Thanksgiving Treats!

It is that time again; the time to ask oneself, "What am I thankful for?" I am thankful for my ability to bake, my friends and family for their dedication in devouring said baked goods, and my hips for not being twice as big after endless amounts of hard test-tasting that goes into each dessert I bake. And here is something for you to be thankful for: 2 awesomely delicious recipes in one post!!!

I do not make traditional Thanksgiving dessert; no pumpkin pie or apple pie or anything of the sort. So this year I made a fake coffee cake and scrumptious brownie! I can see the quizical expression on your face through the computer.. Really, I can. My coffee cake is a fake one because I did not remember some of my ingredients when shopping (mainly sour cream), so I altered my recipe and kind of did something grand. I recently posted the recipe for the cinnamon cupcakes and decided to use that cake recipe as the cake part of my coffee cake. I will go ahead and post it all here.

Cinnamon "Coffee Cake" with a Pecan Streusel and Vanilla Glaze

Streusel:
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- 1 cup finely chopped pecans
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter; melted

Cake:
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup butter; softened
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cup unbleached whole wheat flour
- 1 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 2 tsp cinnamon

Glaze:
- 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar; sifted
- 2 1/2 tbsp almond milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For the streusel, mix brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Then add chopped pecans and melted butter; stir until appears crumbly. Set aside

Cream sugar and butter. Beat in eggs, one at a time. In a separate bowl, combine flour and baking powder then add to sugar mixture. Once batter is smooth, stir in almond milk until smooth then stir in cinnamon.

Put about 1/2 the cake batter into greased 9x9 inch pan, then sprinkle a layer of the streusel over it. Cover streusel layer with remainder of cake batter then layer the remaining steusel on top. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. If you use a 9x13 inch pan, bake for 30 to 35 minutes.

Now for the glaze. After sifting the powdered sugar, just add the remaining ingredients and whisk. A trick to adding glaze, line a mug with an open zip-lock bag, then pour the glaze into the zip-lock; snip a small corner of the zip-lock and you have a mini pastry bag. The mug technique saves you from a mess, which I have encountered before.

I let my cake cool overnight before I removed it from the pan, then applied the glaze and this is the result:

Onto the brownies!

This is by far the easiest brownie recipe ever; almost as easy as the just add water boxed brownies but the taste is far superior

- 1/2 cup butter; melted

- 1 1/4 cup sugar

- 2 eggs.

- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

- 1 tsp vanilla

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 1/4 tsp baking powder

- 2 handfulls semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. This recipe covers a 9x9 in pan. if you use a 9x13 inch pan, double the ingredients.



Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Gently stir in cocoa powder, flour, salt, and baking powder; one at a time. Stir in chocolate chips

Spread batter into greased pan and bake for 28 to 30 minutes. Allow at least 15 minutes cooling time before cutting

These super gooey amazing brownies are a fan favorite! Happy Thanksgiving and Enjoy!