Mrs. McKinney lived two doors away from us and was from Chicago...that far away place where it was cold and snowy.
One Christmas she made some coffee cakes and gave one to our family as a gift...we were hooked. Luckily my mother asked Mrs. McKinney if she would share the recipe with her before we moved away. Every Christmas my mother would make a coffee cake or two for us to eat on Christmas morning and like Mrs. McKinney she would give some away as Christmas gifts.
One year I tried to make the coffee cakes but they didn't turn out so I gave up and decided I didn't have "the touch". I knew my oldest sister had good luck making these but when I found out my younger sister made them also that was IT, I was going to give it another try.
I thought I would document the procedure.....
The recipe calls for pecans and I think the next time I make these I will try an apple filling since I have a family member with tree nut allergies.
Oh I forgot, my first bite took me back a few years... I won't say how many.
