Cinnamon Chip Coffee Cake

What are your thoughts on birthdays?  Not everyone else's, but your own.  Do you love them?  Do you hate them?  Do you celebrate alone, with family and friends or do you just want to forget they exist?

I love my birthday.  Love, love, love my birthday!  I love that there's one day out of each year that is my day.  I get to do whatever I want and I think to myself "it's my birthday, why not?!"

It was my birthday last weekend.  Guess what I did.  I cooked and baked and cleaned my house and then babysat for some friends.  Huh... that didn't really go as planned.  So maybe I need to re-think this whole birthday thing.  Maybe it's not the best day ever.  Nah.  I'm going to persevere =o)  Maybe next year I'll get to celebrate and whoop it up like I always think I'm supposed too.  (I keep saying that.) 

Anywho....

I don't think this Bundt Cake even needs an introduction.  Right?  I mean, seriously.  Look at it.  It's a Bundt cake.  It has cinnamon chips in it.  And it has a glaze on top.  "Nuff said!

Anita over on Aunt Nubby's Kitchen posted this not too long ago.  It was one of those "holy-cow-I'm-so-making-that-this-weekend" things.  And am I glad we did!  We gobbled it up instantly!   It was delicious - moist and cinnamony and perfect.

Cinnamon Chip Coffee Cake

Source: Aunt Nubby's Kitchen

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 tsp. vanilla

3/4 cup applesauce

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

one 10 ounce package of Hersheys Cinnamon Baking Chips

 3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

3-4 Tbsp. warm water

In a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs and beat well.  Add vanilla and applesauce and mix until blended.  Add flour, baking soda and salt and mix well.  Gently mix in the cinnamon chips.  (You can also add pecans or walnuts but we chose not too.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Spray a bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray.  The kind with flour works best.

Spread batter into pan and bake for 40-45 minutes.

Cool in the pan for about 15 minutes then transfer to a wire cooling rack until slightly warm.

It's pretty darn good just like this!

But doesn't it just look a little "fancier" with frosting drizzled on it?

To make the glaze, add vanilla and cinnamon to the powdered sugar.  Add the warm water one tablespoon at a time and mix well after each addition.  You want all the lumps out of it while it's still thick.  Add enough water to make it the consistency you want.  You want to be able to pour it over the coffee cake but not so thin that it runs down the sides and just pools on the plate.

And because we can never leave anything alone... drizzle a little more frosting on it =o)

Enjoy warm or cold.

 

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