Apple Pecan Crumb Coffee Cake

Indulge in Apple Pecan Crumb Coffee Cake for an autumn brunch or a cozy morning treat.

Apple Pecan Crumb Coffee Cake

Food triggers powerful memories for me. This recently happened when my box of Cinnamon Sugar Crumb Cake mix from Tastefully Simple arrived at my home. The first thing I thought of was, “This reminds me of our family’s Hungarian coffee cake.”

And who doesn’t love a good crumb cake? When I was growing up my mom and grandma often baked Hungarian coffee cake, which was a cinnamon-forward cake made with flour, brown and white sugars, and buttermilk. I still have the baking pan they used. I’m not sure where they got the recipe, but I’m thankful for the times they baked this cake. The family often enjoyed this after dinner with a cup of coffee. It was reprised the next morning with a glass of cold milk and was equally divine.

The Apple Pecan Crumb Coffee Cake that I baked using the Tastefully Simple mix was—dare I say it—even better! My daughter and I enjoyed it throughout the week.

Every now and then, I want to break free from the routine breakfasts of eggs or cereals. This Apple Pecan Crumb Coffee Cake was perfect with a cup of my morning coffee and a small bowl of mixed fruit. You certainly could add a scrambled egg on the side, too. This would be perfect on a brunch buffet this fall, too! And all this goodness costs just $1.54 per serving. Let’s get baking!

Ingredients for Apple Pecan Crumb Coffee Cake

To make Apple Pecan Crumb Coffee Cake, which yields 10 servings, you’ll need these ingredients:

• 1 package Cinnamon Sugar Crumb Cake Mix

• 6 Tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

• ¾ cup low-fat milk

• 2 large eggs, beaten

• 1 cup finely chopped apples

• 1/3 cup chopped pecans

Choose apples are in season near you but look for those with firm texture. I used one large Honeycrisp red apple for this recipe. Gala, Ginger Gold, or Fuji would work, too. Avoid Red Delicious or Golden Delicious, which are best used for applesauce or apple butter. If you’re interested to learn more about the Red Delicious apple’s history, click here; Missouri’s oldest nurseries had a hand in making this variety so popular.

While it’s super handy to have Tastefully Simple baking mixes in the pantry (convenience, clean ingredients), scroll to the end for tips to help you make this cake without the mix. I can help you order this mix, as well as other Tastefully Simple products; just send me a message!

Follow these directions for Apple Pecan Crumb Coffee Cake

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine packet no. 1 of the cake mix with melted butter. Mix together until small crumbles form. Set aside ¼ cup of this mixture in a small bowl.

Add milk and eggs to large bowl and stir to combine. This will be a thicker batter, so don’t be alarmed if you see a few lumps. Spread half into a greased 9-inch round cake pan. You also can line the pan with parchment if that’s your preference.

Remove 2 tablespoons of cinnamon sugar from the mix’s packet no. 2 and add to the small bowl with reserved crumbles. Evenly sprinkle the remaining cinnamon sugar mixture over batter in the pan. Top with apples and pecans. (Note: I used about 2/3 of the cinnamon sugar, saving the remaining amount for later use. Use your judgement.)

Spread remaining batter, gently covering the apples and pecans. Sprinkle the sugar crumbles over the tip and bake 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Set on a wire rack to cool completely before serving.

No mix? No problem!

You might follow the Hungarian Coffee Cake recipe if you don’t have the Cinnamon Sugar Crumb Cake mix on hand. You’ll need:

• 3 cups flour

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 1 cup white sugar

• 1 cup butter, softened

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• 1 cup buttermilk

• 2 eggs, beaten

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix the flour, brown sugar, white sugar, butter, and salt together in a bowl until crumbly. Set aside 1 cup for later use.

Stir in milk, eggs, baking soda into the original crumb mixture until batter is smooth. Pour half into a greased 9x13-inch baking dish. Top batter with apples and pecans. Pour remaining batter and top with crumb mixture and sprinkle cinnamon over the top. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 to 50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

There’s something to be said for convenience

Look at the list of ingredients in the swap. This is why I like to start with a good baking mix! It’s not any more expensive, and I’m sure all the ingredients are fresh and activated. If you make the cake, leave a comment which method you used! Either way, you will have a wonderful coffee cake to enjoy in the morning—or any time of day. And remember to store leftover cake covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

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About the blog

Three Women in the Kitchen is an award-winning food blog offering today’s home cooks comforting, hearty recipes with a personal touch. The website also pays tribute to Deborah’s mother, Katie Reinhardt, and paternal grandmother, Dorothy Reinhardt (the “three women” in the kitchen). Whether you’re an experienced or a novice cook, you’ll find inspiration here to feed your families and warm your heart. Subscribe today so you won’t miss a single delicious detail.

5 Reasons Family Meals are a Recipe for Success

Research shows eating together helps our brain and body. Learn how to add more family meal time to your busy schedule.

If your family’s schedule is starting to ramp up with work, school, kids’ activities, and important appointments, you may be tempted to skip eating together to save time. But experts caution you against this practice.

According to the Virginia-based FMI Foundation—which addresses food safety, health, and nutrition through research, education, and collaboration—sharing meals with family or friends is good for our bodies and minds. To encourage this habit, the foundation has set aside September as Family Meals Month.

Here are five ways sharing a meal can benefit you and your loved ones.

• Research finds the more people eat together, the better they function. Specifically, frequent shared family meals improve connectedness, communication, expressiveness and problem-solving. Conversation is key during family meals to take advantage of the one-on-one time without distractions.

• Family meals also support mental health, restoring a sense of peace, bolstering self-esteem, increasing happiness, and boosting a sense of resilience.

• Research shows family meals improve fruit and vegetable consumption. It also indicates families who eat together frequently have a better overall healthy diet and lower body mass index.

• Eating more meals together is associated with improved overall adolescent health, including higher grades. Multiple studies show students whose families eat together frequently perform better academically in reading and vocabulary.

• The family dinner table is a great place to show younger generations how to communicate respectfully. In fact, 76 percent of Americans agreed family meals are a good opportunity to have and teach respectful interactions, according to the FMI Foundation’s “Staying Strong with Family Meals” barometer.

 If these aren’t sufficient reasons, remember last year’s study by the U.S. Surgeon General that said America is experiencing an epidemic of loneliness in a post-COVID society? If not, take a moment to read what is happening. https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf

Even if all of this makes sense, you may still be struggling to adopt family meals into a regular schedule. Here are a few tips that may help you.

Take-out or frozen pizza night could be a Friday night dinner.

Batch cooking and meal planning

I remember as a single mother the challenge of putting dinner on the table for me and my child; I can’t imagine how tough it can be for families of four or more! While leading our two-person household, I learned it was important to plan a menu for the week. If you plan for and prep a couple of meals to enjoy through the week, this will help better manage your time in the kitchen.

Why not make Friday pizza night (it’s simple to elevate frozen pizzas with a few fresh ingredients and a salad) and go around the table to ask what your family would like on next week’s menu? Take some of the suggestions, plan a grocery list for Saturday, and batch cook on Sunday afternoon.

Batch cooking—making extra for later—is another useful tip. One thing I often do is batch cook my proteins for the week. I make a batch of Makin’ Magic Chicken using the seasoning blend from Tastefully Simple. Add chicken with the seasoning and some low-sodium broth to a slow-cooker and in three hours, it’s ready to cool, shred, and store for the week or freeze for next. We use it in sandwiches, salads, pot pies, and casseroles. It’s even great for sheet pan nacho night! Message me if you'd like to learn more.

Keep a well-stocked pantry

Nothing frustrates me quicker than reaching for something in the pantry (or freezer) only to discover I’m out of that ingredient. So, every couple of weeks, I go through my pantry and see where I'm running low. It may be pasta or canned beans, rice or tomato sauce. We tend to forget to pick something up if it's not something used weekly.

If you need tips for stocking your pantry, I did a story about that a few years ago that could be useful to you. https://www.threewomeninthekitchen.com/post/try-these-hardworking-pantry-organizing-tips. Pay attention to your pantry and it can serve you and your family well!

Have some quick meal recipes on hand

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel every night! That’s too much for even the most passionate home cook. Instead, keep a few easy recipes handy that will get dinner on the table in 30 minutes or less. Rotate one or two into your weekly meal plan. If you need a little inspiration, may I suggest:

• Quick Chipotle Pork Tacos

• Philly Cheesesteak Skillet Pizza

• Penne with Cannellini and Greens

• White Chicken Chili This is ready in about 15 minutes if you batch cooked the chicken on Sunday. If you prefer red chili, check out this Tastefully Simple recipe using their versatile Wahoo Chili Seasoning. Just add a pound of ground beef, a can of kidney or black beans (your preference), a can of tomato sauce, a cup of water and 3 Tablespoons of Wahoo Chili Seasoning, simmer for 30 minutes and dinner is ready!

  
  

What if I live alone?

If you are part of the 30 percent of Americans the idea of sharing a meal seems to be a reach, but it's possible! This may take some courage but invite another “solitaire” over once or twice a week for dinner. Just call up a buddy and put a simple meal—a bowl of soup and salad—on your table. I love a slow-cooker moment, and I really love this comforting, delicious recipe for Lasagna Soup.

This month, enjoy the pleasure of sharing a meal with family or friends and share how you’re participating with a post from your table and the tag #familymealsmonth or #familymealsmovement! Feel free to share your comment or photo below, too.

Share your family meal stories this month with the tag #familymealsmonth.

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About the blog

Three Women in the Kitchen is an award-winning food blog offering today’s home cooks comforting, hearty recipes with a personal touch. The website also pays tribute to Deborah’s mother, Katie Reinhardt, and paternal grandmother, Dorothy Reinhardt (the “three women” in the kitchen). Whether you’re an experienced or a novice cook, you’ll find inspiration here to feed your families and warm your heart. Subscribe today so you won’t miss a single delicious detail.

Banana Overnight Oats

Banana bread flavors come together for a nutritious, easy breakfast that’s perfect for busy mornings.

Banana Overnight Oats will remind you of your favorite banana bread.

The struggle is real, my friends. Excel in school. Produce at the office. Care for the family. Show up for a cause. For better or worse, America is a performance society, and it can be tiring. Which is why self-care practices are vital.

This month, I’d like to suggest one simple self-care step is making sure we have breakfast. Now, there are different voices about this but I’m going with science (not current trends) and what Mom taught me. Start the day with breakfast. And for busy people, overnight oats just make sense. Easy to assemble and no cooking required, overnight oats wait for you in the refrigerator until you’re ready to enjoy them. And these Banana Overnight Oats give a banana bread vibe while giving you a shot of morning calcium, fruit, and whole grains.

To make Banana Overnight Oats, which yields 3 servings, you’ll need these ingredients:

• 2 ripe bananas

• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

• 1 cup milk

• ½ cup vanilla Greek yogurt

• 1 teaspoon maple syrup

• ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

• Pinch of kosher salt

• 2 Tablespoons pecans

It’s a fact in my home that there will be one or two uneaten bananas left to go bad in the fruit bowl. Rather than make banana bread, I’m going to make these overnight oats because I always have oats in my pantry.

If you prefer almond milk use that in this recipe. You also can swap walnuts for pecans. Chopped peanuts also would be good.

Directions for Banana Overnight Oats

In a small mixing bowl, mash peeled bananas with a fork. Add remaining ingredients—except for the nuts—and stir until well combined.

Transfer oat mixture to three containers with lids and place in the refrigerator for 8 hours. I like the convenience of individual servings, but if your mixing bowl has an air-tight lid, it’s fine to use that and serve portions in the morning.

After 8 hours, remove oats from the morning and stir. Add milk if the oats are too thick. Top with pecans. Additional topping ideas could include sliced bananas, your favorite nut butter or a small sprinkle of chocolate chips.

Tips from the kitchen

I think most nuts taste better when lightly toasted, so while your morning coffee is brewing, put the pecans in a small skillet over medium heat and heat up until you just start to smell them. Stir occasionally; they can burn quickly. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt. I wouldn’t oppose a drizzle of honey here, either.

And overnight oats will keep for 5 days in sealed containers inside your refrigerator.

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About the blog

Three Women in the Kitchen is an award-winning food blog offering today’s home cooks comforting, hearty recipes with a personal touch. The website also pays tribute to Deborah’s mother, Katie Reinhardt, and paternal grandmother, Dorothy Reinhardt (the “three women” in the kitchen). Whether you’re an experienced or a novice cook, you’ll find inspiration here to feed your families and warm your heart. Subscribe today so you won’t miss a single delicious detail.