How to Make a Coffee Cake Pantry Mix (Plus a Genius Jam Trick)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup buttermilk powder
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
A Note on Buttermilk Powder
Can you use regular milk powder? You can—but it will change the flavor. The buttermilk powder gives this coffee cake that subtle tang that makes it taste like something from a real bakery. If you can find it, use it. It’s worth it.
In a mixing bowl, combine:
1 egg
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup oil (avocado or coconut both work great here)
Give that a good stir, then dump in the contents of your quart jar. Mix until combined. The batter will be thick—that’s exactly what you want. If it feels too stiff, add a small splash of water and stir again until it loosens up slightly. It should still be very thick, but pourable.
Adding the Jam
This is the part that makes this recipe fun. We’re doing a layered jam swirl, which sounds fancy but is really simple.
Pour half the batter into your buttered loaf pan and spread it out evenly.
Add 2 spoonfuls of jam on top and swirl it in gently with a chopstick or skewer. Try not to poke all the way through to the bottom—otherwise the jam sinks.
Pour the remaining batter on top.
Add 2 more small dollops of jam and swirl again.
If your jam is on the thinner side, you can drizzle it on. Thicker jams—like our home-canned blueberry vanilla—are best applied by the spoonful and swirled in.
It won’t look perfectly bakery-pretty, and that’s okay. It’ll still taste wonderful.
Bake at 350°F for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Keep an eye on it near the end—if the top is getting dark, tent it loosely with foil.