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4.50 from 2 votes

Night Before Christmas Coffee Cake

A delicious breakfast cake that you can prepare the night before Christmas!
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Rising Time:1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time1 hour
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Keyword: christmas coffee cake, coffee cake
Servings: 12 servings
Author: RecipeGirl.com

Ingredients

CAKE:

  • 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • 1/2 cup warm milk (110 to 115 degrees F)
  • 1 .25-ounce envelope active dry yeast (dissolved in 3 tablespoons warm water)
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt

TOPPING:

  • 2/3 cup granulated white sugar
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup nuts, chopped maraschino cherries or candied cherries

Instructions

PREPARE THE CAKE:

  • In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the sugar and butter. Mix in the eggs, milk, dissolved yeast in water, and vanilla. 
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt; add to the wet mixture and beat until incorporated. Set the bowl aside, cover loosely with a clean dishtowel, and let the dough rise until doubled in size (1 1/2 to 2 hours).

PREPARE THE TOPPING:

  • In a small bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon, melted butter and nuts (you can use the cherries for a festive look if you don't care for nuts).

ASSEMBLE THE CAKE:

  • Punch the dough down and spread into a greased 9 x 13-inch pan. Sprinkle the topping on top.
  • Place the pan in a cold oven and cover with a clean dishtowel. Let it sit overnight in the cold oven to rise. You can turn on the oven light to add a little bit of heat to the oven.

BAKING THE CAKE:

  • The next morning, remove the dishtowel (don't forget this step!!), turn the oven to 350°F. and bake for 30 minutes. Serve warm.

Notes

  • *This makes one large coffee cake, but you may also opt to split the dough in half and prepare two 8-inch round or square pans instead.  This is what the photos reflect in the recipe post.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 300kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 52mg | Sodium: 245mg | Potassium: 63mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 300IU | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 1.7mg