Pecan Pineapple Coffee Cake

This is a great recipe.  The woman who submitted it to All Recipes is named Alice which made me smile.  That was my mom's name and she LOVED coffee cake.  Thanks for sharing this, Alice. I made only a few changes on the fly.  First of all because of the number of servings I had to make I tripled the recipe and cooked using half-sheet pans which were perfect to hold the amount of batter I had.  The other change is that I chopped the pecan topping in the food processor.  The recipe calls for chopped pecans, but their picture shows whole ones.  One note, the topping gets scattered by hand, it is not a thick crumbly topping like most coffee cakes call for.  (It would need butter and higher volume, IMO.) In the future I will make another change.  I felt the pineapple made spots in the cake that were almost wet, and that was after fully draining the cans of pineapple.  In the future I will take the added step of cutting the tidbits smaller, perhaps into four pieces each and allowing them to sit, perhaps for an hour or more before using them.  This will allow pineapple to get into more of the cake and keep it from making the squares challenging to cut neatly.  As I'm typing I'm thinking I might try using crushed pineapple... hmmmm. Of course, I am the one who cares about how pretty the pieces look, everyone who commented thought they tasted great.  Enjoy! Pecan Pineapple Coffee Cake

Rated:  Submitted By: alice Photo By: lutzflcat Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 25 Minutes Ready In: 1 Hour 10 Minutes Servings: 9

"Pineapple bits and pecans give this coffee cake a tropical taste, and it's a delicious accompaniment to a hot cup of coffee or tea."

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 cup white sugar 1/4 cup brown sugar 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 large egg

1 cup plain yogurt 1/4 cup canola oil 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups pineapple tidbits in juice, drained and juice reserved 1/3 cup reserved pineapple juice 1/4 cup chopped pecans 1/4 cup brown sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking dish.
2.	Combine flour, white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Whisk egg, yogurt, canola oil, and vanilla extract in another bowl until smooth. Stir flour mixture into egg mixture until just blended. Add 1/3 cup reserved pineapple juice and fold in pineapple tidbits until batter is just mixed; pour into prepared baking dish.
3.	Stir pecans and remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar in a small bowl; sprinkle over batter.
4.	Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or completely cool.

Rice Krispies Treat Secrets

You surely don't need a recipe for these old favorites, although I will post the one that has been published on the Rice Krispies boxes for as long as I know.  It's easy to make these, easy to add additions for color or flavor and very easy to cut and serve them if you have a few ideas.  Here is some of what I do after years of practice.

First of all, for events I make my in a half sheet pan, not the thicker 9x13 pan that is suggested.  This is certainly the depth to do if I have to cut particular shapes like hearts.  Also, I find it is easier to get more neat pieces out of the more shallow pan.  Anything that actually cuts into the krispies would be making cleaner cuts if it's been sprayed with PAM.

Second, when the krispies are mixed and laid out in the pan I cover it with plastic wrap and then use something flat to press them as even as possible.  I found that if I only use my hands I never get them as smooth as I would like.  The plastic wrap keeps them smooth and my meat pounder clean.

Third, when they have sat for a while and cooled I cut them using a ruler to measure my pieces.  Whether you want 3" blocks or 1x2" pieces a ruler can help you make beautiful cuts.  I use a ruler that used to be for quilting but has had lines wear off.  I can put on a line of masking tape (or in this case a few sticky notes) to mark my desired size.  While the krispies are covered with plastic wrap I use a bread board scraper as my knife and mark the rows by pressing against the plastic wrap into the bars.  Amazing enough, the plastic does not tear or get caught in the bars.  I then turn the pan and do the same thing again.  Now I can remove the plastic wrap and cut fully along the lines I marked.  I usually take out the first four because after that getting them out is much easier.  The pretty bars are easy to fully cut and remove from the pan onto a plate.  Enjoy!

Rice Krispies Recipe

3 tablespoons butter 
1 package (10 oz., about 40) JET-PUFFED Marshmallows 
6 cups Kellogg's® Rice Krispies® cereal

1. In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.

2. Add KELLOGG'S RICE KRISPIES cereal. Stir until well coated.

3. Using buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Cool. Cut into 2-inch squares. Best if served the same day.


MICROWAVE DIRECTIONS:
In microwave-safe bowl heat butter and marshmallows on HIGH for 3 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Follow steps 2 and 3 above. Microwave cooking times may vary.

Should have been Blueberry Coffee Cake

In what could only be called a comical error, I made this coffee cake successfully, but forgot to add the blueberries.  Seriously, I just forgot to take them out of the freezer when I was getting things ready, because as usual I mixed the dry ingredients together, all the topping ingredients (which got chilled) and pulled the eggs and buttermilk so they would come to room temp hours before I actually made the cake.  I was tired when I was putting it all together and didn't even think of grabbing the blueberries out of the freezer.  It was a delicious cake, but NOT a blueberry cake!  Enjoy!

SHOULD HAVE BEEN BLUEBERRY COFFEE CAKE

Ingredients:

Topping

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup almonds, sliced, slivered, blanched, or roasted.  The only thing I wouldn't use is smoked and that MIGHT have some possibilities, but not tonight.  LOL

If using whole almonds, go ahead and run them through the food processor for a few pulses to get them going toward breaking up.  Otherwise, add all ingredients to the bowl and give them a whirl until it’s combined.  Set aside.  If you use sliced almonds you might want to wait until close to the end of combining but I promise you, I used them tonight and didn’t find them disappearing.

Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 stick melted butter

3 large eggs

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup buttermilk 

grated zest of one lemon

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Set oven to 350F  

Prepare 9x9 pan with butter or PAM.

In one medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder and 

salt.  In mixer bowl combine melted butter, sugar, vanilla,

buttermilk and lemon zest.  Turn on the mixer and let it get well

blended.  Add eggs one at a time, making sure they get completely

combined.  Take bowl from mixer and use a rubber scraper to add

flour mixture.  Gently stir in the blueberries and spread batter in

pan.  Sprinkle with topping mixture and bake for 40-50 minutes.  

Let cool before slicing.