Sweet Cherry Coffee Cake

Sweet Cherry Coffee Cake

'Tis the season for bright, juicy, super overpriced cherries! But I love 'em, so I don't even mind paying like $6/lb. Especially since I started baking with them. I love them fresh, but they just have such a great, sweet flavor for baked goods! And in this recipe, they compliment the crumby brown sugar + cinnamon topping so perfectly. This cake comes out moist, lightly sweet, and stuffed full of the sweetest summer cherries. Its my favorite cake, of any kind, that I've had in a while. We tried to keep the sugar low in the cake mixture because of the super sweet crumb topping, but its still a splurgy breakfast for sure. I've been super dedicated in my workouts lately (and am even considering trying to get my yoga teaching certification) so I felt no guilt indulging in more than one slice - and you shouldn't either!  And even though coffee cake sounds like a morning thing, to definitely tasted just as good at ten o'clock at night. You could probably sub in any summer berries here for a tasty seasonal treat, and we will definitely be making versions of this recipe year-round. Let's get bak(ed)ing!

INGREDIENTS
Crumble Topping:
1½ cup all-purpose flour*
½ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt
½ cup coconut oil or vegan butter, softened

Coffee Cake:
6 tablespoons vegan butter or coconut oil
6 tablespoons coconut butter
½ cup sugar
1 cup non-dairy milk
1 tablespoon ground flax meal
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1½ cups all-purpose flour *(GF may work too, but we haven't tried it!)
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 heaping cup sweet cherries, pitted and halved


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x9 inch glass baking dish and set aside. 
Wash, pit, and halve 1 heaping cup of sweet cherries.
To make the crumble, mix together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, & salt a medium-sized mixing bowl. Pour in softened coconut oil or butter and use a fork to combine the mixture until small crumbs form. 
In a separate mixing bowl, cream together the butter or oil, coconut butter and sugar. Add the milk, ground flax, corn starch and apple cider vinegar and stir until completely combined.
In a third mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Don't overmix! Fold in the sweet cherries.
Pour the prepared batter into your greased baking dish and spread the crumble mixture evenly over the top. Bake for 25-30 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes clean of cake and the crumble mixture has turned a nice golden brown. Let cool at least 20 mins before serving. Enjoy! 
Leftovers can be saved in an airtight container on the counter for 3 days and in the fridge for about a week. 

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