Moist, dense, and rich Pumpkin Coffee Cake Recipe with a brown sugar streusel and a vanilla glaze. The perfect fall treat!
Pumpkin Coffee Cake Recipe
We’re entering my favorite time of the year: back-to-school, pumpkin season, and fall. I’m excited to share my latest creation, Pumpkin Coffee Cake, which has been in development for months, even tested in June! Now, let’s dive in.
Why is it called coffee cake? Coffee cake dates back to the 17th century in Europe, where people enjoyed sweet cakes with coffee. These cakes became popular in American cookbooks by the late 1800s, evolving from Viennese sweet dishes.
Does coffee cake have coffee in it? Contrary to what some might think, coffee cake usually doesn’t contain coffee. They are simple cakes with spices, nuts, or fruit, often topped with streusel or a simple glaze.
Our Pumpkin Coffee Cake follows this tradition, combining a delicious streusel topping and a glaze for the perfect fall treat. Below, you’ll find a brief guide on how to make it.
Ingredients
| Ingredient | Swap or tip |
|---|---|
| Pumpkin purée | Use a thick canned pumpkin. If it seems loose, blot with paper towels before measuring. |
| Oil | Any neutral oil works. Melted and cooled coconut oil is fine. |
| Brown sugar | Light or dark both work. Pack it firmly. |
| Maple syrup | Honey works but is sweeter. Reduce by 1 tablespoon if using honey. |
| Heavy cream | Sour cream or thick Greek yogurt gives similar tenderness. |
| Cinnamon + pumpkin pie spice | If you are out of pumpkin pie spice, use cinnamon plus pinches of nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. |
| Streusel (flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, butter) | Chill the streusel 10 minutes for chunkier crumbs. |
| Glaze (powdered sugar, milk, vanilla) | Make it thicker for drips or thinner for a light veil. |
Quick Tip
Use high-quality (not watery) canned pumpkin for this recipe; I recommend Libby’s® (not sponsored). Using watery pumpkin will leave you with a too-moist and bland cake.
How To Make Pumpkin Coffee Cake Recipe
- Prep: Metal 9×13 browns best; add a parchment sling; preheat to 350°F.
- Dry mix: Spoon-and-level flour; whisk spices and salt; toss chips or nuts in flour.
- Wet mix: Use canned pumpkin; blot if watery; room-temp cream blends smoother.
- Combine and streusel: Fold wet into dry just until mixed; keep streusel butter cold; chill and clump crumbs.
- Bake and glaze: Bake until center springs back, cool in pan, glaze, add mini chips on warm glaze.
More Delicious Pumpkin Recipes:
Desserts
Pumpkin Bread Recipe
Desserts
Pumpkin Cupcake Recipe
Desserts
Pumpkin Carrot Cake
Desserts
Pumpkin Pecan Pie
Pumpkin Coffee Cake Recipe
Video
Equipment
- 9 x 13-inch baking pan lined
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1-1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil or melted coconut oil
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar packed
- 6 tablespoons maple syrup
- 6 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1-1/2 cups pumpkin
- 1 cup flour
- 14 tablespoons dark brown sugar packed
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter cold
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons whole milk
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch metal baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. You can also line with parchment or foil, then grease for easy cleanup.
- In a large bowl, mix together dry cake ingredients—flour, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
- Whisk the oil (melted and cooled if using coconut oil), packed dark brown sugar, maple syrup, and heavy cream in a medium bowl until smooth. Add the vanilla and pumpkin, dabbing the pumpkin with a paper towel if too wet. Avoid adding extra pumpkin to prevent the cake from becoming too moist. Whisk until smooth.
- Pour wet ingredients into dry. Mix until just combined; be careful not to overmix the batter. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the streusel dry ingredients—flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add the butter and mix with a pastry cutter or your fingers until the streusel is evenly combined and forms small clumps. Sprinkle the streusel mixture over the cake batter.
- Bake until the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs attached—about 35–40 minutes. Cool completely in the pan before icing.
- Combine all the glaze ingredients in a small bowl. Start with 2 tablespoons milk and add more as needed. Whisk with a fork until smooth. Drizzle over the individual pieces and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Variations
Pumpkin Coffee Cake Variations
- Top with fresh whipped cream.
- Use Cream Cheese Frosting instead of the glaze.
- Stir in chocolate chips into the batter (recommendation: 1 and 1/2 cups of semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips).
- Mix in chopped pecans into the cake or the streusel (suggestion: 1 and 1/2 cups chopped pecans in the cake).
I made this recipe today to kick off my favorite time of year! I love pumpkin but am usually not the biggest fan of coffee cake. I actually loved this one! It is not overly sweet. I left off the glaze and found it to be perfect without it.
I am so thrilled to hear this! Thanks so much Briana! 🙂
Is it pumpkin purée or pumpkin pie filling??
Plain pumpkin puree
owsome, i like cakes too much and this pumpkin coffee cake is really a wonderful cake.
So happy to hear it! Thanks Samantha!
Just put these in the oven! Hope I did it right. There aren’t any eggs(hope that wasn’t a typo)and it was super thick. We’ll see. They smell good:)
Batter is super thick and yes no eggs 🙂 Pumpkin takes the property of eggs for this recipe. It’s a dense and moist cake too. Hope you love it!