The brown butter, hazelnuts, and coffee extract all complement the malted milk flavor very well in both the cake and the streusel topping. This can be enjoyed by itself as a snack, or if you want to get real decadent, top with a scoop of French vanilla bean ice cream. I made this for Ben to take to his work, and he said they really liked it. If you’re looking for an easy coffee cake recipe that is moist with a crunchy streusel topping, this is your cake. Feel free to swap hazelnuts with pecans or walnuts even, but I like how brown butter and hazelnut tastes together.

ingredients 

for topping: 

3 ounces white chocolate, chopped 

4.5 Tablespoons + 1 Tablespoon malted milk powder, divided use

3/4 cup Hazelnuts, chopped, toasted

3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 Tablespoons light brown sugar

1 and 1/2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

Pinch salt

for cake batter: 

1 and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 Tablespoons malted milk powder

3 eggs

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 and 1/2 teaspoon coffee extract

method:

First make the white chocolate malted milk crumbs or shards by melting the white chocolate, either in a double boiler or incrementally in a microwave, then stirring in the 4.5 Tablespoons of the malted milk powder, reserving the 1 Tablespoon malted milk powder to be mixed into the rest of the streusel topping ingredients later. Stir this then refrigerate at least an hour until hard, then chop into shards or crumbs. Set aside.

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease well with butter an 8X8 or 9×9 square pan similar to what you’d use for a brownie recipe. Set aside.

Make the toppings by adding rest of the topping ingredients together including the white chocolate malted milk crumbs in a bowl or plate and including the remaining 1 Tablespoon of malted milk powder, rubbing them with your hands until crumbly and somewhat clumps together when pressed together. Set aside.

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg and malted milk powder together into a large bowl and stir with a whisk several times. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, beat together the eggs and sugar with a hand held mixer or beater until smooth. Pour in the melted butter and coffee extract and beat until smooth.

Pour the wet (egg/sugar/butter) mixture into the flour (dry) mixture and stir until just combined and most of the flour is moistened. Pour into the prepared pan and then sprinkle topping evenly on top of cake batter.

Bake at 350 degrees F. oven for 30 minutes until a toothpick pushed into the center of the cake comes out clean. If using a 9-inch square pan, check may take less time to bake because the pan is bigger and so the cake might be fully baked at 27 minutes. Serve warm.