My new favorite breakfast

I'm not much of a cook, but I love to bake. I was in the mood for coffee cake a few weeks ago, so browsed the web for some ideas. I found this on www.foodnetwork.com and have really enjoyed it. I've made it several times, and it's great for breakfast.

I add more apple than the recipe calls for, usually about 2 cups. The more, the better.

I've been playing around with the streusel recipe. I thought the streusel topping had too much flour. And not enough butter. So I've been adding another tablespoon or two of butter. And I've also thrown in a bit of brown sugar, a handful of oats and some walnuts.

The original recipe suggests vanilla ice cream as an accompaniment, but I prefer a tall glass of ice cold milk.

Quick Apple Streusel Coffee Cake

Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: 30 min

Serves: 8 servings (well, it depends on how big you slice the cake)

For the cake

1 1/2 cups flour

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup vegetable shortening, melted

1 1/2 cups chopped Granny Smith apples (2 to 3 apples)

Streusel topping

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Sift flour and measure then sift together with the other dry ingredients. Beat the egg, then add the milk and melted shortening. Pour the wet into the dry then add the raw apples and mix well. Pour into a well greased 8-inch square pan. Mix together the streusel ingredients and sprinkle over the top of the batter. Bake at 400 about 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.