Candy Cane Coffee Cake

Happy New Year!  It feels like forever since I have been on the computer and updated my blog.  I hope you all had happy holidays.  Our family was so blessed to spend the weekend of Christmas all together at my parent's house.  Eighteen people under one roof, two nights in a row.  It was my best gift.

I had wanted to get this recipe posted BEFORE Christmas but it just didn't happen.  This coffee cake is something my mom has made for many years.  One recipe makes three coffee cakes so she'll make them and give them as gifts to friends and neighbors and she also saves a few for our family to enjoy on Christmas morning.  (She still makes one with raisins just for dad!)

 I have made these myself the past few years and hope to carry on the tradition. 

I love mixing the dough with my hands and rolling it all out

I also love decorating it and making it look "pretty"

Candy Cane Coffee Cake (Betty Crocker)

2 c. sour cream

2 pkgs active dry yeast

1/2 c. warm water (105 F to 115 F)

1/4 c. butter or margarine, softened

1/3 c. sugar

2 tsp. salt

2 eggs

6+ c. flour

Heat sour cream over low heat just until luke warm.  Dissolve yeast in warm water.  Stir in sour cream, 1/4c. butter, sugar, salt, eggs and 2 c. flour.  Beat until smooth.  Mix in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle. 

Turn dough onto floured surface; knead until smooth - about 10 min.  Place in greased bowl; turn greased side up.  Cover; let rise in warm place until double - about an hour. 

Heat oven to 375 F.  Punch down dough; divide into 3 equal parts.  Roll each part into rectangle, 15x6 inches; place on greased baking sheet.  With scissors, make 2-inch cuts at 1/2-inch intervals on long sides of rectangles. 

For the filling, mix together 6 T. butter, softened, 1/3 c. brown sugar, 3 T. sugar, 1 1/2 t. cinnamon.  Spread 1/3 of mixture down center of dough.  Crisscorss strips over filling.  Stretch dough to 22 inches.  Curve to form candy cane.  Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.  Repeat steps twice with remaining 2 parts of dough.

For the icing, mix together 2-c. powdered sugar and 2-T. water.  Drizzle 1/3 mixture over each cane. 

*To decorate you can use red hots or red frosting and green frosting to make holly berries and leaves.