Your other option for a holiday-ish and seasonal weekend brunch, this Cranberry Cheesecake Crumb Coffee Cake, is also looking excellent.
Yesterday I shared a recipe for Cranberry Apple Croissant French Toast Casserole, a perfect weekend brunch that we annihilated all of last weekend – morning, noon, and night. I woke up yesterday morning, and was disappointed that we didn’t have a sweet and splurge-worthy ‘dessert for breakfast’ type of meal to look forward to.
So I ate healthfully. Hmph. I drank my black coffee, with a vanilla protein shake, and a spoonful of crunchy peanut butter. Booooo.
Actually, I like that meal quite well too, but it’s certainly not the same as having croissant French toast casserole. Nope, not even close.
Now today, I woke up and remembered that I had the foresight to freeze half of this coffee cake. See, I’m doing this new-ish thing where I freeze more stuff. Almost immediately after trying a slice or two of something, and after taking all the photos for the blog, I stop right there and package it straight for the freezer.
I make several recipes at a time, and if I leave them all out and accessible, we eat them in a few short days. Then when we want something sweet again, we’ve demolished it all already. We need to space things out, so I’m freezing more stuff. Much better system.
The only flaw to this system is that I’m way too impatient to wait for something to properly thaw. When you have a craving, you want it right.that.second. Frozen peppermint bark has not cracked a tooth yet, thankfully.
In any event, it meant that I got to wake up to this coffee cake this morning for breakfast! And since my S.O. is out golfing, I get to keep it all for myself.
I tried and loved this cranberry coffee cake recipe, but IMO, it needed more cheesecake. My version has double the cheesecake – two layers are swirled into the coffee cake batter. My version also has a little extra crumb topping too. You can never really have enough butter and brown sugar sprinkled on top, can you?
With fresh cranberries that burst with juicy, tart flavor, layers of cheesecake, a thick layer of crumb topping, and moist cake base, this coffee cake is a current favorite!
Cranberry Cheesecake Crumb Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Coffee cake:
- 2 c. flour
- 1 c. sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 egg
- 3/4 c. eggnog or milk
- 1/4 c. butter melted
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 2 c. coarsely chopped fresh cranberries
Cream cheese filling:
- 2 - 8 oz. packages reduced-fat cream cheese softened
- 1 c. sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla
Crumb topping:
- 1 c. flour
- 3/4 c. packed brown sugar
- 1/2 c. cold butter
Instructions
Coffee cake:
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In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda.
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In another bowl, combine egg, eggnog, butter, and vanilla.
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Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring until just combined.
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Fold in the cranberries.
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Pour half the batter into a greased 9-inch springform pan. Set aside, and prepare filling.
Cream cheese filling:
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In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until creamy.
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Add sugar, and beat until smooth.
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Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
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Beat in vanilla.
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Spread half the cream cheese batter over the coffee cake batter in the pan. Using a knife, swirl the cheesecake filling.
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Drop remaining coffee cake batter by spoonfuls. Top with the remaining cream cheese batter.
Crumb topping:
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In a small bowl, combine flour and brown sugar.
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Grate in the butter, and mix until it resembles coarse crumbs.
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Sprinkle over top of the batter, starting with the edges, and working toward the center.
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Place the springform pan on a large baking sheet.
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Bake at 350 degrees for 60-70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
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Cool on a wire rack for 15-20 minutes before removing sides of the springform pan.
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Serve warm. Enjoy!
Stephanie | The Foodie and The Fix says
December 8, 2015 at 7:30 amWow. I don’t even know what to say about this recipe. Cheesecake in coffee cake?! Mind. Blown. Plus, I’m a cranberry addict and there’s just nothing better than some tart cranberries inside a sweet dessert! Can I just say that I’m super jealous of your freezing abilities? My current fridge has a freezer the size of a shoebox and let me tell you that it’s pretty rough during cookie-baking season! Thank heaven for awesome neighbors lending me there prime freezer real estate. I’m moving this summer though, so HOPEFULLY I’ll be able to get a bigger one then 🙂
Sarah says
December 8, 2015 at 9:10 pmOh that’s so nice of your neighbors to share their freezer space!!! We have only just gotten smarter about freezing more stuff, and it’s definitely been a game-changer. I’m SO glad you like this recipe! It is definitely a fantastic holiday brunch idea! Thank you! 🙂
Beth says
December 17, 2015 at 12:05 pmOh my! This is definitely on my Christmas menu! Thanks for sharing.
Audrey says
December 19, 2015 at 6:11 pmOh I love a good coffee cake. Especially this time of year. Thanks for sharing on the Creative K Kids Tasty Tuesdays Linky Party. We will be back on December 29th and hope you will join us.
Jennifer Dawn says
December 24, 2015 at 10:14 amThis looks wonderful! I can just imagine sitting down to this and a cup of coffee–divine! When there’s coffee cake, I take it literally and always have coffee too. LOL! I’m featuring your recipe at this week’s link party.
Andrea says
December 27, 2015 at 11:57 pmThis looks REALLY delicious! I adore cheesecake and what a fun way to use cranberries. Thanks for linking up to This is How We Roll linky party!
Vickie @Vickie's Kitchen and Garden says
December 28, 2015 at 10:16 pmThis cake looks delicious! I love your idea of freezing. We try to freeze as much as we can. Like your house things disappear fast!
Thanks for sharing at the #HomeMattersParty
Jaclyn says
December 24, 2016 at 12:58 pmDoes the cream cheese mixture have one cup sugar in it too??? Ack, it’s in the ingredients list, but not the instructions!
Sarah says
December 25, 2016 at 12:33 amYes, yes it does! I’m so sorry – I proofread my directions multiple times, but occasionally I miss something. I hope you were able to figure that out without any issues. Happy holidays!
Sharry says
December 4, 2017 at 5:55 pmI would love to give this a try, it looks wonderful. My only concern is the springform pan. You can see by the pic that the cake falls in the middle…so I worry about it being underdone. Have you ever tried it in a tube pan instead? Have you had any issues baking according to directions?
Sarah says
December 5, 2017 at 10:20 amIt does fall in the middle, but it’s completely done. I think it’s because I had a lot more cheesecake layer towards the center, and it wasn’t as light and fluffy as the cake – but it’s completely done in the center. That said, I do think you could use a tube pan! Provided it’s a pretty big one! I haven’t tried that myself, but I think it would work fine if you have a large bundt or tube pan! It’s a great recipe, and I was just thinking about this coffee cake yesterday, oddly, and wanting to make it for the weekend. ?
Rose ann says
March 2, 2019 at 8:20 pmCan u use frozen cranberries
Sarah says
March 3, 2019 at 7:57 amI think they would work just fine!