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.
I am wanting to make this however it is for 16-20 guests would I just double the ingredients?
Hi Ana! Tessa talks about this in the pink tip box, above the recipe 🙂
Can You Double This Coffee Cake Recipe?
Yes! Simply double all ingredients and bake in a 9 by 13-inch baking pan and add about 5 minutes to the baking time.
Enjoy!
Easy to put together and tasted fantastic!
Hi there! This recipe looks yummy! I’m a caterer so I do some large quantity baking. Could I triple this recipe and use a 2 inch long chafing pan (the dimensions are 11×19 inches)? Thanks, Rebecca
Hi Rebecca! We haven’t tried that, so I can’t say for sure, sorry! Let us know how it goes if you give that a try!
My 10 year old just baked this as his first cake. We will always remember this as his first, and we are so glad it was delicious! The streusel is divine! We will definitely make this again!
Aww yay! Well done!! 🙂
Easy and delicious! My friends loved it.
Excellent, thank you so much for the quick reply! Can’t wait to bake this for breakfast tomorrow 🙂
Can I make this recipe using muffin cups? I need a recipe for a Habitat for Humanity Volunteers Breakfast. They prefer a handheld dessert.
Hi Jean! We haven’t tried that, so I can’t say how long those will take to bake, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work! Let us know how it goes 🙂
Hi! This recipe looks delicious! Has it been tested with another type of oil/fat, like melted coconut oil butter, or avocado oil?
Hi Emily! We have only tested this recipe with vegetable oil, so I can’t say for sure how other oils will react – but other readers have successfully substituted coconut oil, so feel free to experiment and let us know how it goes 🙂
I made it with avocado oil because I don’t ever use vegetable oil and it turned out great.
Absolutely delicious! Immediately added to file – I will definitely make again!
A couple of notes from my experience – took longer than 35 minutes to bake (50) and it still wasn’t done in the middle. We ate it anyway – it’s so good! I used an 8×8 metal pan. I will try my digital thermometer next time to test for doneness. Also – I doubled the streusel recipe. (Maybe that affected cooking time?). But the streusel is always my favorite part of a coffee cake – so almost always more for me!!!
None of these notes is meant as criticism of this spectacular recipe! Please make it! I bet you will love it!
I made this today exactly as followed. Although it was good I feel that it lacked the taste of butter. I have made other coffee cakes before from other recipes and the ones made with butter tastes better. So I have to give it a four star.
Hi Lucy! We are glad to hear that you enjoyed this coffee cake, even though you didn’t get the butter flavor you were hoping for. This coffee cake contains a lot of spices, plus pumpkin, that will always overshadow the butter flavor. If you’re looking for the butter flavor to be the more dominant flavor, give Tessa’s Brown Butter Coffee Cake a try. It’s so delicious, and without as much spice or pumpkin, you’ll taste the brown butter much more. Enjoy!
I made this gluten free by substituting the all purpose flour with King Arthur Gluten Free All Purpose flour and it’s perfect!!! The texture of the cake is not too dense like most gluten free cakes. Also, I used cold butter in the streusel. Put all the streusel ingredients in the food processor.
So glad your gluten-free substitutes worked so well for you, Acosda!
Amazingly good!! My friends and family loved it!!