I’ve figured it out.
I’ve figured out how to do portion control for sweets.
I’m hesitant to share, but I think it’s important so here goes.
The secret…
to perfect portion control…
is…
To make it a pain in the ass to make another one.
Confused? Let me explain.
When it comes to coffee cake, specifically the kind with a lovely streusel topping, I have almost zero self control. It’s just so stinking delicious and I think that deep down I just really want to eat the entire thing in one sitting, so I do and then blame it on the streusel. Or the fact that I did 100 lunges uphill yesterday on our walk and can now no longer feel my legs. Yeah, that wasn’t a smart move.
Oops.
But I discovered the other day that if I make one tiny little cake that it just becomes too much for me to actually make two of them, so I eat the one and only wish for a second rather than eating it. It’s genius! Not to mention completely and totally delicious and completely and totally worth it to double, triple, or quadruple the recipe and eat it all on the spot save some for later. So I guess I should say: forget what I said earlier about this being a pain to make. That’s just me whining on account of my legs, but it’s nothing a little coffee cake can’t cure.
CINNAMON STREUSEL COFFEE CAKE FOR ONE (IN A JAR)
For the cake:
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 2 Tbsp plain yogurt
- 1 egg white
- 2 1/2 Tbsp flour
- 1/8 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp vanilla
For the streusel:
- 2 Tbsp butter, cut into small cubes
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp flour
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Preheat your oven to 350 and spray the inside of an 8 oz. wide-mouth mason jar with nonstick spray (if you don’t have a jar you can certainly use an oven-safe ramekin, but make sure you want it as it will likely bake faster). Whisk together the sugar, yogurt egg white and vanilla until smooth. Fold in the flour, baking powder and salt until everything is combined. For the streusel mix together the cubed butter pieces, brown sugar, cinnamon and flour and using your fingers work the butter into the dry ingredients until a fine crumb forms. Pour half of the batter into the bottom of the jar, top with 1/3 of the streusel mixture, top with the remaining batter and then top the entire thing off with the remaining streusel mixture. Place on a baking sheet lined with foil and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool before eating, and be careful…the jar will be hot! I topped mine with a little cream cheese frosting that I melted slightly.
Pain in the ass my ass 🙂
I did VANILLA Yogurt and no vanilla. I did a ramekin for 22 minutes in the toaster oven.
It was like PURE CRACK! This was so crazy good, I can’t say it enough. This was like restaurant style in a ramekin and was so amazing.
I’m so glad you liked it Robert! Thank you for the feedback!
Substitute for the yogurt?
Sour cream would be a good option, or if you’re looking for a vegan idea coconut yogurt would work well too!
How do I get a copy of your recipes off the internet?
Hi Michelle! I don’t have a print function on my blog at this time, so you can either print directly from the internet, or you can just copy and paste into a Word document to print.
Where is the “Cofffee ” ????
Hey Geraldine! I didn’t add coffee to the cake if that’s what you’re asking; rather it’s made to be enjoyed with a cup of coffee!
This is an awesome portion size recipe. I think this would be great mass produced for get togethers. Then I don’t have to do anything but serve. Can’t wait to try.
This has to be the most tempting recipe I have viewed in sometime. Going to get my mason jar and get to work!
Thanks!
Tasted great but can’t say much for the texture of the cake or the streusel. I didn’t mind though… great for a little quick snack!
P.S. – I would suggest cutting into the cold cubed butter and mixing it using a pair of butter knives instead of your fingers because that seemed to make my butter soft!
Thanks so much for the update Tia – I’m always happy to hear how I can make recipes better! Sounds like it’s time to revisit this one 😉
This looks amazing! I am pinning for later!
Delicious!
Better then cake in partys
I tried this recipe in the microwave! It worked great! I did substitute the egg white for white tablespoon of oil. Next time I would half the butter in the streusel as it just melted in the microwave.
Good to know! I’m all about using the microwave & love the butter tip!
Love the recipes, but wish you could make it easier to print! I don’t want to print all 18 pages! Just the recipe!. Please consider! Thanks.
Hi Marion! I’m actually going through a loooooooooooooooooong process of putting hundreds of my recipes into a database so that my sweet readers can print it out! Thank you for the suggestion!
I would thoroughly enjoy looking through your site, but almost the first thing I see is an ugly word. I don’t use profanity, don’t allow my children to use it and I certainly don’t have to view it on the computer. So I won’t be back. Have a nice day.
Hi Miriam,
You are certainly entitled to your opinion, and I am sorry if my choice of words offended you. My tone that day is not necessarily indicative of me as a person or my blog in general, so I hope you can give it another chance!
Have a wonderful day,
Heather
These are cute,but question: I just read on a different site about baking in jars.They said you should bake in a water bath. You didn t have a problem not?
Hey Susie! I did not have a problem with mine not being in a water bath; I *think* it depends on what you’re baking, but just a regular oven worked fine for me. I did place my jar on a baking sheet though, rather than just on the wire rack.
I adore this recipe and the idea so much that I would love to make a ton of these and give them to people for the holidays! I was just curious if I could make this recipe in a regular sized 8 oz mason jar, just because the ones pictured are quite expensive if you want to buy a ton of them! Thank you so much, and thanks for posting this recipe!
Hey Megan!
I’m sure that it would work just fine with the slimmer 8 oz jars, although you’d probably have to adjust the baking time a little. I think you might have to decrease the temperature a bit and then increase the cooking time! Maybe try doing just one to test first? Let me know how it works!
You don’t say how much vanilla to add…..
you’re right, so sorry! i’ve updated it, but it’s 1/4 tsp of vanilla extract
I think you just told me what we are going to have for next Christmas morning’s breakfast. Thanks a ton.
This looks delicious! I love coffee cake!! And streusel is evil. Evil and good.
I LOVE built-in portion control…and coffee cake, natch
wow, this looks awesome! Totally going to try to make it gluten-free!
Oh this is genius! I’m a sucker for the crumb topping and can never control myself around coffee cake.
I love your secret…and your coffee cake! It’s one food that my husband and I seriously attack when it’s in the house. This makes things a little less dangerous 🙂
This is pure genius!
Um, YUM! I want to make these with apples!
Wow, this looks great! I usually end up giving away a lot of my baked goods because I can’t have them in the house, too much temptation! This is perfect and I might double it so my husband can have some too 🙂
100 uphill lunges and you deserve 2 servings of this! This looks heavenly! I am definitely going to indulge myself over the weekend with this recipe! Maybe that will encourage me to do 100 uphill lunges?
Trying this ASAP! We just finished a blueberry coffee cake last week and I’ve been having withdrawal symptoms! 🙂
My ass thanks you a million times over. This sounds fabulous!
Genious!!
I need to start making my desserts in a jar like I do my oats because I have NO self-control either!
I love these mug/jar cakes. Such a genius idea. Looks great!!!
Beautiful and looks sinfully delicious!
Genius idea! I am in the same boat as you, minus the lunges, in that I “justify” having more than my fair share of a tasty dessert treat. I’m a sucker for coffee cake, gonna have to try this
Your comment >>>> 🙂
Genius! Pure genius.
LOVE this. Gonna try it soon! I too have portion control issues which is why I make small batches all the time. This seems like an even better solution though!