I like the way coffee cake practically sings, “Good morning!” bursting through the gloom like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in tap shoes. I love the way the kitchen feels warmer, the coffee tastes better, and the kids perk up and dig in hungrily.
What are quick breads, such as coffee cake, if not cozy?
Coffee cake is the best way to start your day. Well, other than slices of homemade bread or a lemon Bundt cake from the night before (I love bread, what can I say?).
Best of all: You can use your stand mixer with this coffee cake recipe.
This recipe for Peanut Butter Streusel-Topped Coffee Cake hails from the cookbook Stay for Supper by the Editors of Country Home Magazine. I’m not sure if I’ve flipped through pages of Country Home magazine or not.
“The name isn’t ringing any bells,” as my mom would say.
But, based on the recipes inside this book, I wouldn’t mind getting acquainted with it, if the magazine still includes recipes.
Stay for Supper by the Editors of Country Home
“Not only is it loaded with great, down-home recipes and old-fashioned illustrations, it’s been designed to help you re-create the good times, the simple times, when some of the friendliest words were “Stay for supper.”
Stay for Supper (Introduction)
Doesn’t that sound welcoming and neighborly?
At 240 pages, Stay for Supper has a nice weight. The size of the book is Goldilocks approved — it’s just right. You can lay it open and it won’t slam shut again. It is a cookable book.
Chapters include:
- Round ‘Em Up
- Special Recipe Collection: Sunday Dinner and Texas Barbecue
- From Sea to Shining Sea
- Feast on Fowl
- Special Recipe Collection: Country Christmas Dinner
- Kettles of Soups and Stews
- Breakfast on the Farm
- Our Daily Bread
- Gardener’s Pride
- Special Recipe Collection: Family Reunions
- The Fruit Cellar
- Country Endings
- Special Recipe Collection: Take Me to the Fair and A Southern Tea Table
Each recipe in Stay for Supper receives its own full page, with 225 recipes from the traditional to the regional. Side bar callouts may include an illustration, a suggestion, or a brief tidbit or fact.
There are a few images, and what you will find are nice, especially given the age of the book (1993).
Digging into Stay for Supper
Did you notice the “Special Recipe Collection” within a few of the book’s chapters? The six special sections are:
- Sunday Dinner
- Texas Barbecue
- Country Christmas Dinner
- Family Reunions
- Take Me to the Fair
- Southern Tea Table
The layout of these sections are each their own section within the chapter. Let me back that up a second.
The “Round ‘Em Up” chapter begins with an intro and a full-page color image and then the recipes. These recipes in this section include:
- Maple-Glazed Pot Roast
- Mustard-Glazed New England Boiled Dinner
- Beef Tenderloins with Peppercorns
- Chicken-Fried Steak with Gravy
The “Special Recipe Collection” appears at the end of the chapter as it’s own section, with an intro and full-page color image. It also includes a menu. So, too, does the next “Special Recipe Collection.”
This time, it’s labeled “Texas Barbecue,” with the same styling as the previous collection.
“Texas Barbecue” includes:
- Nectarine Sunrise (beverage)
- Texas-Style Beef Brisket
- Sweet Pepper Slaw
- Southwestern Style Three-Bean Salad
- Corn on the Cob with Pepper Butter
- Peach-Berry Pie
Each of the pages in the “Special Recipe Collection” are set off by a pale yellow and white marbled page border. That’s all of the “special” pages, including the intro and image page, so it is easier to flip to a special section (but I’d still recommend writing in your cookbooks and marking the page with a Post-It).
Recipe for Peanut Butter Coffee Cake with Streusel Topping
You’ve had plenty of crumb cake coffee cakes. Mix it up a little. As recipes go, this is simple to make. I’ve made it while half asleep, while in a rush, just after moving, and for absolutely zero reason at all.
We love this peanut butter cake for breakfast. It’s big on peanut butter flavor without being too sweet.
In most cases, you shouldn’t use natural peanut butter or off-brand peanut butter. With this recipe, I guess I broke the rules again without realizing it. Oops. I use natural peanut butter by Jif (I think the official name is Natural Jif Creamy Peanut Butter Spread).
Although the recipe requires an 8″ baking pan, I use a 9″ baking pan, instead of an 8″ pan, since that is what I have. It turns out just fine, though flatter. It just won’t have the height it should if you swap baking pans (but it’s still fantastic).
I like to throw toffee pieces over the top along with the chocolate chips (You know them as the Heath brand). I try to keep the proportion similar. It’s a lip-smacking complement.
I’m considering sneaking in ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract to the cake batter next time too.
My advice? Prepare the pan first (grease the pan), then make the streusel topping, and then get the batter completed. Unlike some recipes, the batter is so fast to put together, you don’t have time while messing with the batter to make the streusel.
Why is it so fast?
Well, the batter is combined by the use of a STAND MIXER.
In the large mixing bowl of your electric mixer, you’ll begin by creaming together 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter and 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine (I use salted butter because it keeps for longer).
Then, you’ll pour in only half of the one cup of all-purpose flour (so 1/2 cup), along with 1/2 cup light brown sugar, half of the 1/2 cup milk (so 1/4 cup milk), one egg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Combine those ingredients, scrape down the sides on occasion, and when a few streaks of flour remain, pour in the rest of the milk and the flour. You’ll mix until it’s just combined.
Then, stir in 1/4 cup semisweet or milk chocolate chips.
Scrape the coffee cake batter into the prepared pan. Smoosh it around so it’s even on the top so it bakes well. Sprinkle with the peanut butter streusel topping and then bake according to the directions below.
What a wonderful thing — and so fast.
Peanut Butter Streusel Coffee Cake
Equipment
- 1 8 x 8 x 2 pan (I use a 9" just fine)
- Stand Mixer
Ingredients
Peanut Butter Streusel Topping
- 1/4 Cup Flour
- 1/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar Packed
- 2 Tablespoons Peanut Butter
- 1 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter I use salted butter
- 1/4 Cup Mini Semisweet Chocolate Chips I typically use regular-sized milk chocolate chips
Coffee Cake
- 2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter I use salted butter because it stores in the fridge longer.
- 1/4 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
- 1 Cup Flour
- 1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar Packed
- 1/2 Cup Milk
- 1 Large Egg
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 1/4 Cup Mini Semisweet Chocolate Chips I use regular-sized milk chocolate chips usually
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375*.
- Grease an 8 x8 8x 2 pan with Baker's Joy or Pam for Baking with Flour and set aside.
For the Topping
- Combine the first four topping ingredients with a pastry blender or a spoon in a small bowl.
- Stir in the 1/4 of Semisweet or Milk Chocolate Chips. Set aside.
For the Coffee Cake
- Add the Peanut Butter and the Butter to the bowl of an electric stand mixer and combine for 30 seconds.
- Pour in about half of the 1 Cup of Flour, all the Brown Sugar, half of the Milk, the Egg, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, and the Salt. Mix until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl on occasion.
- Add in the rest of the Flour and the Milk. Beat until JUST combined and then STOP. Do NOT keep beating this to death.
- Stir in the Chocolate Chips by hand. It is so easy to go from "not combined" to "mixed within an inch of its life" when you use a stand mixer.
- Pour the batter into the greased pan and spread it around the best you can. Top with the, uh, topping.
- Bake 375* for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick near the center comes out clean.
- Cool on a wire cooling rack for 15 minutes to set. Serve warm.
If you have any stand mixer-friendly homemade coffee cake recipes, such as a good crumb topping coffee cake or a peanut coffee cake, I sure would love to check them out. Please, leave a comment below or send an email.
Stay for Supper Cookbook
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