This ridiculously easy Cinnamon Raisin Coffee Cake takes less than 15 minutes to throw together but tastes like a fabulously delicious labor of love.
Preheat the oven to 425˚F (218˚C).
Spray a 9-inch round cake pan (with at least 2-inch tall sides) with non-stick baking spray. Line the pan with a round of parchment paper.
While the oven is preheating, make the cinnamon swirl and the coffee cake batter.
In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter on high power, for about 15-20 seconds. Add sugar, cinnamon and water and stir to combine. Set aside.
Place the butter in the prepared pan. Set aside.
Combine the flour, raisins, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Stir well to combine then make a well in the center.
When the oven is preheated, place the prepared pan with the butter into the oven and set a timer for 3 minutes.
While the butter is melting in the oven, add the buttermilk to the well in the center of the flour mixture. Stir just until all of the flour is incorporated, making sure there isn’t any flour remaining at the bottom of the bowl.
Drop the cinnamon swirl mixture over the top of the dough in the bowl. Stir the dough from the bottom of the bowl up a few times to distribute the cinnamon swirl through the dough. Don’t stir too much, you don’t want ti completely mixed in just swirled a bit through the dough.
Check the butter, if it’s not completely melted, give it another 30-45 seconds then remove the pan from the oven. Remove approximately two tablespoons of the melted butter to a small bowl and set aside.
Transfer the cinnamon raisin dough to the center of the prepared pan with the butter. Using clean buttered fingers (I just dip my fingers in the reserved butter), press the dough out to the edges of the pan in an even layer, creating small dimples in the dough. It’s fine if some of the butter creeps up over the top of the dough. Drizzle the reserved butter over the top of the dough.
Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes or until the top of the coffee cake is a medium golden brown. Cover the pan with a piece of foil and bake for another 2 minutes. (Baking times may vary from oven to oven so check your bread towards the end and look for that pretty medium golden brown color before covering it with the foil and baking an additional 2 minutes.)
Remove the coffee cake from the oven and immediately flip it out of the pan onto a cooling rack. I use two dinner plates for this. I place the first plate on top of the pan. Then, using two pot holders, I flip the pan over, releasing the bread onto the plate. Then I place the second plate onto the coffee cake and flip one more time. Lastly, I slide the round onto a cooling rack. You could also flip the coffee cake right onto a cooling rack the use a large spatula to flip it right side up. Either way works!
Let it cool for 5 minutes then drizzle with the icing. Serve and enjoy!
While the coffee cake is baking, make the drizzle by combining the powdered sugar, and half-and-half (or milk) in a medium size bowl. Stir well until smooth. It will be fairly thick.