4.13.2012

My Healthier Version of Coffee Cake

I have a tendency of looking over a recipe and then changing it to make it my own. Some mornings I crave something sweet with my coffee but I find so many coffee cakes, pastries, and doughnuts are too sweet for my taste. The reason I feel this is a healthier version is because I swapped out a few ingredients and cut the amount of sugar nearly in half. Instead of sour cream I used unsweetened applesauce, I replaced butter with coconut oil, doubled the amount of cinnamon, and used less than half of the sugar the original recipe called for. The original recipe called for 7oz of white sugar and 7oz of packed brown sugar. Instead I measured 7oz of brown sugar without packing it down. 


The Health Benefits of Coconut Oil


Athletes have been using coconut oil because the fat is readily available for energy use. I recently purchased my first jar and despite its name it doesn't have a coconut flavor. I've used it in place of vegetable oil in many dishes. It is one of the ways I introduce something healthy to my skeptical husband. For more information on how coconut oil helps: stress relief, maintaining cholesterol levels, weight loss, increased immunity, proper digestion and metabolism, relief from kidney problems, heart diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, HIV and cancer, dental care, and bone strength visit Organifacts.net

The Health Benefits of Cinnamon from Organicauthority.com

  1. 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon per day can lower your bad cholesterol (or LDL).
  2. Cinnamon may help treat Type 2 Diabetes by lowering blood sugar levels and increasing the amount of insulin production in the body.
  3. Cinnamon has antifungal properties, and it's been said that candida cannot live in a cinnamon environment. 
  4. Cinnamon can reduce the proliferation of leukemia and lymphoma cancer cells.
  5. Cinnamon has an anti-clotting effect on the blood.
  6. Honey and Cinnamon combined has been found to relieve arthritis pain.
  7. When added to food, cinnamon inhibits bacterial growth and food spoilage, making it a natural food preservative.
  8. Just smelling cinnamon boosts cognitive function and memory.
  9. Cinnamon fights the E. coli bacteria in unpasteurized juices.
  10. Cinnamon has been found to be an effective natural remedy for eliminating headaches and migraine relief.
  11. Cinnamon can also help stabilize blood sugar (which is great for weight loss). A couple of dashes in your morning tea or cereal is all it takes!


Since it is just me and my husband I also cut the original recipe in half. This cake can be baked in a 9 x 9 pyrex or a round cake pan. If you double the recipe use two 9" pans instead of one large pan. The original recipe stated the cake wouldn't cook correctly if all of the batter was added to a large pan.

The Cake (Serves 6 people)

1 1/2 C All Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1 C Unsweetened Applesauce
7 oz Unpacked Brown Sugar
3 Eggs
3 Tablespoon Melted Coconut Oil

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl, excluding the flour, and mix by hand. Add the flour last and mix just until it is incorporated. Gluten begins to develop when the flour is added and if it is over mixed the cake will become tough.

Streusel Topping

3/4 C Unpacked Brown Sugar
1/8 C All purpose Flour
2 Tablespoon Melted Coconut Oil
1/2 Tablespoon Ground Cinnamon

Mix the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a bowl with a fork. Drizzle the melted coconut oil into the mixture and continue to stir with the fork until it is the consistency of moist sand. The original recipe called for chopped walnuts in the topping which will give it an Omega-3 boost. I omitted the nuts because I worried my toddler might choke on them.

Pour the cake into a greased 9" pan and top with the streusel. Bake in the center of a 350 F oven for 30-40 minutes.* A toothpick or a knife inserted should come out with a few crumbs on it but not have wet batter.

*When I popped it in my oven I put it on the top rack which seemed too high after 15 minutes because the cake was still very wet. I moved the cake to the bottom rack and it was done by the 40 minute mark.



The Original Recipe on Americastestkitchenfeed.com

UPDATE 4/30/12

It never occurred to me when I wrote this to see if there was a website that calculated ingredients into nutrition facts. Ta-Da! http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp

The "official" nutrition facts from the website are given further down the page. I apologize for my HTML abilities. Initially the facts were organized one above the other instead of side by side. Since I didn't think that would be very useful I created an image document with the relevant information just below. The facts on the left are for my recipe and the facts on the right are for the original recipe.

Although I didn't add as much sugar and used unsweetened applesauce in place of sour cream my recipe has a higher sugar content. In my opinion all sugars are not created equally. I would much rather receive my sugar from fruits than from granulated sugar. Other than that my recipe has fewer calories, less fat, and more potassium than sodium. Potassium is important because it opposes the effects of sodium in the body.






The Results for My Recipe:

Nutrition Facts

User Entered Recipe
  6 Servings
Amount Per Serving
  Calories401.4
  Total Fat13.9 g
     Saturated Fat10.6 g
     Polyunsaturated Fat0.7 g
     Monounsaturated Fat1.7 g
  Cholesterol92.5 mg
  Sodium197.3 mg
  Potassium246.7 mg
  Total Carbohydrate80.0 g
     Dietary Fiber2.0 g
     Sugars56.5 g
  Protein6.2 g

  Vitamin A3.3 %
  Vitamin B-124.0 %
  Vitamin B-62.7 %
  Vitamin C1.3 %
  Vitamin D5.0 %
  Vitamin E0.2 %
  Calcium8.5 %
  Copper5.9 %
  Folate3.2 %
  Iron14.5 %
  Magnesium3.1 %
  Manganese16.0 %
  Niacin8.5 %
  Pantothenic Acid    0.4 %
  Phosphorus    7.5 %
  Riboflavin11.7 %
  Selenium1.5 %
  Thiamin10.5 %
  Zinc2.2 %




The Results for the Original Recipe

Nutrition Facts

User Entered Recipe
  12 Servings
Amount Per Serving
  Calories521.7
  Total Fat25.5 g
     Saturated Fat11.9 g
     Polyunsaturated Fat5.6 g
     Monounsaturated Fat6.5 g
  Cholesterol89.5 mg
  Sodium466.3 mg
  Potassium236.8 mg
  Total Carbohydrate77.0 g
     Dietary Fiber2.2 g
     Sugars49.1 g
  Protein7.6 g
  Vitamin A14.9 %
  Vitamin B-124.0 %
  Vitamin B-64.1 %
  Vitamin C1.1 %
  Vitamin D2.5 %
  Vitamin E3.4 %
  Calcium15.6 %
  Copper11.3 %
  Folate5.0 %
  Iron14.0 %
  Magnesium6.6 %
  Manganese27.1 %
  Niacin10.1 %
  Pantothenic Acid    1.9 %
  Phosphorus    12.4 %
  Riboflavin13.5 %
  Selenium2.8 %
  Thiamin14.2 %
  Zinc3.8 %


*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.


*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.




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