Cinnamon-Walnut Coffee Cake

The hotel I stayed in on my most recent business trip had several stores on the ground floor, one of them being a Williams-Sonoma. During the breaks in our meeting, my co-worker and I spent our time in the Williams-Sonoma, and I felt inclined to buy something. Okay, I felt inclined to buy MANY things, but in my attempts to be budget conscious, I purchases only their Food Made Fast Baking cook book. Every recipe in there looks amazing, and I was dying to try some out. Joe was going away for the weekend with his brother, so I asked him to choose something from the cookbook for me to have waiting for him when he got home on Sunday and he chose this cake. It turned out great and smelled wonderful while baking, plus I was quite pleased with the pretty cinnamon swirl in the center. I did think it was slightly dry, but I don't think coffee cakes tend to be super moist. Next time I think I will try it with pecans, as I'm not a huge walnut lover. But I will definitely make this again!

Cinnamon-Walnut Coffee Cake

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup sour cream

2 eggs

1 tablespoon orange zest, finely grated (I omitted this)

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan (I used a 9-inch round). In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat together the butter, sour cream, eggs, orange zest, 3/4 cup of the sugar and the vanilla until blended. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat on low speed until smooth.

In a bowl, stir together the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, the cinnamon and walnuts. Spread half of batter evenly into prepared pan and sprinkle evenly with half of walnut mixture. Top with the remaining batter, spreading it evenly, and sprinkle with the remaining walnut mixture.

Bake until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes (mine took 35). Let cool slightly in the pan on a wire rack. Cut into squares and serve warm.