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.
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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.
Pumpkin Spice Coffee Cake
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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.
Recipe Notes
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This recipe was published in 2017 and recently updated with additional recipe tips. Photos by Sarah Fennel.
This is a keeper recipe. I used home grown pumpkin rather than the stuff in a can. Yumm
That’s amazing! So glad you loved this recipe.
I doubled the recipe so we had one for grandma. I added (to the doubled recipe) one tsp of cloves and one cup of rum soaked raisins (I will post how to in a second)
I followed the icing but cut the maple in half and used rum sauce from the raisins instead and added half a teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg. From age 9 to59…we loved it!
Such delicious additions! Sounds wonderful, Dawn! I’ll have to try adding rum soaked raisins sometime.
I’ve tried many recipes of yours and this has to be one of my faves! I didn’t have sour cream so I used whipped cream instead but my goodness! So moist and perfect with a great cup of coffee!
Hooray! I’m so thrilled you enjoyed this recipe!
Not a “pumpkin flavor” lover But this is goooooddddd. So moist and yummy!
Thrilled you loved this coffee cake, Brenda!
Super yummy! Sweet but not too sweet so perfect to go with coffee. Thanks for the recipe!
Yay! So glad you enjoyed, Charlotte!!
So moist and delicious! It was still a teeny bit warm when I cut into it, and if I’d only had a little vanilla ice cream to go with it…. Live the texture differences with the nuts in the streusel. This recipe is definitely a keeper!
Vanilla ice cream would go PERFECTLY with this. So glad you tried this recipe out!
Nice pumpkin cake!
Thanks Amber!
This was absolutely AMAZING! The flavor and texture of the cake with the topping was perfection! I will be making this for years to come – thank you for a fantastic recipe:)
I’m so glad you found a new staple recipe! Hooray!!
This cake was moist, delicious and yummy! I added more spices and made these into 17 cupcakes. It took about 22-23 minutes to bake them. The streusel topping was extremely sweet and there was not enough for all of the cupcakes. I added a little of the streusel in the middle and top of the cupcakes but the streusel in the middle kind of disappeared into the cupcake because I didn’t have enough. If you make cupcakes you’d have to double the streusel recipe. Next time I’ll use my own streusel recipe that’s not too sweet because it has more flour than brown sugar and I would add a simple cinnamon and sugar mixture in the middle. My streusel recipe cannot be added into the middle of the cake because of the large amount of flour in it. I had to add 1 1/2 tablespoon of milk to my glaze to thin it because it was a very thick paste and I was unable to incorporate all of the powdered sugar with the maple syrup. I weighed my powdered sugar so I think the issue was the maple syrup was thicker than normal maple syrup. I bought the Target brand Good & Gather maple syrup.
Good to know this recipe can be made into muffins! So glad you enjoyed this recipe, Esther!
Delicious! Not difficult to make and was perfect for the season!
Happy to hear this, Melissa!
Great, great recipe! I made it this morning for the family and they were all huge fans and it’s almost all gone! The moist inside and the nutty topping and inside layer made for the perfect consistency. I can’t wait to wake up tomorrow morning and have this with my coffee 🙂
The only thing I wondered about is the glaze, I could not get it to be a pourable form so not sure what I’m doing wrong there? I ended up adding more syrup and microwaving it until it was more liquid.
There is NO WAY I’m making regular coffee cake ever again. I’m definitely a pumpkin spice fan and this coffee cake is such a game changer. The streusel alone is delicious and addicting. The cake isn’t too sweet and the glaze perfects it.
YAY! This makes me so happy to hear, Alexa! Thank you so much for the feedback.