Coffee Cake = Chocolate Chip Hazelnut

The 10 pm baker decided to try this simple coffee cake recipe from last month's Bon Appetit magazine.

No bundt pan, no swirling, no mashing butter into the streusel.
Sounded easy, and it was.

Make sure you use an 8" cake pan, like the directions say, or you won't have enough batter to fill the pan.

This was a great breakfast cake or afternoon cake to go with coffee, hence the name "coffee cake"!

Look at that nice nutty chip topping!

Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake: (adapted from Bon Appetit)

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
½ cup blanched hazelnuts, chopped
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup sugar, divided
2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup plain full fat Greek yogurt, or sour cream

Preheat oven to 350°.

Butter 8” square or round cake pan; set aside.

Toss hazelnuts, chocolate, cinnamon, and 1/4 cup sugar in a small bowl (this is the topping and streusel middle).

Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat butter and remaining ¾ cup sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, beating to blend between additions and occasionally scraping down sides of bowl. With mixer on low speed, add dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with yogurt in 2 additions, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.

Pour half of batter into prepared pan and smooth top; top with half of hazelnut mixture and press down. Spoon remaining batter over and smooth top; top with remaining hazelnut mixture and press into batter with a spoon.

Bake cake until top is light golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 35-40 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack; let cake cool in pan before turning out.

Enjoy!