"Night Before Christmas" Coffee Cake

"Night Before Christmas" Coffee Cake

From the kitchen of Kay Smittle

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
2 beaten eggs
1/2 cup warm milk
1 pkg yeast (2 teaspoons bulk yeast) dissolved in 3 tablespoons warm water
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Topping:
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
4 tablespoons melted butter or margarine
1/2 cup nuts or maraschino cherries, candied red or green cherries

Cream together sugar and butter. Then add eggs, milk, 1 package of yeast (2 tablespoons bulk yeast) dissolved in 3 tablespoons of warm water, flour, salt and vanilla. Beat all of these ingredients together. Then set dough aside and let it rise, until double in size. When your coffee cake dough has risen to double the size (this may take about 2 hours) put it in a 9x13" greased pan and spread with topping; Combine sugar, cinnamon, melted butter and nuts (you can use maraschino cherries or candied red and green cherries if you don't like nuts) Now place in a cold oven and leave it in there overnight to rise. The next morning turn oven to 350 degrees and bake for 1/2 hour. Take out and serve warm. This makes a large coffee cake or you can put the dough in two round pans instead.