Cinnamon Chip Coffee Cake

I hesitated to post this recipe because I know cinnamon chips aren’t available to everyone (including us Canadians), but this cake was just way too good not to share! I hope that by now, more grocery stores in the US are carrying cinnamon chips, but if not, you can always order them on Amazon (they’re worth it). I also hope that Canadian stores will start carrying these, but until then, I’ll have to keep driving to the States to get them (no I don’t drive all the way there just for cinnamon chips, but I do go shopping there once in a while and I always grab a bag of cinnamon chips when I do!) For those who are still stuck, I have seen cinnamon chips in bulk food stores before, so don’t give up hope!

This coffee cake is full of those delicious little cinnamon chips, and it’s also really dense, moist, and delicious! The original recipe name was Cinnamon Chip Applesauce Coffee Cake, but I removed the word ‘applesauce’ from my title because you really don’t taste it at all, I think it’s mainly there to add moisture to the cake. The recipe didn’t specify which kind of applesauce to use, so I guessed and bought unsweetened applesauce. Once I tasted the cake, it was very sweet already, so I was glad I used the unsweetened kind. It’s definitely sweet enough to serve as a dessert cake, but I also enjoyed it for breakfast (though next time if I plan on serving it only for breakfast, I might reduce the sugar a bit). I also left out the nuts because I was sending the cake to work with Ryan, and I always try to omit nuts when they’re not essential so that people with allergies aren’t left out. But I’m sure this would be delicious with the added crunch of some pecans so go ahead and add them in if you don’t need to worry about allergies!

This cake is so easy and quick to throw together. The hardest part is waiting for it to cool before removing it from the pan, because it smells so amazing – but it’s important to let it cool so that it will keep its shape when you invert it out of the pan. The cake is perfect on its own, but I decided to add a simple maple glaze just to dress it up a bit. However, you’re also supposed to wait for the cake to completely cool before adding a glaze, otherwise the glaze just kind of gets absorbed into the cake. I was in a hurry and so that’s exactly what happened to mine, but if you are a little more patient than me, it will look much better!

One more thing I wanted to add before I get to the recipe is that my twin sister Genevieve (from Vanilla & Spice) and I have decided to have a “Thanksgiving Week” on our blogs for the week leading up to Canadian Thanksgiving (which is next weekend already!) Every day next week, starting on Sunday and ending on Saturday, we will both be posting a different Thanksgiving recipe idea on our blogs. So be sure to come back on Sunday and follow along if you’re in need of some inspiration!

Cinnamon Chip Coffee Cake

Adapted from Hershey’s Kitchens

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1-2/3 cups (10-oz. bag) Hershey’s Cinnamon Chips

1 cup chopped pecans (optional – I left them out)

Glaze ingredients (optional):

3/4 cup icing sugar

1 teaspoon maple extract

2 tablespoons milk

Directions:

Heat oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 12-cup bundt pan.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Mix in applesauce.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, beating until well blended. Fold in cinnamon chips, and pecans if desired.

Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the thickest part comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack and let cool completely.

If using a glaze, mix together the icing sugar, milk, and maple extract, and drizzle over cooled cake before slicing.