Cooking Done Light

Waking up to this delicious raspberry crumb coffee cake will definitely make it a “good morning” at your house! Unlike most coffee cakes, which tend to be on the dry side, this one has a nice moist crumb with just the right of amount of sweetness. If you plan on making it the night before to have it ready and waiting for you when you get out of bed in the morning, just keep it covered at room temperature on the counter overnight (refrigerating it makes it more “dense”). But I have to warn you – the sweet smell of raspberries and cinnamon crumb wafting into your bedroom may tempt you to do a little “midnight snacking!!” That’s okay, though – will all of the health benefits that raspberries have to offer, you can feel free to snack away!! For example, did you know that raspberries are considered a high-fiber food (weighing in at over 8 grams dietary fiber per cup)? Or that they are an excellent source of vitamin C and manganese, a good source of vitamin K and magnesium and contain calcium, iron and large amounts of antioxidants? And lastly, did you know that Xylitol (a sugar alcohol alternative sweetener found in energy bars and diabetic treats) can be extracted from raspberries?

All that goodness packed into one little red berry!! No wonder I like them so much!

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

3/4 cup all purpose flour

3 tablespoons light or dark brown sugar

1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder (I know this seems like a lot!)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine

3/4 cup skim milk

1 large egg

2 teaspoons grated orange rind

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup fresh raspberries (blueberries or blackberries work nicely, too)

2 tablespoon orange juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and coat an 8″ round baking pan with cooking spray; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flours, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Using a fork, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Stir in the milk, egg, orange rind, and vanilla – stir until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Spoon or pour half of the batter into the baking pan.

In a small bowl, combine the raspberries with the orange juice and spoon the mixture evenly over top of the batter in the pan. Carefully pour the remaining batter on top of the berries.

Bake until the coffee cake slightly begins to “shrink” from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (about 25 minutes).

Makes 6 servings. Per serving: 148 calories, 5 g total fat, less than 1 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 22 g carbohydrates, 11 g fiber, 6 g added sugar, 4 g protein, 163 mg sodium, 23 mg cholesterol.