this cake together, then add another hour for baking and at least 2 more for cooling. If you plan on making this for Christmas breakfast you'll either have to get up super early or make it they day before.

Posted by: Sallie

Macaroons Three Ways & Holiday Cookie Round Up

I think I might have mentioned that both Julia's husband and my husband LOVE coconut. This was one of their holiday requests. Yummy macaroons three different ways. The delicious original, chocolate, and and out of this world chocolate chunk. Crunchy, sweet and chewy. These are sure to be a hit!

And last but not least, in case you missed something in the last two weeks, here's a list of all the treats we posted in our Christmas Cookie Round Up.

White Chocolate Cherry Shortbread

Christmas Sandies
Cranberry Orange Bread
Mexican Wedding & Snowball Cookies

Orange Ginger Cookies with White Chocolate Drizzle

Classic, Chocolate Chunk and Chocolate Macaroons

Chocolate Covered Nuts

Peppermint Bark

Apricot Cherry Pie Squares

Chocolate Turtle Cookies

Fantasy Fudge

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

Aunt Katie's Sugar Cookies

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Blossoms

Almond Roca

Homemade Peanut Butter Cups

Cranberry Bliss Bars

Classic Macaroons
Martha Stewart

Makes 20

3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
2 large egg whites
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine sugar, coconut, egg whites, vanilla, and salt. Use your hands to mix well, completely combining ingredients.
Dampen hands with cold water. Form 1/2 tablespoons of mixture into a loose haystack shape, and place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining mixture, placing macaroons about 1 inch apart.
Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove baking sheet from oven to a wire rack, and let macaroons cool slightly on baking sheet. These are best served warm from the oven, but can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Chocolate Chunk Macaroons

Martha Stewart

Makes 20

3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups (about 3 ounces) unsweetened shredded coconut
2 large egg whites
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chunks
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine sugar, coconut, egg whites, chocolate chunks, vanilla, and salt. Use your hands to mix well, completely combining ingredients.
Dampen hands with cold water. Form 1 1/2 tablespoons of mixture into a loose haystack shape, and place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining mixture, placing macaroons about 1 inch apart.
Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove baking sheet from oven to a wire rack, and let macaroons cool slightly on baking sheet. These are best served warm from the oven, but can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days; leave in a warm place for 1 hour before serving to allow chocolate to soften.

Chocolate Macaroons

Martha Stewart

Makes 2 dozen
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, broken into small pieces
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
3 large egg whites
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Directions
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Reduce heat, and allow it to simmer. Place chocolate in a small bowl, and set over saucepan. Stir until chocolate is melted, and set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, combine cooled chocolate, cocoa, sugar, coconut, egg whites, vanilla, and salt. Use your hands to mix well, completely combining ingredients.
Dampen hands with cold water. Form 1 1/2 tablespoons of mixture into a loose haystack shape, and place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining mixture, placing macaroons 1 inch apart.
Bake until just firm to the touch but still soft in the middle, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove baking sheet from oven to a wire rack, and let cool on baking sheet. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.


Posted by: Sallie & Julia

***Up next.....Christmas Breakfast Favorites and many more utterly delicious sweet and savory recipes for all your holiday entertaining!***

Christmas Sandies

These are just the cookie to add some festive holiday color to your holiday plates! They are so cute with their red, white and green sprinkles. A shortbread type cookie with the yummy addition of dried cranberries and lemon zest. Yum!

Christmas Sandies

Better Homes and Gardens

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup finely chopped dried cranberries*
2 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel
White, red, and green nonpareils

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper; set aside. Beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add powdered sugar. Beat until combined, scraping bowl. Beat in vanilla. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in cranberries, lemon peel, and any remaining flour (use your hands to work in flour, if mixture seems crumbly).
2. Shape mixture into 1/2-, 3/4-,or 1-inch balls. Roll dough balls in nonpareils. Arrange balls 1 inch apart on prepared cookie sheets.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes for about 1/2-inch balls, 13 minutes for 3/4-inch balls, or 15 minutes for 1-inch balls, or until bottoms of cookies are light brown. Transfer to wire racks and let cool. Makes about one hundred forty-four 1/2-inch cookies; seventy-two 3/4-inch cookies; or thirty-six 1-inch cookies.

*Tip: Place dried cranberries in a food processor. Cover and process until finely chopped. Or finely chop cranberries by hand.

Posted by: Sallie & Julia

Orange Ginger Cookies with White Chocolate Drizzle

Spice cookies just scream holidays. We loved these Ginger Spice Cookies from Paula Deen so when we saw a Christmas version we thought it would make the perfect addition to our holiday cookies. Julia had the idea of drizzling the white chocolate. Don't they look pretty?

Orange Spice Cookies with White Chocolate Drizzle

Our Best Bites

3/4 C Butter flavored Crisco

*1 C sugar, plus more for rolling

1 large egg

1/4 C molasses

2 C flour

2 t baking soda

1 t ground cinnamon

1 t ground ginger

1/2 t ground cloves

1/2 t salt

Zest from 3 large oranges

White Chocolate for dipping or drizzling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or a silpat. With an electric mixer, combine shortening and sugar and cream until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Add the egg and the molasses and beat until completely incorporated. Add orange zest.Sift or whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt and then add to the mixture. Stir until combined. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and roll in sugar. Place on cookie sheets.Bake for 8-10 minutes or until just set around the edges and you start to see cracks. Don't over bake! You want to keep them nice and chewy-soft in the middle They'll puff up while they're baking and as they cool they'll flatten. Melt some white chocolate. You can use white chocolate chips, melting in the microwave in 30 second intervals until melted and smooth. Take the cooled cookies and dip the edges in the chocolate; shake in the air a bit to let excess chocolate drip off or after you have melted chocolate, place in plastic baggie with tiny whole cut in corner. drizzle on cookies. Lay the cookies on waxed paper or parchment until the chocolate is hardened.

Posted by: Sallie & Julia

Chocolate Covered Nuts

Picture courtesy of The Sister's Cafe

I had to laugh because I've been making these totally easy, totally delicious chocolate covered nuts for years but for some reason (maybe because I haven't had treats for awhile) I totally forgot about these this year. Then for no apparent reason, I thought of them in the middle of the night and made a mental note to get them on the blog. That same day the girls over at Sister's Cafe posted the same recipe. Guess I'm not the only one who thinks they're delicious. (And luckily they snapped a picture too. I'll put one on as soon as I make mine.)

Like I said before these are so easy it's almost embarassing! These were some of the first "candies" I made when my husband and I were first married. Creamy chocolate and crunchy nuts. What's not to love? We both still love them and bet you will too. Our favorite are peanuts and cashews.

Chocolate Covered Nuts

1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips
approximately 3 cups cashews, mixed nuts, or dry roasted peanuts

Combine all the chocolate chips together in a glass bowl. Microwave on 60% power for 1 minute. Stir gently once or twice. Microwave for another minute on 60% power. Chocolate chips should be glossy and melted slightly but still in their shape. Stir gently until melted completely. Every microwave is different, you may need an extra 30 seconds to a minute - just remember not to use full power.

Pour nuts into chocolate and gently stir to coat well. You don't really need to measure here. Just pour in some nuts, stir and see if you need to add more. The nuts should be completely covered in chocolate. A nice healthy dose.

With a spoon, drop small clusters on wax paper, parchment paper, or Silpat. Allow to cool completely then store between layers of wax paper in a Tupperware - somewhere cool and dry ( The garage is a great place!)

Posted by: Sallie & Julia

Apricot-Cherry Pie Squares

This is another one of Julia's favorite Holiday recipes. Too bad we don't have a picture because these are really pretty with the vanilla glaze. If you've never tried the apricot-cherry combination, you're missing out. I love them because they're unique and great for parties. Just like pie, but easier because they don't require plates or silverware.







Apricot-Cherry Pie Squares
From Better Homes and Gardens


Ingredients:
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 cup shortening
1 egg yolk
Milk
1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp. cornstarch
3 15 1/4 oz. cans apricot halves, drained and cut into quarters
1 16 oz. can pitted tart red cherries, drained
Vanilla Glaze
Directions


1. For pastry, in large bowl, stir together the flour and salt. Using a pastry blender, but in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Lightly beat egg yolk in a glass measuring cup. Add enough milk to egg yolk to make 3/4 cup total liquid; mix well. Stir egg yolk mixture into flour mixture; mix well. Set aside one-third of the dough.
2. On a lightly floured surface, roll the remaining two-thirds of the dough into an 18x12-inch rectangle. To transfer pastry, carefully wrap it around the rolling pin; unroll it into a 15x10x1-inch baking pan (pastry will hang over edges of pan). Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
3. In a large bowl, combine the sugar and cornstarch. Stir in the apricots and cherries. Spoon the fruit mixture into the prepared crust.
4. Roll the remaining dough into a 16x11-inch rectangle; place over fruit. Bring bottom pastry up and over top pastry. Seal edges with the tines of a fork. Prick intire surface of top pastry with the tines of a fork.
5. Bake about 40 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Serve warm or cool. Cut into 2x3-inch bars. Drizzle with Vanilla Glaze. Makes 25 bars.
Vanilla Glaze: In a small bowl, combine 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp. vanilla and enough milk (5 to 6 tsp.) to make a glaze of drizzling consistency.




Posted by: Sallie & Julia

Almond Roca

I have loved English Toffee and Almond Roca ever since I can remember. This recipe is amazing. If you're making candy at all for Christmas, you've got to put this on your list. Buttery and crunchy, with a smooth chocolate coating and slivered almonds. You'll love it! Just make sure to have some friends to share it with. Otherwise you may end up eating the entire pan yourself. It's that good! If you're new to candy making, go to Melanie's site for some helpful pictures.

Almond Roca

My Kitchen Cafe

You can leave out the slivered almonds with great results. It makes a delicious toffee instead of a roca. If using unsalted butter, I would add 3/4 teaspoon salt when adding the sugar.

1 cup butter1 cup sugar

2 (3-oz.) packages slivered almonds

1 package chocolate chips

1 (3-oz.) package sliced almonds

Line a 9X13 pan with foil. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add sugar to melted butter and stir over low heat until sugar granules are dissolved (don't rush this step! It takes a good five or six minutes to melt the sugar but you don't want to move on until the sugar is dissolved). Turn the heat up to medium and continue stirring mixture until it turns golden brown. At this time add the slivered almonds.

Continue stirring mixture until it becomes liquefied again and turns caramel colored. If using a candy thermometer, the temperature should be 300 degrees. Immediately take it off the stove and pour the mixture onto your prepared 9X13 pan. It should spread out on its own, but you may need to spread it a little to help it along. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top and let melt (it helps to put a piece of tin foil loosely on top to keep the heat in and help the chocolate melt).

Once melted, smooth with a spoon. Finally, sprinkle sliced almonds on top. Let cool in fridge. Once hard you should be able to easily pull candy off cookie sheet and crack into pieces. Try not eat it all in one sitting!

Posted by: Sallie