Food

This Gut-Friendly, Extra Creamy Cold Brew Coffee Cake Is Ready To Energize Your Mornings

This gut-friendly extra creamy cold brew coffee cake recipe is like a 5 a.m. wake-up call for your taste buds.

alt
Photo: Deepika Kalla
Published Nov 2, 2023

Written by 

Maki Yazawa

Our editors independently select these products. Making a purchase through our links may earn Well+Good a commission

Latte lovers, espresso aficionados: I think it’s safe to say our crew firmly believes that almost everything tastes better when coffee is involved. A day without a single drop sounds sad—not to mention exhausting.

Experts in This Article

Patricia Bannan

registered dietitian nutritionist, healthy cooking expert, public speaker, and author of From Burnout to Balance

Fortunately, the folks at Icelandic Provisions get it. Meet your soon-to-be new coffee-flavored obsession: cold brew coffee extra creamy skyr yogurt. It’s the ideal breakfast, afternoon pick-me-up, and base ingredient for making delicious coffee-flavored desserts rich in health benefits. Ahead, we delve into a gut-friendly extra creamy cold brew coffee cake recipe that’s registered dietitian and coffee purist-approved.

Health benefits of skyr yogurt

It may look like regular ol’ yogurt, but like most things in life, it’s what’s on the inside that counts. According to Patricia Bannan, MS, RDN, a registered dietitian and nutrition consultant for Icelandic Provisions, the benefits of skyr go waaay back in time. “Skyr is an Icelandic protein-rich yogurt that’s sustained Icelanders for nearly 1,000 years,” she says.

According to Bannan, skyr is naturally low in sugar and rich in protein. “Skyr contains an array of nutrients linked to gut health as well as mood and immune support, including calcium and probiotics. Everyone has a gut-brain connection, so eating foods that are good for your gut will also have a positive effect on your mental health,” she says.

Now, let’s get into the nitty gritty. Icelandic Provisions’ coffee-flavored skyr contains 11 grams of protein (or roughly 22 percent of your recommended daily intake) and three billion probiotic CFUs—plus coffee. “It’s a delicious product to incorporate into desserts to sneak in more protein plus creaminess,” Bannan says.

If we had you at coffee-flavored desserts look no further. Ahead, we share a delicious homemade extra creamy cold brew coffee cake recipe that’s the best of all worlds.

alt
Photo: Deepika Kalla

Extra creamy cold brew coffee cake recipe

Yields 5 servings

advertisement

Ingredients

For the Cinnamon Streusel:

3/4 cup light brown sugar1/2 cup all-purpose flour1/4 Tsp coffee or espresso powder1/4 Tsp cinnamon1/4 Tsp salt4 Tbsp cold unsalted butter

For the Cinnamon Swirl Filling:

3/4 cup light brown sugar1/4 cup all-purpose flour2 Tsp cinnamon1/2 Tsp coffee or espresso powder1/4 Tsp salt1 Tbsp melted butter

For the Cake:

1 cup all-purpose flour1 cup cake Flour1 Tsp baking powder1/2 Tsp baking Soda3/4 Tsp salt1 1/2 stick unsalted Butter1/4 cup granulated Sugar1/2 cup light Brown Sugar2 earge eggs, at room temp1/4 cup whole milk1 Tsp vanilla extract2 containers of Extra Creamy Cold Brew Coffee Skyr

For Cold Brew Glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar1 Tbsp Extra Creamy Cold Brew Coffee Skyr1 Tbsp whole milkPinch of salt

Streusel: 

advertisement
  1. 1.
    Combine 3/4 cup light brown sugar (150 grams), 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (60 grams), 1/4 teaspoon coffee powder, 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl.
  2. 2.
    Cut 4 tablespoons (57 grams) of cold butter into cubes and press the butter cubes into the sugar mixture until the whole mixture is crumbly. Set aside.

Filling:

  1. 1.
    Combine 3/4 cup light brown sugar (150 grams), 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (30g), 2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1 tablespoon (14 grams) of melted butter in a medium bowl until combined.

Cake:

  1. 1.
    Preheat the oven to 350ºF and prep the loaf pan by greasing the pan with baking spray and then lining it with parchment paper. Set aside.
  2. 2.
    Combine 1 cup (127 grams) all-purpose flour, 1 cup (127 grams) cake flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon fine salt in a bowl until combined.
  3. 3.
    In a stand mixer, beat 1 1/2 sticks (170 grams) room-temperature unsalted butter until smooth and light for about 1 to 2 minutes. Add 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar and 1/2 cup (100 grams) light brown sugar to the butter and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. (Note: Scrape the sides of the bowl in between mixing to make sure everything is getting incorporated.)
  4. 4.
    Once the butter sugar mix is light and fluffy, add two room-temperature eggs (one at a time) and beat until combined. Pour 1/4 cup whole milk (60 grams) and vanilla extract to your batter and mix until just combined. Gently mix in 2 whole containers of extra creamy coffee skyr 8.8 ounces (250 grams) into the wet batter until just combined. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture and mix until just combined. Don’t overmix.

Assembly:

  1. 1.
    Spread half of the cake batter into the prepared loaf pan. Spread it evenly by using an offset spatula.
  2. 2.
    Sprinkle the cinnamon swirl filling evenly on top of the cake batter while gently pressing it into the batter. Spoon enough cake batter until the loaf pan is filled a little over three-quarters of the way. Spread it evenly. (Note: You will most likely have remaining cake batter, which you can use to make some one or two mini loaf cakes or cupcakes. Do not overfill your loaf pan till the top or it will overflow as it bakes.)
  3. 3.
    Sprinkle the cinnamon coffee streusel on top of the cake batter. Gently press the mixture in to help it stick. Bake the loaf cake for about 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (Note: Every oven is different so make sure you check on the cake after 50 minutes. If your loaf cake is browning too fast on top, loosely tent it with aluminum foil as it bakes.)
  4. 4.
    Once the loaf cake is done baking, pull it out of the oven and let it cool on a wire rack for at least an hour before removing it from the loaf pan. Once you remove the cake, let it cook on the wire rack for another hour to let it come to room temperature.

Glaze:

advertisement
  1. 1.
    Once the loaf cake is almost fully cooled, make your glaze. Combine 1/2 cup (65 grams) powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon of extra creamy coffee skyr, 1 tablespoon of whole milk and a pinch of salt until smooth and liquidy. (Note: Add more milk as needed to get it to the consistency you like.)
  2. 2.
    Drizzle the glaze on top and if you’d like, top your loaf cake with a little flaky salt and a sprinkle of espresso powder. Slice your loaf cake, serve, and enjoy with a cup of coffee!

An RD shares the (many) benefits of drinking coffee:

Sign Up for Our Daily Newsletter

Get all the latest in wellness, trends, food, fitness, beauty, and more delivered right to your inbox.

FoodCooking

11 Ingredients to Try If You’re Out of Eggs

Those little protein powerhouses don’t come cheap these days.

Eggs cracked and spilled on a counter
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Published Feb 10, 2025

Written by 

Korin Miller

Most people have a love-hate relationship with eggs right now. The breakfast staple is hard to find at many stores but, even when you manage to track a carton down, the sky-high prices are enough to make even the most devoted egg fan rethink their choices. 

advertisement

Data from the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows a clear uptick in prices over time, with wholesale prices (what the store pays egg suppliers) in New York jumping 52 cents to $7.24 per dozen in December alone. In California, a dozen eggs will now set you back almost $9. Exact prices vary by location, but a USDA report from this week shows that egg prices are continuing to rise. With bird flu continuing to swirl in flocks, you can expect those prices to stay up for a while. 

If you like to have your eggs scrambled, boiled, or fried, you may decide to buck up and pay more for a dozen while being mindful of how often you eat them. But if you tend to use eggs in baking, it can be helpful to know there are other options that give you the same taste and texture you’re after without blowing a ton of money. With that in mind, I tapped three dietitians for their advice on the best egg substitutes, plus how to use them so you don’t end up feeling deprived. 

What is the best way to use egg substitutes?

Many substitutes aren’t designed to replace eggs that you’d eat as a main attraction on your plate. Instead, they’re best used in a baking recipe, although each has its own niche. “Eggs in recipes not only add protein and nutrients, but moisture and also act as a binder to hold other ingredients together as they cook or bake,” says Nancy Oliveira, RD, manager of nutrition and wellness services at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “They also help to trap air which causes baked goods to rise and become fluffy.” In order to work, substitutions need to have similar properties, Oliveira says. 

“Before you replace eggs in a recipe, you need to know what they were there for,” Christy Brissette, RD, dietitian and owner of 80 Twenty Nutrition. “Was it to help it rise when baking, to bind it together, or was it adding moisture?” 

If you’re baking something that needs to rise, Brissette suggests adding ½ tsp of baking powder along with your egg-replacing ingredient, if it isn’t already in the recipe. “For baking, mashed banana, applesauce, mashed avocado, puréed pumpkin, pureed sweet potato or silken tofu help bind the ingredients together and add moisture,” she says. Just add ¼ cup to replace one large egg in a recipe. Brissette warns that some of these ingredients can alter the flavor of the final product, so choose your substitutions carefully. 

If you need something to bind your ingredients together, Brissette suggests using ground flax seeds or whole chia seeds. Mix 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds or chia seeds with 3 tablespoons of water and let sit for five minutes. “This will form a gel that you can then add to your wet ingredients,” Brissette says, noting that this hack also adds more fiber to your dish. “These options work well in recipes for quickbreads such as pancakes, muffins, and zucchini bread,” she says. The flavor of this combination is neutral, Oliveira says, and “you get a boost of omega-3 fatty acids, too.”

In recipes like burgers or meatballs, the egg acts to bind the ingredients together so they don't fall apart, Brissette says. “If I don't have eggs on hand, I'll use oats, cooked rice, or breadcrumbs with a bit of water,” she says. “You can also sub in mashed sweet potato or mashed potato or squash to help it bind and add some moisture.” 

Aquafaba—or the liquid that’s left over in a can of chickpeas—is a great option as a binder in baked goods or vegan mayonnaise, per Brissette. “You can even use it to replace egg whites in recipes like meringue and macaroons,” she says. “Just whip it up in a mixer with some cream of tartar for three to five minutes to form stiff peaks.” Aquafaba doesn’t contain a lot of nutrients but it’s easy and many people already have cans sitting around. “It’s great to repurpose the liquid that we would normally toss out,” she adds. 

Overall, using egg swaps in your recipes may take a little trial and error. But, once you find one that works for you, it could end up saving money in the long run—and adding in extra nutrition in the process.

What are the best egg substitutes?

There are a lot of creative hacks for swapping out eggs in a recipe and each has its own special use in cooking. “The best substitute depends on the specific dish being prepared,” says Stephani Johnson, DCN, RDN, professor in the Department of Clinical and Preventive Nutrition Sciences at Rutgers University. 

advertisement

These are some of the biggies to keep in mind—and in your home:

  • Mashed soft fruit, like banana, pumpkin purée, avocado, applesauce, or yogurt
  • Soft tofu
  • Ground flaxseeds or chia seeds mixed with water
  • Vinegar and baking soda
  • Aquafaba, or chickpea liquid
  • Oats and water
  • Cooked rice 
  • Bread crumbs and water
  • Mashed potato or mashed sweet potato
  • Commercial egg replacers (these are usually made from potato and tapioca starch with added leavening agents like baking soda, Johnson says)
  • Mayonnaise (it contains egg, plus provides great moisture for baked goods)

How to get 12+ grams of protein elsewhere

Two eggs deliver about 12 grams of protein. And, if you’re limiting your egg use or skipping it entirely, it’s fair to wonder how else to get in that much protein. “There are many other ways to obtain 12 grams of protein beyond eating two eggs, including plant-based and alternative protein sources,” Johnson says.

Those include:

  • 2 ounces of animal meat, ~14 grams of protein
  • ⅔ cup Greek yogurt, 12 grams of protein
  • 3 tablespoons of peanut butter, 12 grams of protein
  • ½ cup cottage cheese, 13 grams of protein
  • 1 ½ cups of milk, 12 grams of protein

Sign Up for Our Daily Newsletter

Get all the latest in wellness, trends, food, fitness, beauty, and more delivered right to your inbox.

Health

Looking for Brain and Cardio Support? This Surprising Nutrient in Cocoa Can Help, According to an RD

An RD dishes on the benefits of cocoa flavanols for your heart and brain—and shares one simple way to incorporate them into your routine.

alt
Photo: Stocksy/Jovo Jovanovic Belgrade & Well+Good Creative
Published Jan 31, 2025

In Partnership With 

CocoaVia

Written by 

Well+Good Editors

You could call your brain and heart the co-captains, board of directors, command center (you get it) of your body. And yet it’s easy to move through a day, a week, or a year without checking in on either of them.

advertisement

But let’s get real—if the command center of your body isn’t functioning optimally, nothing in your body will be functioning optimally, so proactively supporting your brain and heart is seriously important. Luckily, there’s an easy way to support both using an ingredient you’re probably familiar with: cocoa. Specifically, cocoa flavanols, which are polyphenols found in the cacao plant that are known to promote healthy blood flow.

Quick science lesson: Flavanols are a subset of flavonoids, a group of compounds found in plants (including fruits and vegetables) that help increase your body’s nitric oxide production, which in turn allows your blood vessels to widen. Widened, or dilated, blood vessels function more effectively and help your body’s systems—your heart, your brain, and everything in between—function better, too.

That’s why registered dietitian Amy Shapiro, MS, RD, says incorporating cocoa flavanols into your routine is a simple way to boost your body’s overall functioning. But before you take free rein to eat as much chocolate as you want for the sake of your health, know that it would take a lot of brownies to fully reap the brain and cardio benefits of cocoa flavanols—and Shapiro cautions the unhealthy levels of sugars and fats associated with this kind of consumption (and direct heat from baking removes health benefits of flavanols). Instead, “a flavanol supplement would provide a concentrated, sugar-free [serving] of these compounds, making it a more effective way to support brain and heart health,*” she says.

CocoaVia™ capsules and powders are made with Cocoapro™, a cocoa flavanol extract that’s 24 times more concentrated than cocoa powder. These high-quality supplements are formulated specifically to help sustain long-term brain and heart health with virtually no effort, since you can take them in capsule form or stir them into your favorite beverage.†*

Plus, you can get 20 percent off all CocoaVia Cardio and Memory products (excluding the Cardio Stick Packs) with code WG2025. What better way to start giving your co-captains some love?

The brain benefits of cocoa flavanols

Incorporating a cocoa flavanol supplement into your daily lineup can help support your cognitive health by improving blood flow and neuron functioning†, Shapiro says. “Enhanced blood flow to the brain [may] support memory, focus, and overall cognitive function. By [supporting] neurons, flavanols also help preserve and maintain brain health as we age, improving overall quality of life.”

CocoaVia Memory+ is formulated with 750 milligrams of cocoa flavanols—which studies suggest is the clinically proven serving for improving three types of memory (including word recall, spatial memory, and long-term memory) in as few as eight to 12 weeks. CocoaVia Memory & Focus combines the flavanols with lutein, a carotenoid nutrient that Shapiro says is best known for its impact on eye health, but also has major cognitive benefits.†

Bonus: Memory & Focus is formulated with 50 milligrams of naturally occurring caffeine (or about one half the amount in a cup of coffee) to give you a little energy boost alongside all that brain support.

The cardio benefits of cocoa flavanols

As for your heart? “Cocoa flavanols support cardiovascular health by improving blood vessel elasticity…and enhancing blood flow—effects that are crucial for [retaining] healthy blood pressure…and promoting overall circulation, which benefits the entire body,” Shapiro says.

And the science supports her insights. From 2015 to 2020, Brigham and Women’s Hospital conducted The Cocoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study, or COSMOS. More than 20 thousand participants opted into the five-year study, which investigated the long-term impact of flavanols on health—and showed that participants who received 500 milligrams of cocoa flavanols daily, in accordance with the study protocol, had a 39-percent reduction in deaths from cardiovascular disease compared to those in the placebo group.

advertisement

CocoaVia’s heart health support comes in the form of capsules and powder, taken daily. If powder’s your preference, stir a scoop (or a stick pack) into hot water or coffee for an easy upgrade to your morning mug, or get fancy with a batch of chocolatey overnight oats for breakfast, protein energy balls for the mid-afternoon slump, or black bean dip for your next taco night.

There’s never a bad time to offer your body’s board of directors a little extra support—so snag these heart and brain supplements* while they’re 20 percent off, and celebrate your new routine with a steamy cup of cocoa.

Shop CocoaVia™ Supplements

*Always talk to your doctor about adding supplements to your routine.

† This statement has not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Hey wellness seeker! Friendly reminder that—like all of wellness—the supplements you take are personal. Well+Good always recommends checking in with your health-care provider before adding a new supplement to your routine.

Sign Up for Our Daily Newsletter

Get all the latest in wellness, trends, food, fitness, beauty, and more delivered right to your inbox.

All Stories

Health

Trying to “Go” but Can’t? Here Are 6 Types of Constipation That Could Be the Culprit

Plus, some natural remedies for a smoother move.

by Sarah Glinski, RD
on Feb 10
person in a white floral shirt sitting on the toilet in their bathroom with their bedroom in the background while looking at their phone to search the types of constipation
Beauty

7 of the Best Nail Looks From New York Fashion Week

From gold chrome to studded tips.

by Aimee Simeon
on Feb 10
model at fashion week with short gold nails
Shopping
Sales

Self-Care Is the Best Valentine—and Ghost Democracy’s Hydrating Skincare Is on Sale Exclusively for W+G Readers Now

Hydration is our love language.

by Francesca Krempa
on Feb 10
alt
Fitness
Fitness Tips

The 5 Best Pilates Exercises to Improve Flexibility

Stretch your limits with these gentle movements.

by Annita Katee
on Feb 10
Unrecognizable woman stretches arms to legs while stretching on yoga mat on wooden floor of an outdoor terrace.
Astrology

Your Daily Horoscope for February 11, 2025

What can you expect today? Discover your zodiac sign's daily horoscope from Well+Good's expert astrologer Stefanie Iris Weiss.

by Stefanie Iris Weiss
on Feb 10
alt