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.
The flavor is good but it needs much more cooking time than directed. I made in a 8×8 metal pan and I had to leave so I had my husband take out after 35 minutes. It was completely dough in the middle.
Hi Madi! We are glad to hear that you enjoyed the flavor of this coffee cake! Some ovens bake much slower than others, especially if your oven runs a little cool. Most home ovens run 10-25 degrees off, and gas ovens can also be slower bakers than electric ovens. Do you have an oven thermometer? They are inexpensive and really help your baking so much! Learn more about ovens and oven thermometers in Tessa’s article here! Always rely more on the recipe’s sensory indicator (in this recipe, bake “until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean”) than the bake times, which are guidelines only. I hope that helps, and I hope you give this coffee cake another try – it really is delicious! Happy baking 🙂
Very moist cake. Cooked in glass definitely needed an hour or more to be cooked completely. Started at 40 mins and kept increasing by 5mins at a time which was a little bit of a pain but I’ll know for next time. I used oats in place of nuts and it came out with a nice flavor. Next time i think I will add more cinnamon and nutmeg just because I like a little more flavor personally. Wondering how much cloves I would add if I decided to put them in as I know a little goes a long way. Any suggestions?
Hi Angela! Glad to hear that you enjoyed this coffee cake 🙂 As mentioned in the pink tip box (above the recipe), glass can take much longer to bake through than metal – learn more about that here! I would also recommend checking on the age of your spices – spices lose their potency over time, so the older the spice jar is, the less flavor they will impart. I would recommend adding 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of cloves to start – as you say, a little goes a long way there, and you don’t want to completely lose the flavor of the pumpkin and other spices. I hope that helps! Happy baking 🙂
I made this cake for our Thanksgiving dinner and it was a hit. Very moist and stayed moist even after a couple of days in an airtight container on the counter . I added a small quantity of dark chocolate chips to the streusel as I have a lot of chocolate lovers in the family and also subbed the nutmeg with ground cardamom. Very happy with this recipe and will be making it again.
I would love to make it as muffins without the streusel. Any ideas on how long the baking time would be?
Hi Carole! So glad to hear that you enjoy this coffee cake recipe! We haven’t tried making these into muffins, 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
Can this be baked in a bundt cake pan?
Hi Lisa! We haven’t tried that, and I believe the capacity for a typical bundt pan would be larger than the recommended 8×8-inch square pan, so this would change the depth/height of the cake, as well as the bake time. Let us know how it goes if you give it a try 🙂
I love this recipe! Very easy to make, I subbed sour cream for plain cashew yogurt.
Is it recommended to store on counter or in fridge?
Hi Lainey! So glad to hear that you enjoyed this recipe! As noted in the recipe card, ‘Store leftovers, covered, at room temperature for up to 4 days.’ Check out the directions for freezing this coffee cake in the pink tip box (right above the recipe) for longer storage. Enjoy 🙂
I quadrupled this recipe and baked it in a large foil pan that was 20.75in (L) X 13in (W) X 5.75in (H) for about 55-60 minutes and it came out perfect (it didn’t sink in the middle at all). I didn’t have maple syrup, so I made a cream cheese drizzle instead. I put parchment paper in the pan; when the cake cooled, I lifted it out (it was heavy), sliced it up and added more drizzle to each of the slices cause they were tall (I had already drizzled the top of the cake while it was warm). My colleagues absolutely loved it. Thank you for sharing!
I’d like to bring this to a housewarming party this weekend. Would you suggest lining the pan with foil or parchment paper and letting it cool completely so I can take it out of the pan or some other method? Thanks for your help! Happy Fall Baking!
Hi Sara! Feel free to use parchment or foil for lining your baking pan, leaving an overhang for easy removal. Simply spray the parchment/foil with a little nonstick cooking spray. Both should ensure that, once entirely cooled, you can cleanly remove the whole cake from its pan and slice and serve. Let us know what you think of this cake once you have given it a try! 🙂
Thanks for the tips, Kiersten. I have made this several times before and it’s delicious. I know my friend will love it too.
Just wanted to let you know that I make the streusel part in my food processor. I usually get pecans from Costco and they come whole, so I pulse them a few times in the food processor, add the other dry ingredients, pulse a few more times, and then add in the melted butter and pulse to combine. Works perfectly. :).
Sooo good!!! I’ve loved baking for a long time but now I’m “upping the ante” by following Tessa’s methods (ie; food scale and oven thermometer)!! I can’t wait to try out more of her recipes!!
Hello, I have a nut allergy! Could this be made without the nuts?
We haven’t tried that, but I don’t see why not! You could also replace them with another similar-sized mix-in, like chocolate chips, or use our streusel recipe from our Brown Butter Coffee Cake recipe. Hope that helps!
LOVE!
Everyone I made this for enjoyed it. So moist. Would reduce a little bit of the sugar inside the cake as topping is sweet
I was wondering if anybody’s tried making these into muffins or mini loaf pans? The cake is delicious. However, I want to be able to gift it to people and this size really doesn’t work and a random piece of cake doesn’t present very well. I was thinking if I double the recipe I could make regular size muffins, and or mini loaf tins. Just not sure about the baking time… any advice would help?
Could I double this and put in a 9 x 13 bake pan? Has anyone tried this? 9 pieces won’t be enough…
Hi Nancy! Tessa included information 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.
Let us know what you think once you’ve tried this delicious coffee cake! Happy baking!