Cherry-Cheese Coffee Cake

    It is the time of year when the Norman Rockwell images come to my mind as I prepare for my children and grandchildren to come home for the holidays.  I think about what delightful gifts I can make or buy for them and I think about the food that I will feed them.  This recipe for Cherry-Cheese Coffee Cake fits right into that vision of holiday bliss.  It is a favorite at our house, and even though it is really pretty simple to make, I usually only make it on special occasions.  

    I have had this recipe for so long, that I really don't remember where I got it, but it has Bisquick as a main ingredient, so I am guessing it was originally from them.  Even though it has Bisquick in the dough, because of the cream cheese and butter in it, you don't get a boxed taste.  I am sure that you could use a scratch recipe for biscuits and alter it to add the cream cheese into the dough if you wanted to.  There is no yeast in this recipe or rising that needs to happen, so you can whip this up pretty quickly, but it looks like you spent hours.  Here's how it is done, click on the pictures for details.

Mix your dough and knead until you have a smooth ball. Roll it out into a rectangle.

Spread your cream cheese filling long ways on the dough.

Cut slits about 1" apart and 2 1/2 " long on each side of the cream cheese. Begin to alternately overlap across the filling.

When it is finished, it will look like this. I usually crimp the ends a little to keep the filling from seeping out during baking.

Sprinkle with sugar. I didn't have any coarse sugar, but that would be pretty.

Bake at 425 degrees F. until browned. See! Hardly any cream cheese came out.

     After allowing the braid to cool for 10 minutes, transfer it to a serving platter.  I didn't have a nice long one.  After all of these years you would think I would have gotten one, but I never think of it until I need it.  Maybe  I will check out Amazon today!  Anyway, here is mine on a big round platter.

      Now you pour on a can of cherry pie filling.  It really is a beautiful dessert besides being delicious. Serve it up on your best dessert plates.  It is great for that holiday feeling!  Click the button for the full recipe.

Cherry-Cheese Coffee Cake

     Of course, at our house we don't drink coffee, so we could call it a Hot Cocoa Bomb Cake instead.  Yum! Would it be cherry overkill to have a Cherry Cordial Hot Cocoa Bomb with it? 
      What do you do to get that Norman Rockwell experience at your house?