delicious

We love coffee cake at our house so I thought I would quickly put one together for the morning. My kids so look forward to coffee cake in the morning, when I do make one. Simply add a fruit, a tall glass of cold milk, and you have a pretty good breakfast.

This time around, I adapted this recipe for people who love the taste of cinnamon & the taste of vanilla. If you aren’t a fan, simply adapt the recipe to fit any flavor profile you like.

Let’s take a look… 🙂

Here we have the final product. It has had time to cool and I have just topped it with yummy glaze. Yes, the pan is half gone! The fella’s dug in before I could even get the chopped nuts on the coffee cake.

This is the Cinnabon Gourmet Coffee Creamer I used in place of the water for the cake. There are a lot of great uses for all the new Gourmet Coffee Creamers in baking AND cooking. You don’t have to be a coffee drinker to appreciate their many uses.

As you can see from the picture I used chopped walnuts, not pecans. Why? Because that’s what I had, and I saw no reason to go spend extra money on pecans.

I have used this recipe many times. Maybe you want to try banana cream or butterscotch instant pudding mix. This is a sweeter coffee cake than some, but it is so very good!

I think I’ve had the most fun playing with other cake mixes and extracts for a completely different take. I think you’ll find this one is a keeper – and it always turns out well! 🙂

Vanilla-Pecan Coffee Cake

Ingredients

1 pkg. yellow cake mix, any brand

1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) instant vanilla pudding mix

1 tsp. vanilla extract

FILLING:

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

GLAZE:

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 to 3 Tbsp. Cinnabon Gourmet Coffee Creamer

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

1. Spray a 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan generously with nonstick spray; set aside.

2. Prepare cake mix batter according to package directions, adding dry pudding mix and vanilla; set aside. Combine the pecans, sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Instead of water, I used Cinnabon International Delight Creamer – this is gluten-free and lactose-free product with great flavor!

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 34-38 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clesn. Cool on a wire rack. Combine the glaze ingredients in a small bowl until smooth. Drizzle over warm coffee cake.

Make 15 Servings

Adapted from: Taste of Home

Megamommy

Friday night is usually Kids Night at our house. What that means is, I try to make them something kid friendly that I know they like. Kids love having a night that they feel is their own!

Although we love pizza here, rarely do I make them pizza ONLY because they have pizza at school at least once a week, sometimes twice. That’s every single week! Enough with the pizza already…

Which brings me to this quick and easy meal, perfect for the kids. Basically, one night I needed something quick and easy and went with what we had in the cupboard. Now my kids love this one every time I make it! This dish is also very good with canned salmon if you have salmon lovers at your house.

I used these basic ingredients, although for the shredded cheese I just go with whatever I have on hand. You can’t see it well, but this time around I used Kraft Triple Cheddar.

Here it is hot & bubbly right out of the oven. Personally I prefer Panko bread crumbs on top, but the kids love the goldfish. 🙂 Oh, tonight I didn’t add the peas, because the kids had a fruit instead of a vegetable.

Tonight’s meal for Kids Night – Macaroni & Cheese with Tuna, Mandarin Oranges, and a piece of Wheat Baguette.

Macarnoi & Cheese with Tuna

Ingredients:

1 Box of Macaroni & Cheese (7.25 oz.), any brand will do

1 can ( 5 oz.) tuna, drained – we like the solid white, or like I said you could use canned salmon if you prefer

1 cup frozen peas, or other vegetable (optional)

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup reduced-fat milk (1% or 2%)

* Small Amount of Extra Cheese

* Extra Cheddar Goldfish or Seasoned Dry Breadcrumbs

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside.

2. Microwave peas for enough time to defrost them. They don’t need to be hot, just make sure they are no longer frozen in the middle.

3. Cook the pasta from the macaroni & cheese according to the package instructions. Drain as usual; return to same pot pasta was cooked in. Stir in the drained can of tuna and 1 cup of peas, add 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup (2%) reduced-fat milk and packet of cheese sauce mix. Stir until butter and sauce mix are melted and there are no lumps. I always add extra milk to macaroni & cheese because that’s the way we like it here. Be careful here, add the milk 1 Tablespoon at a time, until creamy.

4. You can either serve the Macaroni & Cheese immediately OR give it a few special touches. If you want to add a little extra love spoon the mixture into a baking dish, sprinkle with a few handfuls of cheddar goldfish and just a handful or two of cheese.

5. Bake for about 10 minutes at 400 degrees, or until nice and bubbly. It shouldn’t take any more than 10 minutes for it to get nice and bubbly.

Makes 4 servings.

I would love to know what you guys think of this one. If you get a chance please send me an email, or post a comment.

Vanilla-Pecan Coffee Cake

Vanilla-Pecan Coffee Cake

Vanilla-Pecan Coffee Cake

Megamommy

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Macaroni & Cheese with Tuna

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