The Best Coffee Cake

'Tis the time for holiday traditions and spending time with loved ones! Stuart and I are currently at my family home in Nevada, and are soaking in a few relaxing days free of work and responsibilities. Today we went snowshoeing in a beautiful alpine meadow, followed by a soak in our favorite natural hot springs at the base of the Sierra Nevada mountains. 

Tonight we are eating Thai food and preparing for tomorrow's big Christmas feast (we basically repeat Thanksgiving dinner in its entirety, down to the cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie!). One of our favorite longstanding holiday traditions is to make my dad's sour cream coffee cake every Christmas morning. It is a moist and classic recipe that I would love to share with you - who knows, maybe it will become part of your own holiday tradition!

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups sugar

¾ cup butter, softened

3 eggs

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla

3 cups flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

¾ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups sour cream

Filling:

½ cup packed brown sugar

½ cup finely chopped nuts

1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon

Directions:

1.     Heat oven to 350. Grease a 12-cup Bundt cake pan or 2 loaf pans (9x5x3 inches).

2.     Beat sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla in large mixer bowl on medium speed for about 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.

3.     Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in small bowl. Beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture alternately with the sour cream on low speed. Prepare filling.

4.     Spread 1/3 of the batter into pan and sprinkle with 1/3 of the filling mixture. Repeat 2 times until batter and filling are used up.

5.     Bake about 1 hour, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool slightly and remove from pan to cool completely.