Tessa's Recipe Rundown
Taste: Perfectly sweet with just the right amount of pumpkin spice complemented by the maple glaze.
Texture: The cake is super moist, fluffy, and light, while the streusel brings a heavenly subtle crunch.
Ease: Super easy and ready in only 1 hour!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe: Easy and crazy delicious fall recipe.
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This Pumpkin Spice Coffee Cake recipe is about to make all your pumpkin spice dreams come true.
This coffee cake has truly converted some pumpkin spice haters into total PSL lovers! In fact, it’s reigned supreme as my most popular fall recipe for years!
The cake is, of course, made with pumpkin puree and lots of warm spices. But then I also added in sour cream to get that moist tang we all want in coffee cake.
What’s better than streusel?! TWO LAYERS of the stuff. One in the middle and one on top.
Then there’s the icing on top… literally. Just a simple powdered sugar and maple syrup icing does the trick. All of these flavors together are an autumn dream.
You can have a batch of this coffee cake cooling on your counter in about one hour. It’s extra cozy served warm.
The cake itself can be covered and stored for up to 4 days and it somehow still stays moist while the pumpkin spice flavors intensify over time.
Though I highly doubt it will last that long…
Sprinkle of Science
The Best Pumpkin Coffee Cake
The Star of the Show: The Pumpkin Puree!
- I used store-bought canned pumpkin puree for this Pumpkin Spice Coffee Cake recipe.
- If you’d like, you could use homemade pumpkin puree in this recipe. Use a paper towel to blot off as much excess moisture as possible.
- Note: Don’t use canned pumpkin pie filling for this recipe – it is not the same thing as pumpkin puree.
- If you’re curious, here’s my Fresh vs. Canned Pumpkin article for the differences between using fresh pumpkin puree, regular canned pumpkin, and organic canned pumpkin – and to learn how to make your own!
Why is There No Coffee in This Coffee Cake?
Generally, coffee cake is meant to be served with coffee, so it doesn’t typically contain coffee as an ingredient! Especially in this recipe where we want the pumpkin spice flavor to shine.
Why is There Sour Cream in This Coffee Cake Recipe?
Sour cream in coffee cake creates the most amazingly moist texture and flavor. If you don’t have sour cream, you can use plain full-fat yogurt instead.
What Baking Pan is Best for Coffee Cake?
This recipe was tested with an 8-inch square metal baking pan.
If you’re using a glass or ceramic pan, you may need to extend the baking time by 5 to 15 minutes as those materials cook more slowly than metal. Learn more about Glass vs. Metal Baking Pans in my article here.
My Coffee Cake Sank in the Middle. Why?
- This cake is very rich, so it may dip very slightly in the middle. It shouldn’t be dramatic.
- If you do have a dramatic caving in the center, you may not have baked the cake for long enough. Or, you used a glass or ceramic pan instead of metal (see above).
- Check your baking time and that your oven is properly heating with an oven thermometer.
- Learn more about ovens here.
Can You Double This Coffee Cake Recipe?
Yes! Simply double all ingredients and bake in a metal 9 by 13-inch baking pan and add about 5 minutes to the baking time.
How Long Can You Store Coffee Cake?
The Pumpkin Spice Coffee Cake itself can be covered and stored for up to 4 days. This cake stays very moist and the pumpkin spice flavor actually improves over time! Make this cake the night before serving it to save yourself time.
Can You Freeze Coffee Cake?
Slices of this coffee cake freeze well – just wrap each slice well in plastic wrap and place inside an airtight container or freezer bag, to prevent freezer burn. Allow slices to defrost at room temperature before icing and serving.
I’ve had surprisingly good results from freezing the entire baked Pumpkin Spice Coffee Cake in an airtight container, then allowing it to defrost at room temperature before icing and serving.
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Ingredients
For the streusel:
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (32 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (60 grams) pecans, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons (43 grams) unsalted butter, melted
For the cake:
- 2 cups (254 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (244 grams) pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) vegetable oil
- 4 ounces (113 grams) sour cream, at room temperature
- 2 large eggs, beaten
For the glaze:
- 1/2 cup (63 grams) powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray the bottom of a metal 8-inch square pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Make the streusel:
- In a small bowl, combine all of the streusel ingredients with a fork until crumbly.
Make the cake:
- In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. In a small bowl, stir together the pumpkin puree, oil, sour cream, and eggs. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, then pour in the wet ingredients. Gently stir until just combined.
- Spoon half of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with half of the streusel. Spread the remaining batter over the streusel. Sprinkle with the remaining streusel.
- Bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Glass and ceramic pans will take longer to bake than metal. Cool for 15 minutes.
Make the topping:
- In a small bowl, combine the sugar and maple syrup until a thick, pourable icing forms. Drizzle over the warm cake. Cut into squares and serve. Store leftovers, covered, at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Notes
This recipe was published in 2017 and recently updated with additional recipe tips. Photos by Sarah Fennel.
In my review on 10/24/18, I forgot to mention I doubled the recipe for the 18″ x 13″ x 1″ pan & it worked perfectly.
Tessa, I just made your Pumpkin Spice Coffee Cake! It’s absolutely mind blowing delicious!! I linked your FB page on mine as friends are asking about it. I made 2 batches. Thank you so much for a fantastic recipe!!
Have been buying the little pie pumpkins and roasting my own pumpkin all season this year. My two dogs go crazy in the kitchen with the aroma of pumpkin floating all over the place. Made the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies and to be honest, I don’t think we’ll ever eat regular chocolate chip cookies again. They are out of this world good! Made the pumpkin butter to put on rolls last night with dinner – again, amazing. I made it to test it out before considering it for rolls at Thanksgiving in a couple of weeks. Will definitely be making it again for the Thanksgiving dinner! Making this coffee cake today but for some reason I had left out a page with the baking directions when I printed it out so I got back online today to finishing printing the coffee cake recipe. Thank you so much of all of these delicious recipes!!
Hiya – this was the first of your recipes that I’ve tried, and it’s fantastic! Delicate crumb, crunchy streusel, absolutely fabulous 🙂 I had pumpkin puree taking up room in my fridge (Canadian thanksgiving is earlier than yours) and there’s a soft snow falling, so baking first thing in the morning when it was still dark and the house was silent seemed a warm wintry cocoon-y kind of thing to do…the only problem is, I forgot about the daylight savings time switchback, so I was actually baking it at 4 in the morning and my husband is pretty sure I’ve gone mad. PS – I brought the eggs and sour cream to room temp before I added on your advice. Now, I’ve never been that finicky with my baking in my LIFE, and I was certain it wouldn’t matter (because after all, I’ve been baking longer than you have, I can tell by your photo that I have cookie sheets older than you are, and what could this young snip tell me about baking?) – but it DOES. Holy crow, does it EVER! Thank you! Cindy
Tessa, I made this superb recipe for our Sunday Morning Coffee Service at church. For ease in picking up and eating out of hand, I baked it in a Half Sheet Pan, 18″ x 13″ x 1″. It was perfectly baked at 20 minutes (I checked it at 15 min.). We received many compliments, including one gentleman who confessed he had 6 pieces! Thank you for this perfect Fall coffee cake…I can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
Awesome recipe! The cake was moist and dense, crunchy in all the right places, and the taste was pure bliss. My family and colleagues left no crumbs.
I had to modify it a bit, because some ingredients are hard to come by in my country. So I swapped the brown sugar for sugar beet syrup. Instead of canned pumpkin puree, I used freshly cooked pumpkin. For the pecans, I used walnuts.
By the way, thanks a lot for converting ounces/cups to grams! That was so convenient!
To all my fellow centigrade users: 180°C will do just fine!:)
Loved,Loved, Loved, this cake. It is my new favourite pumpkin cake. The streusel is the perfect touch to this moist delicious cake. I am so adding this recipe into my file to make again. And seriously I cannot wait to make it again. Thank you Tessa.
This looks amazing, but I need enough for a group. Do you think this recipe would do well doubled in a 9×13 pan?
Definitely!
This looks delicious! Can the recipe be doubled for a 9×13 pan? Perhaps it may not bake through well in the middle in a larger pan?
Don’t use a 9 x 13 it will be very thick and take over an hour to cook hence you may burn the topping the first double recipe I made I did that so go buy a Wilton 11 x 15 x 2 you can find these at Walmart, Michaels, or online. It will turn out perfect and bake in the time its called for too!!
Can i substitute walnuts for pecans?
I have this baking in my oven right now, and it smells divine! This is my first pumpkin recipe of the Fall season! Thank you!
I made this recipe last night and it was a huge hit with my friends! I love all your recipes, Tessa! I’ve done quite a few now… you are my go-to for baking! Thank you so much.
Can you make in several small coffeecakes?
We made two. The square is with yoghurt and the round sour cream. I added one cup (half cup each) to the mix and a 1/4 tsp of cloves to each cake. We also substituted oats for nuts and used rum soaked raisins (1/2 cup per cake).