Cinnamon Strawberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

My husband doesn't like muffins or quickbreads. But he likes coffeecakes. I think he finds the former to be too dry much of the time, and he prefers the moist plushness of coffee cakes due to the addition of yogurt or sour cream.

I don't remember why I made this coffeecake but I had some cream cheese to use, and I decided to flavor the cream cheese with some freeze-dried strawberries I had no idea what to do with. The strawberry added a nice fruity flavor to this yummy crumb-topped cake. 

This cake was husband-approved. I cut it into gigantic squares, and he ended up taking a square for lunch many a day!

Cinnamon (Strawberry) Cream Cheese Coffee Cake (Adapted from Bake or Break)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup unsalted butter (1/2 stick), softened and cut into small chunks
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped pecans
pinch of salt

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 bag of Trader Joe's freeze-dried strawberries, pulverized in a food processor (optional)

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 & 1/4 cups sour cream (Greek yogurt could be substituted)

Instructions:
To make the crumb: Mix together the first 6 ingredients in a small bowl with a fork until it becomes large clumpy crumbs. Keep in fridge until needed.

To make the cream cheese swirl: Beat the cream cheese and sugar together with a mixer until fluffy. Add the vanilla and cinnamon (and strawberry dust if using). Mix until smooth. Fold in the pecans.

To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line with parchment and grease a 9x13 inch baking pan. Set aside.

In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With a mixer, beat together the butter and granulated sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until smooth after each egg. Add vanilla extract and mix in. Add the dry ingredients gradually at the lowest mixing speed, mixing until just combined. Stir in the sour cream last, mix until just combined. 

Dump the batter out into the prepared pan, using a spatula to smooth it out in an even layer all the way to the edges of the pan. Dollop the cream cheese mixture at regular intervals all over the surface of the batter. Use a butter knife or chopstick to swirl the cream cheese into the batter in an up-and-down motion. Sprinkle the crumb mixture evenly over the surface of the batter. 

Bake for 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees F, or until a wooden skewer comes out clean when inserted near the center of the cake. Cool and serve.