Yoder's Honey Nut Swirl Coffeecake

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Whenever I open my Montana Amish country cookbook I get nostalgic for my visit to Rexford Montana about 10 years ago. It is a very charming community, out in the middle of nowhere near the Canadian border. Rexford is a very unusual compared to other Amish communities, in the sense that there is a real remoteness and that breeds real self-sufficiency (where else do you see Amish hunters coming back with bear and salmon?).You also find a lot of recipes like this Yoder's Honey Nut Swirl Coffeecake. I do love the Amish of Montana.

The people were very friendly and they just have an amazing tradition of scratch-made recipes that can be made out of very basic ingredients. This coffee cake is one of them, and I thought it would be fun to try making with my four-year-old daughter, Beatrice. I wanted to do something maybe slightly more complicated than the typical “stir and bake “that I usually do with her, she likes yeast recipes where she can pound and beat dough.

Still, the instructions are pretty sparse… I can see how if you have been making these sorts of things your whole life how you could get by with less instructions… But it says the quotes called “the milk… What does that mean? Exactly. How warm of water do you dissolve the yeast in… These are all things that you would get a feel for if you made these frequently but you might not if you’re new. Beatrice and I improvised our way through it. Some tips:

Scald milk: It says "scald milk"....everything I have read says heat the milk to about 180, but I couldn't find a thermometer, so I just put it on medium heat and stirred for four minutes (because I read that that would work) and it seemed to do the drink. I just set my stopwatch so that I'd stick to the time.

"Let yeast rise in warm place": Well what the heck does that mean?

Well, it is a chilly day here in Ohio, but I noticed the bright sun shining into my car. Figured that would be a warm, but not too warm place. So I slipped outside with a covered bowl, hoping my neighbors wouldn't see me putting dough on the dash.

Let's look at some photos.

Use fresh milk.

Stir the milk for about 3 - 4 minutes on medium to "scald" it, or use a thermometer to make sure it hits 180, but you don't want to boil it.

Dough on the dash.

My "helper", Beatrice, rolls out the dough into a rectangle.

Now she is spreading on the filling

We rolled them up like a jelly roil, but the instructions say to roll-up, and roll into a coil, I assume this is a "coil."

SIGH, I liked this Yoder's Honey Nut Swirl Coffeecake recipe. I did. Now, I wanted something a bit sweet, perhaps a thicker layer of filling. My 7-year-old daughter loved the bread as we made it, she couldn't eat enough. And I did like it a lot, I just think we could have done something differently. I would make it again, but I would do a thicker filling layer (adding some confectioners sugar) and rolling it tighter I think would have made it better. So this is a really good recipe and I encourage you too try it, but just watch that filling layer. If you want your bread to be sweeter, then you'll need to add some powdered sugar and more honey and roll it tight. I'd love to hear from anyone else who makes this to compare notes!

Jump to:

• 🥮 Yoder's Honey Swirl Coffeecake
• 📋 Coffeecake Instructions
• 🥮 More Amish Coffeecakes
• 🖨️ Coffeecake

🥮 Yoder's Honey Swirl Coffeecake

• 1 cup milk
• ½ cup shortening
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 packages dry yeast
• 2 eggs
• 6 cups flour

FILLING:

• 2 eggs
• 1 /2 cup honey
• ¼ cup butter
• 3 cups chopped walnuts
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

📋 Coffeecake Instructions

Scald milk. Stir in shortening, sugar, and salt. Cool to lukewarm. Dissolve yeast in water. Add yeast, eggs, and 2 cups of flour to milk mixture. Beat until smooth. Gradually add enough flour to make a soft dough. Turn out on floured surface. Let rise 10 minutes. Place in greased bowl, cover, and let rise in warm place until doubled. Punch down and let rise again. Divide in half, roll each in an 18 X 12 rectangle. Spread with honey-nut filling, roll-up, and roll into a coil, and let rise and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Honey Nut Filling: Stir all ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.

🥮 More Amish Coffeecakes

Amish Cherry Coffeecake

Yoder's Plain Coffeecake

🖨️ Coffeecake