• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About Me
    • Contact
    • Services
      • Contact
  • Recipes
    • Recipes Visual Index
    • How to Make Ice Cream without an Ice Cream Maker
    • Kitchen Cheat Sheet
    • Kitchen & Pantry Essentials
  • Order Cookie School!

A Cookie Named Desire

menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Order Cookie School!
  • Recipes
  • Services
×
Home - Cake

Published: Oct 9, 2019 · Modified: Sep 29, 2023 by Amanda Powell · This post may contain affiliate links.

Pumpkin Coffee Cake

Jump to Recipe

Autumn isn't complete until you get to dig into a large slice of pumpkin coffee cake served with a large mug of coffee. This incredible fall coffee cake recipe is delightfully moist without being dense and topped with the most delectable cinnamon-infused streusel. 

pumpkin coffee cake on small plate with fork on side

Why it Works

This is a super simple cake that is light, moist, and packed full of flavor. The cake isn’t overwhelmingly spiced, but has a delicious and unforgettable balance of pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and cardamom. 

The buttery streusel is a welcome addition, adding more spice and a delicious crunch. 

You will love how easy it is to make this cake. You don’t need a stand mixer. Just a couple of bowls and a whisk. It makes a great breakfast treat like these pumpkin pancakes and pumpkin scones to make with new bakers. 

Just like the banana coffee cake, chocolate coffee cake, and blueberry sour cream coffee cake, it is the perfect balance between moist cake and buttery streusel.

Ingredient Breakdown

ingredients for pumpkin coffee cake in bowls with labels

The ingredients are super simple for this coffee cake, but let’s review a couple of key ingredients and why we need them, plus any potential substitutions. 

  • Pumpkin - We can’t have a pumpkin coffee cake without pumpkin - or can we? The best thing to use is pure pumpkin puree. The canned pumpkin is great, as long as it does not say pumpkin pie on the front label. You can also use pureed butternut squash as a homemade backup.
  • Oil - We use oil to keep the coffee cake light and moist. I recommend any neutral-flavored oil like canola or vegetable oil. I do not recommend coconut oil or melted butter. 
  • Yogurt - Plain yogurt helps the leavening rise, plus give the cake a subtle tang. You can use plain yogurt, plain Greek yogurt, or sour cream. Creme fraiche also works well here. 
  • Butter - Butter is used in the streusel to add flavor and crunch. I recommend using unsalted butter to keep the cake from being too salty. If you want to try something different, add a few more tablespoons of butter, brown your butter, then freeze it and cut into cubes before using. 

How to Make Coffee Cake Streusel

If you're anything like me, the streusel is the best part of the coffee cake. I make it a point to have a lot of streusel in my pumpkin coffee cake. If you prefer less streusel, feel free to use only a portion of the streusel recipe. 

step by step process of making streusel
  1. Mix the flour, spices, and sugar together in a bowl. 
  2. Add in the butter, and cut the butter into the flour. Use a pastry cutter or your hands to rub the butter into the flour until it resembles large crumbs. 

Tip: For large pieces of streusel (my favorite), press the streusel mixture together well, then gently crumble back into the bowl. Chill, or freeze your streusel until you are ready to use it.

How to Make Coffee Cake

Coffee cake, in general, is one of the easiest things to make, no matter your baking level. It is a matter of mixing your dry ingredients together, then mixing your wet ingredients together, and ending with combining the two. Easy peasy.

  1. Add your dry ingredients to a large bowl and stir them together. 
  2. Add your wet ingredients to a separate bowl and stir them together. 
  3. Mix your wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. 
  4. Pour ⅔ of the batter into your prepared baking pan, then top with half the streusel. 
  5. Top with the remaining batter, then the remaining streusel. 
  6. Bake in a preheated oven until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Tips

  • You can make the streusel ahead of time and store in the freezer until you need it. I like to make extra streusel to add to other things like blueberry muffins, apple cinnamon bread, and more.
  • You should only mix your batter until just combined. If there are a couple of lumps in the batter, that is fine, just as long as there are no streaks of flour in the bowl. 
  • Use the streusel when it is cold, or preferably frozen. This helps the streusel make large crumbs and hold their shape while baking. 

Variations

I absolutely love experimenting with spices in my coffee cake. You can:

  • Add chai spice
  • Add walnuts, pecans, or even pistachio to your streusel for added flavor and crunch
  • Top with a simple maple glaze
Close up pumpkin coffee cake with fork in cake

Recipe FAQs

How should I store my coffee cake?

Keep your pumpkin coffee cake in an airtight container for up to a week. You can also freeze this coffee cake in an airtight container for up to a month. Unbaked streusel can last in the freezer in an airtight container for up to a month as well.

Why is there no coffee in this coffee cake?

Typically, modern day coffee cakes do not contain any coffee and are instead served alongside coffee. In this particular case, the coffee would overpower the pumpkin and spices. 

Can you double this coffee cake recipe?

Absolutely! You can double the ingredients and bake into a 9x13 baking pan. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean.

pumpkin coffee cake with piece of cake missing

Related Recipes

  • bagels stacked on marble tray
    Pumpkin Spice Bagels
  • close up of pumpkin muffin in wrapper with bite missing
    Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
  • close up pumpkin cheesecake bars on wire rack
    Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars
  • pumpkin pancakes drizzled with syrup being eaten close up
    Pumpkin Pancakes

If you try this recipe, please tag me on instagram! Be sure to also follow me on Facebook, and sign up to my newsletter so you never miss out on another tasty treat!

Recipe Card

pumpkin coffee cake with piece of cake missing

Pumpkin Coffee Cake

Amanda Powell
This Pumpkin Coffee Cake with its crunchy streusel topping is perfect for breakfast or dessert, and only requires a few staple holiday baking ingredients.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 25 minutes mins
Cook Time 40 minutes mins
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Servings 9 slices
Calories 402 kcal
Prevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients
 
 

For the Crumble

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup light brown sugar
  • ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ½ teaspoon ground cardamom optional
  • 1 cup unsalted butter cold and cubed

For the Cake

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
  • ⅔ cup light brown sugar
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree NOT pumpkin pie filling
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • ½ cup plain yogurt room temperature
  • 2 large eggs room temperature
Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions
 

For the Crumble

  • Mix the flour, both sugars, salt, and spices together.
  • Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour mixture and blend. The mixture should resemble large crumbs and stick together when you press them together.
  • Set aside in the refrigerator until needed.

For the Cake

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9 x 9 baking pan. Set aside.
  • Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, spices, and sugars together in a bowl. Set aside.
  • Mix together the pumpkin puree, oil, yogurt, and eggs together in a separate bowl until well-combined. Set aside.
  • Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined- you want no streaks of flour, but you do want lumps in the batter.
  • Pour about ⅔ of the batter into the baking pan, then top with ½ of the crumble topping. Top that with the remaining batter, followed by the remaining crumble.
  • Bake for 35 - 40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  • Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan, then cut and serve. Top with powdered sugar, if desired.

Notes

Store in an airtight container

Nutrition

Calories: 402kcalCarbohydrates: 92gProtein: 8gFat: 35gSaturated Fat: 16gPolyunsaturated Fat: 8gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 97mgSodium: 467mgPotassium: 208mgFiber: 3gSugar: 46gVitamin A: 4945IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 109mgIron: 4mg
Keyword coffee cake, pumpkin, pumpkin spice, streusel
Tried this recipe?Tag me on Instagram! @acookienameddesire #acookienameddesire

More Cake Recipes

  • close up of slice of coffee cake
    Peach Coffee Cake
  • Moist Chocolate Coffee Cake Recipe
  • close up sheet cake slice being taken
    Strawberry Sheet Cake
  • overhead slices of coffee cake on board next to ingredients
    Blueberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake

About Amanda Powell

Baker, photographer, and sometimes world traveler behind A Cookie Named Desire. Obsessed with helping people live life sweetly with delicious food to share with the special people in your life and creating lasting memories.

Reader Interactions

5 from 1 vote (1 rating without comment)

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Hey, I'm Amanda!

I am the baker and photographer behind A Cookie Named Desire. I'm a cookbook author, food science nerd, world traveler (sometimes) with a major weakness for cookies and cheese.

Read More

Reader Favorites

  • S'mores Stuffed Cookies
    S'mores Cookies Recipe

  • homemade cookies scattered out on baking sheet
    Milano Cookies Recipe

  • cookies piled together on rack
    Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

  • avocado chocolate peanut butter smoothie in a glass
    Avocado Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie

  • Making salt water taffy at home is actually easier than you think
    How to Make Salt Water Taffy

  • finished jelly donut shots on a tray
    Jelly Donut Shot

Autumn Favorites

  • black forest mug cake
    Black Forest Mug Brownie

  • lucky charms marshmallows inside hot chocolate mug
    Hot Chocolate Bombs

  • pumpkin spice syrup in jar
    Pumpkin Spice Syrup

  • Plate of coconut chocolate chip cookies with a glass of milk
    Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Footer

^ back to top

About

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Accessibility

Newsletter

  • Sign Up! for emails and updates

Contact

  • Contact
  • Services
  • About Me

Copyright © 2024 A Cookie Named Desire

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Rate This Recipe

Your vote:




A rating is required
A name is required
An email is required

Recipe Ratings without Comment

Something went wrong. Please try again.