This was my grandmother Dorothy’s coffee cake recipe. My Uncle Mike had it as a hand-written note slipped between pages of her copy of the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook (published 1946). This would have been something she made while my mom and Uncle Mike were growing up.

It makes a streusel-like coffee cake and the result is delicious, though I’ve made some suggestions for adjusting the recipe below. For one, the 9×13-inch pan I used was too big, making it tough to get the batter into the whole pan, so I think a smaller pan will be easier to work with. I’m also suggesting to add melted butter to the streusel topping to help hold it together, because with just the sugar and nuts it was a bit gritty on top.

Batter:
1 c. sugar
1 stick butter (1/2 c.)
2 eggs
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. buttermilk

Topping:
1/4 c. melted butter (half a stick)
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. white sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 c. chopped nuts

Preheat the oven to 325F.

Cream the butter and sugar for the batter together, then add the eggs. In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry batter ingredients. Add a little of the dry mix to the rest, then a little buttermilk and vanilla, then more dry ingredients, then buttermilk, until it’s all mixed together.

Mix the topping ingredients separately.

Grease a 9×9-inch pan and spread half of the batter in the bottom. Then add half of the topping. Then add the rest of the batter and then the remaining topping, so you have four layers altogether.

Bake for about 30 minutes.