Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Coffee Cake - OH MY!!

For my birthday, my wonderful husband bought me cookbooks!!  A bunch of them!!  What a wonderful man!!!  Two of the books were: Deep Dish South and Melissa's Southern Cookbook - excellent cookbooks!!  And he bought me a handful of those little cookbooks you always find right next to the checkout counters by Pillsbury, etc.   I am sure you have seen those.

So yesterday I decided to try one of the recipes in one of the books.  The book I chose was Pillsbury's Country Baking.  The recipe that caught my eye was Cinnamon Pecan Swirl Coffee Cake.  Since my husband isn't a big "nut" fan, I substituted raisins for the pecans.

This recipe does take a little bit of time to prepare, but trust me!!, it is worth it!!

Cinnamon Raisin (or Pecan) Swirl Coffee Cake by Pillsbury

Makes 2 coffee cakes

Dough

Ingredients:

4 to 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 packages dry yeast
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water, heated to 120 to 130 F
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
3 eggs

Instructions:

Mix together 2 cups flour, yeast and sugar.  Add the hot water, butter/margarine and eggs.
Mix at low speed until moistened.
Add additional 2 to 2 1/2 cups of flour to form a stiff dough.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for, at least, two hours.

Filling:

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans (or whole raisins)
2 tsp cinnamon

Icing

2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp margarine or butter, at room temperature
1 to 2 T milk (the recipe calls for coffee - I used milk instead - your call)

Directions:

Prepare dough and refrigerate according to the recipe

Cover two 15 x 10 x 1 baking sheets with parchment paper
On a lightly floured surface, divide the chilled dough into 2 halves
Return one half to the refrigerator and roll the other half out into an 16 x 10 inch rectangle
Spread with margarine or butter.
 In a separate bowl, combine the ingredients for the filling and sprinkle half over the dough.

Starting with the 16 inch side, roll up tightly and pinch the seam firmly to seal.
Cut the roll in half lengthwise, turn the dough so the cut side is up (this is where it get a bit tricky as the filling will start to spill out - just pinch the dough together as best you can).
Place a 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter or a drinking glass on the baking sheet and coil the first dough half around the cookie cookie cuter/drinking glass.  Add the second half of dough to the first half, pinching the two ends together.

Remove the cookie cutter/drinking glass.  Cover the dough with plastic wrap and a dish towel.

Repeat with the second piece of dough.
Place dough in a warm place to rise until almost double in size (about 20 minutes).
Heat oven to 350
Uncover the dough and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown.
In a separate bowl, mix the ingredients for the icing and drizzle over warm coffee cake.

The Entire Recipe:

Cinnamon Raisin (or Pecan) Swirl Coffee Cake by Pillsbury

Makes 2 coffee cakes

Dough

Ingredients:

4 to 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 packages dry yeast
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water, heated to 120 to 130 F
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
3 eggs

Instructions:

Mix together 2 cups flour, yeast and sugar.  Add the hot water, butter/margarine and eggs.
Mix at low speed until moistened.
Add additional 2 to 2 1/2 cups of flour to form a stiff dough.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for, at least, two hours.

Filling:

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans (or whole raisins)
2 tsp cinnamon

Icing

2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp margarine or butter, at room temperature
1 to 2 T milk (the recipe calls for coffee - I used milk instead - your call)

Directions:

Prepare dough and refrigerate according to the recipe

Cover two 15 x 10 x 1 baking sheets with parchment paper
On a lightly floured surface, divide the chilled dough into 2 halves
Return one half to the refrigerator and roll the other half out into an 16 x 10 inch rectangle
Spread with margarine or butter.
In a separate bowl, combine the ingredients for the filling and sprinkle half over the dough.
Starting with the 16 inch side, roll up tightly and pinch the seam firmly to seal.
Cut the roll in half lengthwise, turn the dough so the cut side is up (this is where it get a bit tricky as the filling will start to spill out - just pinch the dough together as best you can).
Place a 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter or a drinking glass on the baking sheet and coil the first dough half around the cookie cookie cuter/drinking glass.  Add the second half of dough to the first half, pinching the two ends together.
Remove the cookie cutter/drinking glass.  Cover the dough with plastic wrap and a dish towel.
Repeat with the second piece of dough.
Place dough in a warm place to rise until almost double in size (about 20 minutes).
Heat oven to 350
Uncover the dough and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown.
In a separate bowl, mix the ingredients for the icing and drizzle over warm coffee cake.

ENJOY!!

COMMENT:

Oh yes!!  We definitely have a winner with this one.  My husband ate half of this in about an hour.  It is good.  I will probably be making it again some time this week.  I really think this is so much better with the raisins than with the pecans (or a combination of both raisin and pecans would make an awesome coffee cake!).