Fluffy Apple Coffee Cake

I have a Holiday gift for you!!  I’ve been terribly busy lately and haven’t been attempting too many new and exciting recipes but today something new and yummy surfaced.  Breakfast for today was not wanting to develop.  Nothing sounded yummy.  Still having many things to get done for the Holidays, I didn’t want anything too time consuming.  Decided something with apples would be good, but what?  Thought maybe apple pancakes?  But really didn’t want to mess with pancakes plus didn’t see any recipes that sounded appealing.  And then I found something that sounded like it could be really good and it could pass for a breakfast item.  I modified the original a bit and also used Cortland apples.  I also made a few simple scrambled eggs seasoned only with salt and pepper to go along with our Fluffy Apple Coffee Cake.  Simple scrambled eggs are not generally a favorite with my family--they want other additions and seasonings--but the simple scrambled eggs complimented the cake perfectly as they gobbled both up rapidly.
Below is how I made our Fluffy Apple Coffee Cake.  The results were awesome!  You will not be disappointed.

Fluffy Apple Coffee Cake

serves 8 or more

1 1/2 cups plain or vanilla low-fat yogurt

2/3 cup canola oil

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

4 small tart apples, such as Granny Smith, about 1 1/2 pounds

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Pinch freshly ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

TOPPING:

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Heat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking pan with baking spray or oil.

Whisk together the yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl.

Peel and core the apples, and chop into chunks about 1/2-inch across. You should end up with 3 1/2 to 4 cups of apples.

Stir the chopped apple into the liquid ingredients.

Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon right into the liquids and stir just until no lumps remain.

In a small separate bowl, mix the remaining 2 teaspoons cinnamon with the brown sugar and butter.

Pour the batter into the cake pan. Sprinkle the batter with the cinnamon-brown sugar mixture, dropping it on the batter in small lumps.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, covering with foil at the end if the top is browning too much. When a tester comes out clean, transfer the cake to a cooling rack and let it cool for about 15 minutes before cutting (if you can wait that long; we couldn’t). Serve the cake warm or at room temperature.