Buttermilk Coffee Cake

After I cut myself I still had to make something to bring to work the following day. We have this thing at the office called the Breakfast Club, for which one person from a group about 10 of us brings breakfast every Friday morning. So not as cool as this Breakfast Club, but not too shabby. I signed up to have an excuse to bake something and share it, except that whenever it's my turn I forget until the last minute and have to run to HyVee to pick up a bunch of muffins. Or like last week when you do something like cut my finger with a knife, take a half-day holiday at the last minute and don't feel like cooking anything because it the busiest week of your life. (Remember how I exaggerate.)

But being the genius that I am, I knew all this would happen ahead of time. Thus in anticipation of my Thursday-evening bloodbath, I called my friend (and baking goddess) Sarah to come hang out and help me. That's her in the above photo doing all the work while I watched and gave directions (one of my favorite things), oh and made a mess of the flour. The recipe comes from my Better Homes and Gardens baking cookbook. Sarah doubted its deliciousness, declaring she had a killer coffee cake recipe at home. But I think I converted her in the end.

Buttermilk Coffee Cake: from Better Homes and Gardens
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 eggs
1 1/3 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside 1/2 cup of the flour-sugar combo. Stir in baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and buttermilk.

For those who don't have buttermilk just lying around, a cup of regular milk combined with a teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice will do the trick.

Combine wet and dry mixtures. Spoon batter into 13x9-inch baking tray. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes.