Pumpkin coffee cake is the perfect breakfast to savor with a hot cup of coffee.
The inside is so buttery it melts in your mouth, and the crunch from the streusel topping is to die for. It truly takes it over the top!
Serve this with your favorite latte and you’ll forget all about the cold weather.
Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Streusel Crumb Topping
Pumpkin season is a magical time of year when you bust out the cozy sweaters and dive into pumpkin recipes.
Pumpkin pie and pumpkin rolls get all the attention. But this recipe is a pumpkin-themed treat you can have for breakfast!
The warming spices and pumpkin flavor balance perfectly with the buttery streusel topping.
Did I mention it also has a vanilla glaze? It’s sweater weather perfection.
It comes together in under an hour. And it’s a seriously addictive pumpkin dessert I know you’ll love.
But enough talk. Let’s look at how to whip up this tasty homemade pumpkin coffee cake.
Ingredients
There are three components to this coffee cake: cake, crumb, and vanilla glaze. Don’t be intimated, as all the components use simple ingredients and come together in a jiffy.
The hardest part is washing all the dishes, but it’s worth it.
- All-Purpose Flour – All-purpose flour works best in this recipe. However, if you want to make a gluten-free version, you can easily swap it out for gluten-free flour.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda – You need both leveling agents to get the perfect rise in this recipe. These two work together to make the cake moist and fluffy.
- Salt – A dash of salt balances out the sweetness, enhancing the pumpkin spices’ flavor.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice – If you don’t have a pre-mixed blend, making your own includes equal parts nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and cloves.
- Pumpkin Puree – Pumpkin pie filling and pumpkin puree are different! Always use pumpkin puree in this recipe.
- Sugar – You need granulated and brown sugar for the cake and buttery crumb topping. And powdered sugar helps the vanilla glaze deliver a punch of sweetness.
- Milk – You can use any type of milk in this recipe, and it won’t affect the overall bake. Two percent is a great choice for the best flavor, or you can use buttermilk for extra zing.
- Vanilla Extract – Like pumpkin spice, vanilla extract adds rich, warming notes to this recipe. Always use the real deal, and save the imitation vanilla for another day.
- Cinnamon – While there’s cinnamon in the cake, the crumb topping earns an extra boost. It’s a fall dessert, so there’s no such thing as too much cinnamon.
- Unsalted butter – The streusel topping earns its rich, buttery texture from plenty of unsalted butter. Be sure to always use unsalted butter so your dessert isn’t overly salty.
How to Make Pumpkin Coffee Cake
There may be a lot of steps to making this coffee cake, but they’re all easy-peasy. Follow along closely, and you’ll realize how quickly this recipe comes together.
1. Prepare. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease a 9×9 baking dish.
2. Combine the dry ingredients. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spices into a large bowl. Whisk the ingredients and set aside.
3. Mix the wet ingredients. Add pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, brown sugar, milk, and vanilla extract in a separate bowl. Then, mix until smooth.
4. Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Slowly pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredient and stir until combined. It’ll take some elbow grease because this batter is very thick.
5. Make the streusel topping. Whisk flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter in a separate bowl. Continue to stir until a crumb-like mixture forms.
6. Fill the baking dish. Pour the cake batter evenly into a prepared baking dish. Then top with streusel mixture.
7. Bake. Pop it in the oven, and bake it for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Place it on a wire rack to cool.
8. Make the vanilla glaze. Combine the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla in a small bowl until a glaze forms.
9. Pour the glaze over the coffee cake. Wait until the coffee cake cools, and pour vanilla glaze on top.
10. Serve. Slice it and enjoy!
Tips for the Best Coffee Cake
Check out a few quick tips to ensure your coffee cake is perfect!
- Level and sift. For a light and even cake, it’s so important to always sift your flour. It ensures that the batter will not be lumpy. Also, never scoop flour out of the bag with your measuring cup! Use a spoon to fill your cup for precise measurements.
- Room temperature is key. The ingredients blend much easier if they’re at room temperature. If some of your ingredients are cold, it results in a gummy cake. And no one wants that.
- Don’t mix up your pumpkin! Pumpkin puree is simply pureed pumpkins, while pumpkin pie filling has spices. If you accidentally picked up pumpkin pie filling, omit the pumpkin spice in the recipe.
How to Store & Freeze
If you have leftovers, this recipe stores incredibly well in the fridge and the freezer.
To Store: Coffee cake in an air-tight container will stay fresh for up to 5 days. Don’t glaze the entire cake if you know there will be leftovers. If you store a glazed cake, it will seep into the cake and disappear. Always glaze it right before serving.
To Freeze: This coffee cake freezes incredibly well! Place the cooled coffee cake in an air-tight container to stay fresh for up to 3 months. To thaw, place it in the fridge overnight.
Easy Pumpkin Coffee Cake (With Crumb Topping)
4
servings30
minutes35
minutes168
kcalThis pumpkin coffee cake is the perfect way to start the day! It’s soft, buttery, and the streusel crumb topping is to die for.
Ingredients
- For the Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- For the Crumb Topping
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
- For the Vanilla Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2-1 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9×9-inch baking dish.
- In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice.
- Whisk together pumpkin puree, sugars, milk, and vanilla extract in a separate bowl until smooth.
- Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. The batter will be thick.
- Make the crumb topping. Whisk the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter until the mixture clumps together and forms crumbs.
- Spoon the cake batter into the prepared baking dish and spread evenly. Sprinkle with the crumb topping.
- Bake it for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few crumbs attached.
- Make the vanilla glaze. Whisk together the powdered sugar, 1/2 tablespoon of milk, and vanilla in a bowl. Add more milk if necessary to achieve a drizzly consistency.
- Drizzle the vanilla glaze over the slightly cooled cake.
- 10. Slice, serve, and enjoy!
Notes
- This coffee cake is dense and moist, unlike a typical light and airy cake.
- You can freeze this cake for up to 2 months. Double-wrap the whole cake or individual slices with plastic wrap and foil. Thaw it in the fridge overnight before eating.
- For the batter, any type of milk, whether dairy or non-dairy, works. Use buttermilk if you have it; it makes the cake moist.
