Bubby and Bean ::: Living Creatively: Pumpkin Coffee Cake (and How to Help Feed Hungry Kids through Friendsgiving!)

This post is in partnership with Bob's Red Mill.

About a year after my husband and I started dating, his parents sent us a copy of his family cookbook. It was put together in 1991, and is filled with hundreds of family recipes that span generations. We treasure it, and use recipes from it often, especially during the holidays when we enjoy spending time together cooking and baking. The brownie and mac and cheese recipes are holiday staples in our house, but there is one recipe that we make more than all of the others combined: a delicious coffee cake called "Nana's Sunday A.M. Favorite" that my husband's late grandmother often served.

This year, I decided I wanted to play around a little with this adored family recipe to create something special for a Friendsgiving brunch (more on this in a minute). I experimented with introducing pumpkin into the ingredients, and the end results were absolutely mouth watering. Topped with a yummy sweet crumble and crunchy pumpkin seeds, it's the perfect coffee cake for this time of year. My kids now ask for it daily, so it's becoming a regular around here on weekend mornings.

I'm very excited to share this recipe with you (below), but first wanted to talk a little about something that is incredibly important to me. While I take great joy in watching my kids happily devour this delicious coffee cake and all of the other meals and snacks they eat each day, it's impossible for me not to think about that fact that 1 in 7 kids in America today lives with hunger. ONE IN SEVEN you guys. In all, there are more than 11 million children here in the United States who live in "food insecure" households - meaning they don't have consistent access to the healthy food they need to fuel their growing bodies. It breaks my heart to think about this, but it also motivates me to do something. I recently learned that Bob's Red Mill (my favorite for baking; many of their ingredients are used in this recipe!) is partnering with the No Kid Hungry® campaign to raise funds to end childhood hunger by giving millions of kids access to nutritious meals. And guess what? We can all get involved and make a difference through our Friendsgiving celebrations this year!

Putting together a Friendsgiving® for No Kid Hungry celebration is a fun, easy way to bring friends together to enjoy delicious food while also making a difference in the lives of kids in need. Just click here and in a few simple steps, you can sign up. They have all sorts of great resources to help you plan your event too!. To learn more about No Kid Hungry and the truly incredible things they do to give children in need access to three healthy meals a day, visit their website right here.

PUMPKIN COFFEE CAKE
Prep time: 15 min | Cook time: 45-50 min
Serves 12

CAKE INGREDIENTS
4 cups Bob's Red Mill Organic Unbleached White All Purpose Flour
2 cup Bob's Red Mill Cane Sugar
1 tsp Bob's Red Mill Baking Powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups pumpkin puree
1-1/2 cup milk
2 eggs

TOPPING INGREDIENTS
1-1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill Brown Sugar
4 tsp Bob's Red Mill Organic Unbleached White All Purpose Flour
3 tsp melted butter
1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Organic Pumpkin Seeds

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, spices, and salt (for the coffee cake). In a separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar, then mix in pumpkin puree and egg. Gradually add milk. Pour batter into 9 x 13 greased baking pan.

Mix topping ingredients (except for pumpkin seeds) and sprinkle over batter. Evenly top with pumpkin seeds.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly and serve.

Tip: You can easily this recipe in half if you're just making for yourself or your family.

You can also view this recipe, along with some other delicious Friendsgiving recipes put together by Bob's Red Mill, in a free recipe ebook that is available right here. And don't forget to sign up to host a Friendsgiving party of your own through No Kid Hungry, and help make a difference in the lives of children in need this holiday season!