This Pumpkin Coffee Cake is the most addicting breakfast or snack for the fall season. It’s so moist thanks to pumpkin puree and topped with a streusel that’s sweet and crunchy all in one bite. It’s easy to assemble in just 15 of prep time and two bowls, plus it’s the best to serve to a crowd.
Coffee cake happens to be one of our favorite things to make for family and friends whether it’s for a picnic, church gathering, or holiday brunch. There’s so much to love with the dense moist cake, crumble topping, and sweet icing. With the cozy fall here, we had to make a Pumpkin Coffee Cake version with all the flavors of pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon.
This really is the ultimate version of a coffee cake with a streusel topping, you’ll be making it all season long. We’ve made it so many times already and our family and friends are huge fans. Don’t tell anyone, but it may be better than pumpkin bread!
When we developed the recipe for this cake, we wanted to make it as simple as possible. It’s great for kids or beginner cooks to make in the kitchen – it’s a foolproof recipe that’s so so delicious.
If you love a great easy cake or quick bread recipe we’d love to share some of our other most popular recipes with you! Our Cranberry Orange Pound Cake, Chocolate Loaf cake, and viral Apple Dapple Cake are all true winners.
Table of Contents
Why You'll Love this Recipe
- Two bowl dessert recipe. No fancy equipment here and you only dirty two bowls! It’s pretty amazing.
- Crowd-pleasing breakfast, snack, or dessert. Trust us when we say, this pumpkin streusel coffee cake is so addicting. You’ll want to eat it all day.
- Great for beginner bakers and cooks. This is a simple recipe to follow, it’s the perfect recipe for those who are learning in the kitchen.
Ingredients
Scroll Down for Ingredient Amounts Listed in the Recipe Card Below
Cake Ingredients:
- All-purpose flour: Makes the structure of the pumpkin coffee cake with streusel.
- Granulated Sugar & Brown Sugar: The combination of these sugars provides the perfect sweetness and chewiness. Brown sugar adds a deeper, caramel-like flavor.
- Baking powder: The leavener for the cake base, this makes it light and airy.
- Baking soda: Another ingredient that tenderizes the cake mixture so it’s soft and pillowy.
- Ground cinnamon: Adds that warm spice flavor we all love in the fall.
- Pumpkin pie spice: A combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, and cloves that makes the coffee cake extra special.
- Salted butter: We’re using salted butter here to help season the recipe and brighten all of the flavors.
- Large eggs: Binds the ingredients together.
- Vanilla extract: Adds a nice hint of caramel.
- Full-fat sour cream: Makes the base moist as well as tender when combined with the baking soda.
- Pumpkin Puree: Also adds lots of moisture plus that rich pumpkin flavor.
Streusel Topping Ingredients:
- All-purpose flour: The base of the streusel, makes that classic crumbly texture.
- Light or dark brown sugar: Sweetens everything with a hint of molasses. Plus adds that crunchy texture.
- Pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon: More spice in every layer to really add lots of flavor!
Icing Ingredients:
- Powdered sugar: The base of any icing to drizzle. Add more if your icing is too thin.
- Maple syrup: Gives another fall flavor in the icing.
- Milk: Brings a creaminess to the glaze.
- Vanilla extract: Adds a nice floral and caramel-like note.
Tools You'll Need
How to Make Pumpkin Coffee Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 13x9-inch baking dish or line with parchment paper.
- For the cake, in a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together butter, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, sour cream, and pumpkin puree until smooth.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet, and stir until just combined.
- For the streusel, in a small bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Pour in the melted butter and mix with a fork or with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared baking dish, spreading it evenly. Sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the batter. Using a butter knife, pierce the streusel into the cake batter 10-15 times.
- Bake 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes with a few moist crumbs.
- For the icing, in a small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, maple syrup, milk and vanilla extract. Add more milk for a thinner consistency, if desired.
- Let the coffee cake cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes. Drizzle the icing over the cooled cake.
Expert Tips
- Don’t over-mix the ingredients. This will lead to a tough cake mixture. You want to gently fold all of the ingredients to combine.
- Use a toothpick to make sure the cake is baked perfectly. Insert the toothpick into the center of the cake and when it’s removed the toothpick should have moist crumbs. This ensures your cake is perfectly baked.
- Look for pea-sized crumbles with the streusel layer. This will help the crumble to create lots of texture on top of the cake layer. Using a fork or your fingers is best for mixing.
- Swap the sour cream for Greek yogurt. That also works so well in this cake recipe and makes it a bit healthier. Use full-fat plain Greek yogurt.
Storage and Freezing
Great news! This cake holds up so nicely after it’s baked. You can store it in an airtight container at room temperature for up to four days.
Freezing this cake also works so well too. Simply wrap it in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 2 months. We like to cut ours into individual portions before wrapping to make it even easier for serving later. Defrost on the counter at room temperature until ready to eat.
FAQs
Yes, it’s great to bring this to a gathering with family and friends. You can make it the day before and it holds so nicely!
Simply combine cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ground ginger, and ground cloves. Cinnamon should be the most prevalent spice with a small pinch of every other spice.
Use melted or room temperature butter, this binds all of the ingredients together to make pebble-sized crumbs that bake to the perfect consistency.
Both work well, but we find melted or room temperature butter is easier to stir into the mixture using a fork or your hands.
More Delicious Quick Cake Recipes
Pumpkin Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- ½ cup salted butter melted
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 8 ounces full fat sour cream
- 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
Streusel Topping
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light or dark brown sugar packed
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup salted butter room temperature or melted
Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 13x9-inch baking dish or line with parchment paper.
- For the cake, in a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together butter, eggs, vanilla extract, sour cream, and pumpkin puree until smooth.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet, and stir until just combined.
- For the streusel, in a small bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Add butter and mix with a fork or with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared baking dish, spreading it evenly. Sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the batter. Using a butter knife, pierce the streusel into the cake batter 10-15 times.
- Bake 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.
- For the icing, in a small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, maple syrup, milk and vanilla extract. Add more milk for a thinner consistency, if desired.
- Let the coffee cake cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes. Drizzle the icing over the cooled cake.
Video
Notes
- Don’t overmix the ingredients. This will lead to a tough cake mixture. You want to gently fold all of the ingredients to combine.
- Use a toothpick to make sure the cake is baked perfectly. Insert the toothpick into the center of the cake and when it’s removed the toothpick should have moist crumbs. This ensures your cake is perfectly baked.
- Look for pea-sized crumbles with the streusel layer. This will help the crumble to create lots of texture on top of the cake layer. Using a fork or your fingers is best for mixing.
- Swap the sour cream for Greek yogurt. That also works so well in this cake recipe and makes it a bit healthier. Use full-fat plain Greek yogurt.
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