Many years ago there was a death in my family. From that time on, it was so hard for me to keep from being terribly depressed at Christmas. I discovered this recipe and began making coffeecakes for friends, neighbors, all the people Ed worked with at the court, teachers, mailmen, garbage workers, etc. Always, I said, “This must be eaten on Christmas morning.” I have made thousands, I’m sure, in the 30+ years I’ve been doing them.

Suz’s Christmas Coffeecake

½ cup butter                                                          3 tablespoons water
½ cup (or more) pecan halves, chopped         2 cans Pillsbury refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
1 cup packed brown sugar

Spray a bundt pan lightly with cooking spray. Put 8 pecan halves in rounded part of pan.  Melt butter.  Put 2 tablespoons melted butter in the bottom of the bundt pan. Add 3 tablespoons water to the pan you took the butter from. Add the brown sugar to the pan and bring to a boil. Stir, add pecans, and boil briefly.

Open can of rolls. Do NOT unroll. Cut each can of rolls into 8 circles. Lay 8 circles in bottom of bundt pan over the pecan halves. Pour half the butter/brown sugar/pecan mixture over layer of circles. Repeat with balance of circles, but alternate them where they are not directly on top of first layer. Pour remaining butter/brown sugar mixture on top.

Bake for 30 minutes or so. Let sit 3 minutes. Turn over onto a platter sprayed with cooking spray. (Put plate on top. Get 2 pot holders. Hold both sides tightly & turn over very quickly.)  They are very hot. I make so many I let them cool just a little, then move to an 8 inch Christmas plate. These freeze beautifully. Move to refrigerator on Christmas Eve. In the morning, warm in microwave, very briefly and serve.

~ Suzanne Threadgill

I John 3:18-19

¹⁸ Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. ¹⁹ This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence:

Prayer

God of the Loving Heart, we all share different gifts and talents each and every day. Some of us share a special gift such as: listening, handy work, cooking, writing, friendship, and so many more. Help us to use our gifts to your service and glory, perhaps by preparing a hot meal for someone out in the cold, sewing a blanket for someone who is lonely, listening to a friend going through troubled times, or being the light of Christ in a sometimes dark world. Amen.