my perfect pairing

If you were to scroll through my posts featuring recipes using apples, you'd find that an ever-present ingredient is cinnamon.


Indeed, I find the combination of apples and cinnamon to be a powerful temptation in all forms--cookies, cakes, pies, breads, donuts, sauces, and on it goes. If apples are involved, then by golly, there had better be cinnamon!

Now that I've professed my love for all things apple-cinnamon, let's talk about this coffee cake. There aren't many recipes out there that specifically call for cinnamon chips, but this is one. (That's not to say that one couldn't replace any type of baking chips with cinnamon chips in any recipe, of course. One could. And should.) It's a triple threat--apple butter (my batch obviously contained cinnamon), straight cinnamon, and cinnamon chips are all involved and, in my opinion, essential.


This corner exhibits what I find to be the perfect bite--lots of chippage,
a little glaze, and some nuts to boot.

There's not a thing wrong with this cake. It's moist and dense and properly sweet, thanks in part to a little powdered sugar glaze. There's a subtle hint of maple, and the cinnamon chips and walnuts are nicely scattered throughout, making each forkful a pleasant experience.

Cinnamon-Lover's Coffee Cake
(three cheers for Hershey's Kitchens! my cake is based on their recipe)

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon maple extract
1 cup apple butter
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 2/3 cups (10-oz package) cinnamon chips
1 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 13x9-inch baking pan or a 12-cup fluted tube pan.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and granulated sugar together with a mixer until well blended. Beat in the eggs, extracts, and apple butter. In a smaller bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in the cinnamon chips and walnuts and spread into the prepared pan.
Bake 30-35 minutes for a 13x9-inch pan or 45-50 minutes for a tube pan or until a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Drizzle with a glaze (made from combining 1 cup of powdered sugar with 1-2 tablespoons of milk) or sprinkle with powdered sugar.