I was having coffee and thinking about what to make for a neighbor when I saw a tweet from The Pioneer Woman (Ree Drummond aka @thepioneerwoman) that said, and I quote, “The Best Coffee Cake Ever. I say that with confidence, boldness, and crumbs all over my chin” – so of course I was intrigued…I mean everyone thinks they make the BEST ever…I typically think of my dishes as more like the Best Ever at This Moment!

I headed over to check out the post and could see why this could be the best ever. I mean…like a bit of dough with your topping? Who hasn’t wished the piece of coffee cake they’re eating had just a bit more of that wonderful stuff crumbled on top; that magical mix of butter, brown sugar and nuts (OK, maybe a little bit of flour; but who gives flour much credit anyhow?)

I also couldn’t help but notice that egg yolks were omitted and only beaten egg whites were used…so this seemed unique enough to not compete with my Bon Appetit, church cookbook, Junior League and Nordtrom’s collection to in fact be different…but better? We’ll see. Ree might be THE Pioneer Woman but I’m from Missouri…so Show Me!

I so seldom make anything according to recipe, mostly because I keep a well stocked pantry so refuse to run to the store if I’m missing one or two ingredients…in my experience; creativity is borne from having to substitute. But, I had it all…and really, if judging it to be the BEST; shouldn’t I make it just as is?

The only, single thing I did differently from Ree was to whip my egg whites first. That’s how I roll…but then I also don’t have the fancy schmancy KitchenAid electric whisk she used for hers (but in truth, might…very soon!) So I beat the egg whites in my KitchenAid mixing bowl and then transferred them to a smaller bowl and continued using the same mixing bowl for the rest of the batter ingredients. Other than that, everything else? Exactly the same.

Was it the BEST? Not to offend my Grandma Bathe or Stacy Hatch and her blueberry coffee cake I love, but this was hard to beat.  Seriously. But how could it not be? You know that topping you always wished you had more of? Well, this topping actually sinks under the dough lightened by egg whites and becomes the middle and then it sort of caramelizes on the bottom and you can see by the picture it is clearly a third (or more!) of this cake!

Remembering I wanted to make something to take for a neighbor, I was left with a conundrum of what to do. I wanted one perfect slice for a photo but let’s be honest…I mean how could I judge without having a piece for myself and experience that nirvana of crumbs all over MY chin? So, my neighbor was delivered 7/8 of a coffee cake (this makes a HUGE coffee cake) nestled oh so decoratively in a pretty kitchen cloth as if my making it look beautifully presented REQUIRED it be set free from the pan!

Proof positive might be better exampled by my friends daughter, Allie. She is nine years old and loves to stay here and we have had an overnight planned for a couple of weeks. She has a relatively adventurous palate for one so young so I don’t often hear, ‘Eww, I don’t like that’ and that sure makes cooking for her more fun. That’s Allie eating a S’more cookie…but that’s a whole different post!

Well, I saved enough of my 1/8 section for us to have it for breakfast Saturday morning. We had scrambled eggs with coffee cake for breakfast; Allie asked for a snack of some more soon after. We went out for a couple of hours and she rushed home to finish her piece but asked if she could take the last bit with her when her parents came to pick her up. I’ve not seen ice cream, cake or assorted other goodies get that kind of attention, so Ree; we’re going to agree with you, it really is the BEST Coffee Cake EVER!

Tagged as: Best ever, brown sugar, cinnamon, coffee cake, pecans, pioneer woman