Part of the Christmas series featuring Flour & Co Bakers and their favorite holiday recipes.
As a continuation of the 2017 holiday series featuring my talented Flour & Co baking team (read our collaborative Thanksgiving post), I’ve roped in six of my favorite bakers from over the years to reminisce about surviving the holidays in a demanding professional kitchen, and to share their cherished Christmas recipes. Jamy is up first with her family’s Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake.
Meet Jamy Haukom. I was introduced to Jamy through an interviewee who responded to my Craigslist ad for a Production Manager. When this candidate realized the position wasn’t a good fit for him, he mentioned his friend Jamy from culinary school who had been wanting to move to San Francisco. As the world is small, she was from and lived in Minnesota (my home state) and we connected the next week. After a few phone conversations, Jamy was on a plane for a tryout in my home kitchen. A couple months after that, she was moving to San Francisco to be my opening Production Manager.
As the opening Production Manager, Jamy had a tough job. I had developed the opening recipes and knew how I wanted them to be presented to guests, but I hadn’t figured out much else in between. There was no way I could successfully open this bakery without a partner in the kitchen. I didn’t have production kitchen experience and I also knew the importance of getting it right on the guest facing side. Plus, it was simply too much for one person to do alone.
I knew when I met Jamy that she was the perfect person for the job. Besides her incredible work ethic and skills, she was so respectful of my recipes and vision, she *got* Flour & Co (the concept), and she took on the challenge of executing it all. She dove in without looking back, making the kitchen her own along the way. Best of all, our palates and tastes are so well aligned. It could be that we are both from Minnesota, but whatever the reason, it’s definitely an important ingredient to our success. She added some of her own recipes to the mix (a couple are signatures), and she continued testing for us when we could fit it in.
I owe a lot to Jamy. She’s an incredible baker, production guru, leader, and friend. I’m excited to share (and make) one of her family recipes, as well as to share this Q&A with you!
Q&A with Jamy~
Why/how was your experience at Flour & Co significant to you? It’s hard to even put that into words. Flour & Co was my opportunity of a lifetime. Emily took a chance hiring me, even though I was living 2,000 miles away. She gave me the chance to put together a kitchen exactly how I wanted it (a very small one, but a kitchen nonetheless!), and she taught me so much about the ins and outs of the bakery business. I had the privilege of working with some amazing people and I gained so much knowledge and experience along the way.
Describe Flour & Co at the holidays. Flour & Co at the holidays was, in one word, busy. I remember planning for weeks ahead of time – for those who know me, this means making a lot of lists. I wouldn’t sleep much just thinking about how everything was going to happen. We would spend days prepping pie crusts, fillings, toppings. It was pretty impressive the sheer volume of product that came out of that little kitchen.
What was the hardest part about working in the kitchen during the holidays? The space, for sure! We used every inch of that kitchen.
What do you miss most about Flour & Co? I miss that first hour or so in the morning. Just me in the kitchen with some music on, mixing and baking. There’s nothing like putting in a full day of work before most people are even awake. Also, strangely enough, I really miss the coffee drinks. I didn’t drink enough of those.
If you could put together your favorite Christmas dessert table, what would be on it? Peanut butter balls, peanut butter kiss cookies, gingersnaps, Spritz cookies and some random new recipe that I just had to try this year.
I love holiday baking because…It gets me in a festive mood. I get to listen to Christmas music and hang out in my warm, delicious smelling kitchen. I get to think about all the people I’m going to see during the holidays and try to make something they will love.
What’s your favorite family tradition for Christmas? My family LOVES appetizers. So much so, that we usually fill up before we even sit down for dinner. We finally decided that Christmas Eve dinner should just be appetizers. We eat, drink, and laugh until the wine is gone.
Why are you sharing this recipe? Honestly, I had such a hard time choosing! I am literally drowning in recipes. This is a coffee cake we have had at family functions for years and it never disappoints. It is so moist and the combination of chocolate and cinnamon is so warm and yummy. Christmas morning and coffee cake is just the perfect combination.
Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake
This is a coffee cake we have had at family functions for years and it never disappoints. It is so moist and the combination of chocolate and cinnamon is so warm and yummy. Christmas morning and coffee cake is just the perfect combination.
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 60 min
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 8-10 servings 1x
- Category: Quick Bread & Muffins
Ingredients
Cake:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 4 oz unsalted butter, soft
- 8 oz cream cheese, soft
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup cold milk
- 6 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
Topping:
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- ½ cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- In a small bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- Mix sugar, cinnamon and pecans together to make the topping. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl cream butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then add vanilla.
- Add dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture and mix just until combined. Stir in cold milk and chocolate chips.
- Spread batter into a greased 9” springform pan. Mixture will be thick.
- Bake the cake at 350º for 55-65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then remove the outer ring.
Notes
- To keep pecans from getting too dark, top the cake after 15 minutes of baking.
- This recipe also makes delicious muffins (17-18 regular size).
- Cake keeps for about 3 days at room temperature, but it can also be made ahead of time and frozen.
Happy holiday or Christmas baking! If you make this Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake, tag #flourandco when you post your photo! We’d love to see your creation.
